Candidates for ‘Kids Online’ Festival Shortlisted

Shortlisted candidates for the last round of the festival "Kudak Online" (kids online in Persian) were introduced at a ceremony on March 9 in Tehran.
Financed and organized by the ICT Ministry, the event will promote production of children-friendly online content.
Among the 1,121 submitted works including short animations, web series and educational material, the top 20 were selected by a jury the ICT Ministry website ict.gov.ir reported.
According to the festival website, kudakonlinefest.ir, the shortlisted candidates will get together in June and the winners of the festival will be announced. 
Online content producers, from writers, to animators and artists, started presenting their works to the festival website form last December.
Winners will receive cash prizes worth 100 to 500 million rials ($750-$3,700). They also will be eligible for support and mentorship until they can operate independently and offer their products in the market. 
On the sidelines of the ceremony held on Saturday, four locally-made mobile applications specified for children were also honored. 
The apps included Touchestan (providing multimedia stories for kids) and Aiotoon (an online TV service broadcasting animations).
Medad (pencil in Persian, an interactive application assisting kids in learning Persian language alphabets) and Nabat (a multi-purpose app for kids providing a variety of entertaining content) were the other apps introduced at the event. 
The ceremony was attended by ICT Minister Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi, the Education Minister Mohammad Bat'haei, Ahmad Masjed Jamei a member of Tehran City Council, secretary for Iran's High Council of Cyberspace Abolhasan Firouzabadi and Mojtaba Hosseini, a deputy culture minister. 
The fast growing interest of children in the Internet has goaded local startups, knowledge-based firms and artists to introduce online services compatible with Iranian culture.