Dec 12, 2023
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Osaka, Japan - Panasonic Corporation today announced the seven finalist schools representing six countries for the Panasonic Kid Witness News (KWN) Global Contest 2016. Grand Prix winners from the Primary and Secondary categories will be selected from among them. The KWN Global Awards Ceremony will be held in Rio de Janeiro in September during the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games to announce the Grand-Prix and each award. This is the first global awards ceremony to be held in Latin America, and with special support from the International Paralympic Committee.
The global nine judges panel includes specialists in such fields as education and video production as well as this year's special guests from the International Paralympic Committee and the Olympic Broadcasting Services.
KWN is a hands-on video education program that Panasonic operates as part of its efforts to support the education of future generations and is currently being promoted in 18 countries and regions. The company provides video cameras and other equipment for video production to primary and secondary school students participating in the program. The KWN program is also an annual competition that honors the video works created by children. Currently, some 5,000 children and teachers around the world per year are taking part in this program. Over the 27 years since the activity began in the United States, more than 180,000 children have participated to date.
This year's KWN Global Contest saw 371 schools from 12 countries and regions take part in the contest by submitting five-minute videos. To produce the winning videos, students choose a theme on their own and handle everything from planning and scripting to filming and editing.
In the past, the contest included two themes of "Communication" and "Environment". Starting this year, commemorating the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games, Panasonic expanded the contest themes by adding "Sports" to stimulate young generations to develop the values of sportsmanship.
Under the broad theme of "Communication", "Environment", or "Sports", the videos specifically focus on issues closely linked to children's lives through the eyes of children, such as the interactions with family members, global refugees, physically challenged individuals in society, sports drama, social impact of video games and environmental issues in the world.
Synopses of the seven Grand Prix nominees are shown on the following page.
The results of the KWN Global Contest 2016 Grand Prix and each award will be posted on the official website http://www.panasonic.com/global/corporate/kwn/contest2016/ The seven finalists' videos can also be viewed on this official website.
Related URLs:
- •General information on KWN program:
http://www.panasonic.com/global/corporate/kwn/
https://www.facebook.com/PanasonicKWN.Global/ - •Panasonic's activities to support the next generation:
http://www.panasonic.com/global/corporate/sustainability/citizenship/education/
•Summary of the seven finalist videos
| Country/Name of School Video Title | Theme Category/Synopsis | |
|---|---|---|
| Primary School | ||
| 1 | <Hong Kong> Kowloon Tong School | Communication: One girl's father picks up her late from school every day. This makes her feel alone and left out. Her teacher notices this and gives her a valuable lesson. This heartwarming story conveys the message that it is important for people to look at things from different perspectives. It also reveals how teachers inspire their students. |
| The Bigger Picture | ||
| 2 | <USA> Prairie View Elementary School | Sports: This depicts sports spirit. When an all-star student signs up for a running race, he determines to beat his competitor. He doesn't know his competitor chooses to embrace the spirit of the race and run with his physically challenged brother. It teaches winning is not everything and people who did their best are the real winners. |
| More than a Race | ||
| 3 | <Vietnam> Panatrip | Communication: One boy, who lives in a poor household, always longs for a life of wealthy just like his wealthy classmate. One day his dream comes true. Happiness is not particularly in a wealthy life, but it is to live in the love of your parents and family. |
| The Exchange of Secret | ||
| Secondary School | ||
| 4 | <Brazil> Colegio Guilherme Dumont Villares | Sports: In this video, we can see three different people's lives: a physically challenged swimmer, a student soccer player, and an international referee. By interviewing them, it depicts their challenge to overcome their hardships in their daily lives. |
| Divergent views | ||
| 5 | <Germany> Secondary School Isernhagen | Sports: This is a documentary about how refugees are integrated through a sports club in one community in Germany. A German football team welcomes them as members of their community despite their language or social background. The story tells the message of integration with refugees into a community as global citizens. No matter who we are or where we come from, sport can be a bridge. |
| Welcome to Germany: How refugees are integrated through Sports Clubs | ||
| 6 | <Thailand> Assumption Samutprakarn School | Communication: A boy who is addicted to games doesn't pay attention to what is going around him. Rather than spending dinner time with his family, he chooses to eat at his PC. This habit causes him not to focus in school, but to spend day and night on games. One day, he finds himself wandering into the game world… |
| Missing Game | ||
| 7 | <Vietnam> HNUE High School for Gifted Students | Communication: A girl spends her time in the fields with a digital audio recorder. Instead of listening to music, she listens to the "sounds" of everyday life. People sometimes forget the world communicates in its own way. If people pay attention, we will be able to appreciate the beauty of the "symphony". |
| Symphony of Life | ||
• About Panasonic Kid Witness News
KWN got its start in 1989 in the U.S. as a hands-on video education program supported by Panasonic North America, which supplied video cameras and editing equipment to primary and secondary schools to make news programs from the perspective of children. The program was subsequently expanded on a global scale. At present, 18 countries and region participate in the program. KWN is designed to foster creativity and communication skills among young students. Supervising teachers cite further merits of the program such as a heightened awareness of the community and the environment as well as development of team skills among participants through the process of creating videos. The global network of KWN schools also provides a platform for international exchange among KWN students.
18 countries and regions participating in KWN
| North / South America | Brazil, Canada, United States |
|---|---|
| Europe | Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Slovakia |
| Middle East / Africa | Kuwait, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Tanzania |
| Asia | China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam |
