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This year, Make A Video Contest is introduced to invite students aged 12 to 17 to submit their works. There are Junior Secondary School and Senior Secondary School categories, and each category includes four awards (For details, please refer to the attachment). Adam Wong Sau-ping, winner of the Best New Director at Hong Kong Film Awards and Heiward Mak Hei-yan, screenwriter and director who won the Best Screenplay at Hong Kong Film Awards, will be the project Creative Advisors and Judges. In addition, all productions will run for The OneMinutesJr. Awards, an international video initiative supported by UNICEF. Last year, one of the Hong Kong contestants stood out from more than 300 competitors worldwide and earned an award.

Since 2012, UNICEF HK has been organizing Make A Video annually to encourage youngsters to express their views, anxieties and aspirations in more than 200 videos. Au King-chi, Chairman of the Advocacy and Public Relations Committee of UNICEF HK said, “Parental love and care play a crucial role in teenagers’ journey of growth. Over the past years, we have heard from youth participants that videos help them share thoughts with their parents which they dare not to express directly. It is also very gratifying to learn that parents become more supportive towards their children’s dreams after watching their works. In line with our theme this year, ‘To mom & dad’, we hope to motivate more teenagers to speak up for themselves and foster parent-child communication through the project.”

This year, the project is fully supported by Hang Seng Bank. The Bank’s volunteers will also provide support in video production as actors. Alison Ho, Head of Corporate Responsibility at Hang Seng Bank said, “Hang Seng places strong emphasis on youth development and providing young people with the skills and self-belief to reach their potential. By supporting the UNICEF HK Make A Video, we are helping to provide a platform for younger generations to express their inner feelings and share their aspirations and beliefs. The project will help encourage greater social harmony by giving parents and the wider public insight into the outlook and hopes of young people in Hong Kong.”

Make A Video Workshop came right after the ceremony. Around 200 participants learnt shooting skills, editing techniques, and how to convert their life experiences into thought-provoking videos with professional trainers.

Luong Ying-ngai, a 17-year-old girl, knew nothing about video-shooting until she took part in Make A Video two years ago through a youth organization. Since then, she has developed great passion for video-shooting and made continued efforts to polish her shooting skills. And she was then elected chairperson of the Campus TV.

This year, she rejoins the project and wishes to offer her condolences to her father in her video. “Nowadays, people are distant with their families. They start regretting only when their beloved ones passed away. I lost my father, who loved me dearly, to heart disease three years ago. I still find it difficult to let go of what had happened. I hope my work can serve as a reminder to people to treasure every moment with their families.”