Thai Students Win Grand Prix for Panasonic KWN Global Contest 2015

Osaka, Japan - Panasonic Corporation announced that Montfort College of Thailand won the Grand Prix for its video "Blind's Diary" in the Panasonic Kid Witness News (KWN) Global Contest 2015. The students from Montfort College were honored at the awards ceremony held in Singapore on August 26. Students from other finalist schools also attended the ceremony, where they were recognized with category awards, including "Best Concept."

The seven finalist videos focused on topics ranging from impact and interactions through social media, earthquake disasters, to interactions with family members and others. The Grand Prix winning video, which is based on a true story, portrays a visually impaired girl who attends a regular school. While worrying about burdening other students, she overcomes her struggles at school and eventually accepts her situation, which enables her to achieve academic results with her friends' support. The video conveys a strong message of mutual support to achieve dreams in a diverse society.

KWN is a hands-on video education program that Panasonic operates as part of its efforts to support education. The company lends video cameras and other production equipment to elementary and middle schools participating in the program. Currently, some 5,000 children and teachers around the world are taking part in the program. Since the program began in the United States in 1989, more than 175,000 children have participated.

2015 marks the first time KWN Global Contest Awards Ceremony is held in Southeast Asia. The event, which coincides with Singapore's 50th anniversary of its independence, was attended by Mr. Toru Nishida, Managing Director, Panasonic Asia Pacific, as well as dignitaries including Mr. Hawazi Daipi, Senior Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Education and Ministry of Manpower of Singapore; Mr. Ng Ser Miang, member of the International Olympic Committee and Chairman of the Finance Commission; Mr. Duane Kale, Governing Board Member, the International Paralympic Committee; and Mr. Mark Wallace, Head of Production, the Olympic Broadcasting Services.

From this year's application, Panasonic, an Official Worldwide Olympic partner and an Official worldwide Paralympic Partner, will add "sports" to the list of themes of KWN Global Contest, in addition to the existing themes of "ecology" and "communication," to stimulate children's interest in sports. The KWN program honors the video works created by children every year. To produce videos, students choose a theme on their own and then handle all aspects of video-making, from planning and scripting to filming and editing. This year, 553 schools from 19 countries and regions participate in this program. For this KWN Global Contest 2015, the schools submitted five-minute videos themed about either ecology or communication.

Summary of the seven award-winning videos

*Listed by country in alphabetical order except for the Grand Prix winner

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 public elementary and middle schools to make news programs from the perspective of children. The program was subsequently expanded on a global scale. This year, 553 schools from 19 countries and regions participate in the program.

KWN is designed to foster creativity and presentation skills among young 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 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.

19 countries and regions participating in KWN

*Countries listed in alphabetical order