Democracy Seen Through an African Lens
Washington - Three African filmmakers are in the group of 18 worldwide finalists in the U.S. Department of State's "Democracy Video Challenge."
The three African finalists, who were announced on May 17, are from Burundi, Ethiopia and South Africa. They will be competing to determine which one will be the finalist for the Africa region. Now in its second year, the Democracy Video Challenge drew nearly 700 entries from 83 countries.
From now until June 15, the public is invited to select the winners by going to the Democracy Video Challenge's page on YouTube (www.youtube.com/democracychallenge ( http://www.youtube.com/democracychallenge )), a contest partner, to view and vote for its favorites. Public votes will determine the contest's winners, and anyone may vote on as many films as desired, once per day. The six winners, one each from Africa, East Asia, Europe, the Middle East/North Africa, South Asia and the Western Hemisphere, will receive an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, New York and Los Angeles in September.
The 18 finalists were selected by an independent, high-level jury to compete for the grand prize. Participating on the jury were the six 2009 winners (including last year's African winner, from Zambia), as well as executives from the film and recording industries, film school administrators and leaders of partner organizations.
Jury participant Paula Madison, an executive vice president and chief diversity officer of media and entertainment company NBC Universal, called the video challenge "an inspiring way to celebrate freedom and diversity."
The three finalists from Africa share their views of democracy through an African lens:
. Pascal Mpawenayo, of Burundi, likens democracy to music. Against a background of guitar music, he explores the relation of the individual strings to each other and to the musician. Mpawenayo says he spent his childhood witnessing the horrors of war in Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda, and that this experience strengthened his desire to work for peace. Currently studying computer science in Beijing, he was a volunteer for the 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
. From Ethiopia, where 30 films were submitted in the challenge, Yared Shumete's video Democracy Is Fair Play uses a childhood game to illustrate the democratic principle of fair play. Shumete founded a local filmmakers association in 2004 to help educate aspiring young filmmakers. He says the idea that "even if you are not on top, you are still in the game" was his inspiration for the film.
. Allana Finley is a transplanted American who has built her life and her family in South Africa since moving there in 2000. She says she entered the Democracy Video Challenge as a way of sharing her experiences of living in South Africa during its historic transformation. The message of her film is that democracy is "for all." Using images and sounds from her adopted country, she identifies housing, education, protection from rape and from human trafficking, and quality health care as the ingredients of a better future "for all."
Partners in the Democracy Video Challenge include the U.S. Department of State, the Center for International Private Enterprise, the International Republican Institute, the National Democratic Institute, the International Youth Foundation, the Motion Picture Association of America, New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, TakingITGlobal, NBC Universal, the Recording Industry Association of America, the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, and YouTube.
The winners are scheduled to be announced on June 17.
