Commonwealth launches film competition

Accra, July 19, GNA - The Royal Commonwealth Society (RCS) has launched the seventh annual Commonwealth Vision Awards competition for film makers to raise awareness on crucial global issues and highlight the importance of individual action at the community level. The competition is designed to encourage creative film-making by actual and prospective film-makers in the Commonwealth for television on the theme: "Changing Communities, Greening the Globe".

In a message to the International Federation of Film Critics, Ghana Chapter in Accra on Thursday, Ms Alice Kawoya, the Awards Project Manager, said during the first phase of the competition, applicants would be invited to send proposals for a 30-90-second film based on the theme by August 3, 2007.

Thereafter, up to 15 applicants would be short-listed by the selection committee to receive seed grants to turn their proposals into actual films.

"The Commonwealth Vision Awards are an opportunity for film-makers to raise awareness of crucial global issues and highlight the importance of individual action at the community level," she said.

The RCS, an international Non-governmental Organization, works to promote an understanding of the nature and working of the Commonwealth and seeks to shape the lives of its peoples and the policies of its governments.

The competition has a partial support from the Commonwealth Media Development Fund, administered by the Commonwealth Secretariat. Mr Francis Ameyibor, Associate Executive of the International Federation of Film Critics, Ghana Chapter, urged Ghanaian film makers to take advantage of the competition to lunch and project the local film industry.

He said participation by Ghanaian film makers would project the revival of the local film industry as winners would be decorated in November at an awards ceremony at the Commonwealth Club in London. Apart from the first-prize reward of A32,500, a trophy and other incentives, Mr Ameyibor noted it was a great opportunity for Ghanaian film makers to enter into the international market once again. The short-listed films would from January 2008 be broadcast worldwide to promote and publicize the theme, particularly on Commonwealth Day which falls on March 10, 2008.

Since its initial launch in 2001 by television presenter Sir Trevor McDonald and former Commonwealth Secretary-General Chief Emeka Anyaoku, the Commonwealth Vision Awards have attracted entrants from across the association and the films have received extensive coverage worldwide, helping to raise the Commonwealth's profile in a novel and creative way. The Commonwealth Vision Awards, a joint venture of the RCS and the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association, are supported by the Commonwealth Secretariat, the Commonwealth Foundation, the British Council and the BBC World Service. 19 July 07