~ St. Maarten delegation leaves April 13 for Regional Finale ~
PHILIPSBURG–The United Nations Children’s Fund UNICEF Children’s Rights Film Festival project has been ongoing for more than two months and included more than 100 pupils in the age category 9-13 years with the collaboration of Dutch Recovery Fund SXM and the Department of Youth Affairs.
Pupils in afternoon and community schools learned about children’s rights, drew pictures about the right that resonated most with them, and competed in an exhibition held at the schools. The winning drawing was then used as a basis to create a script and have a movie filmed in which the pupils starred.
Some 250 persons showed up at the premiere, hosted on April 6, where most of the films were screened. The night included entertainment from Breakthrough Talent star Tyler Percival and had judges such as Department of Culture head and artiste Clara Reyes, videographer and producer of “Consumed,” a St. Maarten movie, Peter Sagnia, and internationally acclaimed entertainer Kenyo Baly.
The last film was screened on Monday evening to ensure that all participating afternoon and community schools had a fair chance to compete. Hillside Christian Schools had a visit by Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sports Jorien Wuite, UNICEF representatives, the project coordinator and the film coach on Tuesday to surprise the pupils and the school representatives with the winning ticket.
The scores were fairly close, according to the Ministry on Wednesday. Hillside Christian Schools won with 64 points with the film “Don’t Do Drugs.” Oranje School (“Right to Choose”) and No Kidding with Our Kids Foundation (“Privacy is A Must”) tied with 59 points, followed by Youth Council (“Education is Key”) with 58 points and Methodist Agogic Centre (“Play, Rest, & Relax”) with 55 points.
Films were judged on three criteria: Acting – which focused on the acting skills, Story – which focused on the story line, and Film – which focused on the overall film.
There was also a prize for best overall drawing from all the schools which was chosen by the Department of Youth and project coordinator Soraya Agard of the Department of Youth as the organisers. This prize was given by the project coordinator to No Kidding with Our Kids Foundation for its pupil Julian King.
This award did not go to any of the drawings that won the exhibition, which were strictly voted on by the pupils, but was given to the drawing that depicted the right in a powerful way. This drawing also focused on the right to no drugs and displayed a story of destruction when someone uses drugs.
The winners of best film, Hillside Christian Schools pupils and school representatives, are scheduled to leave for Curaçao on April 13 to represent St. Maarten in the Regional Finale of UNICEF Children’s Rights Film Festival, largest children’s film festival in the region.
Winners of the Regional Finale will have their film included in Curaçao International Film Festival one of the top film festivals in the world. During their stay in Curaçao, pupils will connect with other pupils from Saba, St. Eustatius, Bonaire, Aruba, and Curaçao and take part in workshops.
The finale will take place on April 14 and the delegation will return on April 15.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/75585-hillside-christian-schools-wins-unicef-film-festival
View comments
Hide comments