Tripoli, 15 January 2014:
A young female Libyan film-maker has won an international award for a one-minute long . . .[restrict]film about freedom.
Ghada Yousri Benyaala’s film My Challenge won a prize in the ‘One Minute of Freedom’ category, which was for sixty seconds of footage that showed how visual arts could work as a communication tool across cultural, geographic and national borders. The international One Minute Junior Video competition was presented at the 2013 International Documentary Festival in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
“I was very happy that my video won,” she said, adding that it was even exciting to have her film nominated for the award. “That is when I felt that I had done a good job,” Benyaala said.
In January, for the first time in Libya, in January, a One Minute Video Junior Award Workshop was held at Tripoli’s Art House, attended by 18 young people, aged 12 to 18. They learned the basics of video production from professional film makers to help them create short films showing their views and visions of the present and future in Libya. Of the 18 Libyan submissions, two made it to the finals.
The workshop was organised jointly by the Ministry of Social Affairs, UNICEF, the One Minute Video Foundation, and 1Libya, a national youth NGO specialising in media and civic education.
“For UNICEF, this project is one of the many ways of promoting children’s rights and participation by allowing them to freely express themselves through art and technology,” said UNICEF’s Country Director, Carel de Rooy. “It is only by allowing children to speak that we can learn of their dreams and aspirations and support them effectively. Adolescents’ views and perceptions are important to shape their country’s future.”
Benyaala’s film My Challenge can be seen here. [/restrict]
