Tuesday, April 20, 2010

AIT announces Taiwan finalists for 2010 democracy video challenge

Taipei, April 20 (CNA) Three short films were chosen as Taiwan's finalists for the 2010 Democracy Video Challenge, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) announced at an awards ceremony Tuesday.

The Democracy Video Challenge, a worldwide U.S. Department of State competition, asks filmmakers, democracy advocates, and the general public to create three-minute videos that complete the phrase, "Democracy is..." "We thank these young filmmakers for taking part in the Democracy Video Challenge, and for sharing their talents and perspectives with us, " said William Stanton, the director of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Taipei office.

"Democracy is but one of many key fundamental values shared by the United States and Taiwan, and I am pleased by the level of dialogue on this issue that the Challenge attracted," he added.

Stanton and Taiwan Foundation for Democracy President Huang Teh-Fu presented certificates and awarded prizes of NT$10,000 each to Ho Sen-yi, Lin Yu-sheng and Lai Yu-yao for their films.

According to the AIT, the competition received 17 submissions this year in Taiwan. One of the Taiwan finalists was chosen through voting by AIT's Facebook fans, while the other two were chosen by a panel.

A total of 470 entries from 88 countries were received by the American government this year.

The three films from Taiwan are now being evaluated by a panel of judges in the U.S., the AIT said, and are eligible to be chosen as among the finalists for the East Asia and Pacific region.

The winning videos will be selected by global online voting between May 15 to June 15. The video platform will be provided by YouTube.

The Challenge will honor seven winning videos worldwide, with one winner each from Sub-Saharan Africa, East Asia and the Pacific, Europe, the Near East and North Africa, South and Central Asia, and the Western Hemisphere, and one anonymous video winner. (By Chris Wang) enditem/ls