Taipei, June 20 (CNA) A biennial international children's television and film festival that will be held next April officially launched its promotion drive and began receiving film submissions from all over the world, festival organizers said Wednesday at a press conference.
The third Taiwan International Children's TV & Film Festival will be held April 4-8, 2008 in Taipei, said Hu Yuan-huei, president of Public Television Service (PTS) , the main organizer. Submissions will be accepted until Oct. 31.
So far, Hu said, there have been submissions from Taiwan, India, Sweden, Germany, France, the U.S. and the Philippines vying for six awards -- best dramatic feature, best animation, best documentary, best TV program, Taiwan award and special jury prize.
This event has been trying to find a balance between "adults' perspective and children's height, " said Wang Gun-yu, curator of the festival.
The festival was previously held in 2004 and 2006 and received more than 230 entries each time, Hu said, adding that the organizers expect a record-breaking number of entries for the next one.
The five-day event features screenings, side events and exhibitions, and "Kids as Directors" workshops for teachers and students to learn about filmmaking, in addition to awards with cash prizes.
Ma Chih-hsiang, a young actor making his first attempt at filmmaking, became the first local entry in the category of best dramatic feature with a film titled "Wish of the 10-year-old Dina, " the story of a young Bunun girl in Hualien.
"I tried to reveal the social status and problems of the indigenous people, and at the same time reverse local people's bias against indigenous people, " said Ma, who is also an aborigine.
PTS also announced 10 nominees for the "Kids as Directors" workshop in the press conference. The nominees were selected out of more than 40 project entries, said Lin Leh-chyun, director of the PTS International Department.
All the winning projects will be assisted with production resources from PTS when the filmmaking begins and will be screened during the festival, Lin said.