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HONG KONG, 12 JUNE 2013 — Play is a right deserved by all children! In order to advocate for children’s right to play, Hong Kong Committee for UNICEF (UNICEF HK) has co-organised the “Believe In Zero, Make A Video” Competition 2013 with Academy of Film, Hong Kong Baptist University. The Competition aims to recruit young people to create videos about “My view on the situation of children’s play in Hong Kong”, so as to mobilize Hong Kong people to champion children’s rights to play and raise public awareness on the true essence of “Play”.

For successful enrolment before 15 June, each entrant can enjoy the Early Bird’s triple surprise offers, including free enrolment of the training workshop given by Miss Heiward Mak Hei-yan, a famous young director and winner of the Best Screenplay in the Hong Kong Film Awards (HKFA) for “Love in a Puff”, as well as Mr Poon Hang-sang, the winner of Best Cinematography in the HKFA. They will share the ideas about video production and techniques of producing professional videos with great idea but low cost.

Children are the best authorities on “Play”. However, not everyone understands its true essences. The four essences of “Play” are “Child-oriented”; children should be supported to play “Anytime & anywhere”; adults and society should ensure children a “Playable Space”; letting children engage in true play is the key of “Growing fun and healthy”. According to Article 31 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, children have the right to relax and play, and to join in a wide range of cultural, artistic and other recreational activities.

Play is crucial to children’s all-round development, while encouraging children to realise their rights to participation is particularly important. UNICEF HK has co-organised the “Believe In Zero, Make A Video” Competition 2013 for the second consecutive year with Academy of Film, Hong Kong Baptist University. We are recruiting Hong Kong youth to produce a three to five minutes long video about “My view on the situation of children’s play in Hong Kong”. We hope to inspire the youth participants and the public to discover what “True Play” is, letting our children truly emace the joy of “Play”. To support UNICEF, achieve ZERO underdevelopment for children as the ultimate goal. For successful online enrolment (www.unicef.org.hk/makeavideo) on or before 15 June, each entrant may enjoy the Early Bird’s triple surprise offers as followings:

The first surprise: Participants are invited to attend a free training workshop “Action! Create Your Own Superheroes!” on 30 June to learn more about “Play” and video production. During the workshop, Miss Heiward Mak Hei-yan, a famous young director and winner of the Best Screenplay in the HKFA, and her team PlayTime will help equip participants to be video producers, who can make professional videos with great idea but low-cost and simple techniques. Besides, the winner of Best Cinematography in the HKFA, Mr Poon Hang-sang and master class lecturers of Academy of Film, Hong Kong Baptist University, will share professional views and wonderful tips on film direction, cinematography and screenwriting. UNICEF HK will also share more ideas about children’s “Right to Play” and its importance to help participants better understand the video theme.

The second surprise: Each participant may receive a limited edition of UNICEF HK’s souvenir pack. The third surprise: Each participant has a chance to attend a free and intensive training workshop on shooting equipment operation provided by Sony. All on first-come, first-serve basis.

The first “Believe In Zero, Make A Video” competition in last year received overwhelming response, nearly 60 videos were submitted within just two months. To encourage more youth in Hong Kong to pay more attention to children’s rights and issues by creating videos, the Competition has been scaled up by newly added the Best Screenplay Award and Best Visual Effects Award, apart from winner, 1st Runner Up, 2nd Runner Up and Online Most Popular Award in each category. Prizes are even richer this year. Winners will be rewarded digital camcorder and digital SLR photography course sponsored by Sony and Photoblog.hk respectively.

As in the previous year, individuals aged twenty four or below are welcome to participate in the competition. The competition is divided into “Secondary school category” and “Open category”. The former welcome students from same or different secondary schools, while individuals aged twenty four or below can join the later. Each entry must consist of one to four members. Any type of production (including but not limited to animation, computer graphics, documentary or acting) can be shown in the final work. The video should be three to five minutes long. All awards, excluding the Online Most Popular Award, will be rated by an independent judging panel in accordance to content, creativity, influence on the public and aesthetics. Application deadline will be 26 August and the result will be released in late September or early October.

Participants are required to convert their videos to VCD/DVD format and to mail or submit in person to Hong Kong Committee for UNICEF (3/F, 60 Blue Pool Road, Happy Valley, Hong Kong) before the deadline. The names of participants and “Believe In Zero, Make A Video” Competition 2013 should be mentioned on the envelope. Details of “Believe In Zero, Make A Video” Competition 2013: Deadline of enrolment and video submission :   From now on to 26 August (Monday) Deadline of Early Bird’s offer :   15 June (Saturday) Online enrolment and competition’s details :   www.unicef.org.hk/makeavideo For inquiries :   Please contact 23385151 or email to edu.unicef.org.hk Details of “Action! Create Your Own Superheroes!” Workshop Date : 30 June (Sunday) Time : 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Venue : Dr & Mrs Hung Hin-shiu Lecture Theatre, G/F, Jockey Club School of Chinese Medicine Building, Hong Kong Baptist University

2012 winning & shortlisted videos: www.unicef.org.hk/makeavideo/pastwinners.html