Jul 07, 2009

Press Release

Panasonic Honors Winners of Kid Witness News Global Contest 2009

- Short videos present "Ecology" and "Communication" through children's eyes -

Tokyo, Japan - Panasonic Corporation today held the Awards Ceremony for the Kid Witness News (KWN) Global Contest 2009 at Panasonic Center Tokyo to recognize outstanding videos created by children in the world. Among the six finalist videos from six countries, Poland's Public Secondary School in Jerzmanowa won the Grand Prix for "Dirty Work - The World Seen through Garbage Collecting." Representatives of the six schools attended the ceremony and all of them were honored as winners in seven different categories including the Web Award. The Poland school also received the Documentary Award.

As part of its global initiatives to educate and support children, the leaders of tomorrow, Panasonic supports KWN, a hands-on video education program, lending video cameras and other equipment to elementary and junior high schools for video productions. KWN is now entering its 20th year since it was first introduced in a school in the United States in 1989. It has since been developed into a global program involving approximately 8,000 children from over 600 schools in 25 countries and region around the world each year. To date, more than 120,000 students participated in the program.

For the 2009 contest, the best videos from local contests held in participating countries and region advanced to the global contest. The five-minute videos, focused on either "Ecology" or "Communication," were reviewed and voted fair and square by local judges of KWN offices around the world to nominate six best works. In the final review, a panel of international judges including experts in film-making, education, and journalism screened the works to determine the Grand Prix and category awards.

The Grand Prix winner, "Dirty Work - The World Seen through Garbage Collecting," is a documentary that follows a veteran garbage truck driver. Depicting a modern consumption lifestyle by showing a variety of wastes produced every day, the Polish film urges the viewers to review their lifestyles and and their environmental impact.

The six finalist videos were also reviewed by the public on the Internet during the month of June. "Listen - Love" by Kowloon Tong School from Hong Kong won the Web Award, receiving the most votes on the web.

A list of the six winning videos follows.

About KWN
The KWN program started in 1989 when Panasonic North America provided primary and middle schools with a range of video equipment. The program quickly spread to other countries including Europe, Southeast Asia and Japan. Currently over 600 schools in 25 countries and region participate in the program.

KWN is designed to foster creativity and presentation skills among students. Supervising teachers cite further merits of the program such as a heightened awareness of the environment and the community as well as development of team-work skills among participants.

The Panasonic companies are conducting businesses throughout the world, providing products and services under the slogan of "Panasonic ideas for life." Panasonic has been making efforts to become a company that is accepted by each community in which it is present, by contributing to economic development of each country. The company as a global enterprise has been also taking initiatives to promote mutual understanding in the international community and help to protect the global environment.

For children's sound growth and mutual understanding of the people in the world, Panasonic continues the KWN program. For more details of the KWN program, please visit http://panasonic.net/kwn. For Panasonic's corporate citizenship activities, please go to http://panasonic.net/citizenship.

About Panasonic

Panasonic Corporation is a worldwide leader in the development and manufacture of electronic products for a wide range of consumer, business, and industrial needs. Based in Osaka, Japan, the company recorded consolidated net sales of 7.77 trillion yen (US$78.4 billion) for the year ended March 31, 2009. The company's shares are listed on the Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and New York (NYSE: PC) stock exchanges. For more information on the company and the Panasonic brand, visit the company's website at http://panasonic.net/.


<Reference>

Winners of Kid Witness News Global Contest 2009

Award Country・Region / School Title / Gist

Grand Prix

Documentary Award

Public Secondary
School in Jerzmanowa

Poland

"Dirty Work" (The World Seen through Garbage Collecting)

The video focuses on a veteran garbage truck driver working for the local sanitation department, raising questions about modern lifestyles and environmental awareness by showing various types of wastes that are thrown away.

Videography Award

Assumption College Sriracha

Thailand

"Buffaloes in the Rice Field"

The video introduces local farmers who use traditional farming without using fertilizers and machines in their efforts to coexist with the environment. They look again at the role of domesticated animals such as water buffalos.

Editing Award

Eaton Bank School

United Kingdom

"The Good, the Tag and the Ugly"

The video introduces various types of graffiti, from simple mischief to those considered as art, looking at the meaning and impact of graffiti by interviewing those who make it, those who police it and those who look at it.

Research Award

Ida Elementary School

Japan

"A Monumental Message - For Us Living in the Future"

Children trace their local history from stone monuments which lead them to find tragic history of wars. They realize the fact that there are conflicts and wars going on somewhere in the world at this moment. The video urges children to think what they can do to build peace.

Communication Award

Web Award

Kowloon Tong School

Hong Kong

"Listen - Love"

A young girl living in the noisy and fast-moving modern world tries to find out the meaning of her mother's words: "You could only understand someone, if you listen with your heart."

Ecology Award

Mooloolaba State School

Australia

"Planet Earth"

The Earth, suffering from the effects of global warming, becomes a patient in an emergency room to be treated by child doctors; a dramatic report on children seriously thinking how to solve the problems of global warming.


Media Contacts:

Akira Kadota, International PR
Panasonic Corporation
Tel: 03-6403-3040 Fax: 03-3436-6766
Panasonic News Bureau
Tel: 03-3542-6205 Fax: 03-3542-9018
*The content in the following news releases is accurate at the time of publication but may be subject to change without notice. Please note therefore that these documents may not always contain the most up-to-date information.

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