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Young filmmakers from UNICEF workshops receive honors


WEBWIRE

NEW YORK, June 2008 – UNICEF oneminutesjr. films received 14 nominations for the annual One Minutes Jr. Awards. The films, all made during Oneminutesjr. workshops sponsored by UNICEF, are the work of nine filmmakers under 20 years old from around the world.

The winners will be announced at the Stranger Awards show on 5 July 2008 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The awards show is part of the Stranger Festival, a European Cultural Foundation event promoting inter-cultural dialogue among young media makers.

“The oneminutesjr. project provides a unique opportunity for young people around the world to express themselves,” said Stephen Cassidy, Chief of Internet, Broadcast and Image Section, UNICEF. “We couldn’t be happier that our workshops inspired these young filmmakers and we are proud they are being honored for their talent and creativity.”

Sylvain Koko, of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), leads with three nominations for his film Alimentation d’un congolais moyen. The film is nominated for “Best of the World,” the “MTV Award” and the “Stranger Award.” It shows in stop motion the daily meals of an averge Congolese man. Fellow DRC filmmaker Richard Issam captured two nomations (“Inside Out” and the “MTV Award”) with his film Les enfants dits sorciers. The film highlights the problem of children being shunned from their families due to claims of sorcery. Also receiving two nominations were Karim Shaaban (Egypt) with Overload and Anas Dhafir Keiralla (Iraq/Jordan) with One Life, One Reality. Overload alludes to the potential overload of media and interference we experience in society while One Life, One Reality tells the story of one boy affected by the war in Iraq.

Theoneminutesjr. awards traditionally have 3 categories for competition. In the Inside Out category, four UNICEF films are nominated: Untitled by Zarina Pashtova (Russia), Les enfants dits sorciers, Breath of freedom by Kirk Anthony Balmonte (Philippines) and Overload. In the Self-Portrait category, Landry Koko represents UNICEF with his film Mon Pays (Democratic Republic of Congo). The Best of the World category has two UNICEF films nominated: Unklaubliche Phenomene Vol.1 by Emre Acikbas (Germany) and Alimentation d’un congolais moyen.

In addition to the regular categories, this year’s One Minutes Jr. awards also include two special awards - the MTV Award and the Stranger Award. For the MTV Award, Les enfants dits sorciers and Alimentation d’un congolais moyen are joined by UNICEF workshop film One life, one reality. Alimentation d’un congolais moyen, One life, one reality and Overload are also nominated for the Stranger Award, along with Balance by Georgy Ambalov (Russia).

The remaining twelve nominated films were produced in workshops supported by UNICEF’s oneminutesjr. partners European Cultural Foundation and The One Minutes Foundation. The competition was open to all one minute films produced since June 2007 by young filmmakers ages 12-20. Over 300 films were eligible for competition.



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