[24th November 2018, Hanoi] – The 2018 Panasonic Kid Witness News (KWN) Award Ceremony was held by Panasonic to complete this year film-making journey with new emotion and experiences of more than 11,000 students from 35 schools in Hanoi. The teams from Thinh Quang elementary school and Archimedes Academy secondary school won the first prizes in respective age-levels and will represent Vietnam to attend the Global Final Round and Award Ceremony in Japan in summer 2019.
For Vietnamese students aged 10 to 18 and conducted over the last 12 years, KWN 2018 broke many records compared to last year. The number of students increased 2.5 times, with 122 attractive scenarios focusing on three topics: the environment, communications, and sport, reflecting their innocent, fresh and unique way of expressing life.
14 teams entering the Final round of KWN2018 in Vietnam
With careful investment in scripting, this year there were different new film genres including short films, documentaries, reportages combining with professional image quality supported by Panasonic’s leading audio and visual products, they showed their seriousness and passion for the 7th art. Each film is a unique approach. For example, to make the documentary “Muong’s language”, students of Spring Hill elementary school had to go to Giang Mo commune, Hoa Binh province to learn, film and interview the local people about the importance of preserving ethnic minority languages.
The first field trip for KWN2018 members to Mai Chau, Hoa Binh province
In KWN2018, students first time participated in the field trip to Ban Lac, Mai Chau in June 2018. Director Anh Tuan, Hanoi Academy of Theater and Cinema, said: “This is a special opportunity for the kids to practice out-door filming skills supporting very much for the training activities at studio. Moreover, they can meet famous artists and exchange knowledge with other teams.”
KWN2018 members enjoying out-door filming activities in Mai Chau
Fully convincing the judges with good script and quality images, the first prize at the primary level belonged to Thinh Quang elementary school with it film “Happy birthday” telling the story of an emotional boy called Nam who shared “The day we were born” with his teachers and friends after sulking with his parents. On his mother’s birthday, he prepared a small gift and a full-of-love-whisper: “My birthday is also Mother’s Day, mom.”
The winners of KWN2018 in Vietnam
The first prize of secondary level belonged to Archimedes Academy secondary school team thanks to their creativity in script and expression. Using the autobiography of a goldfish on the Kitchen Guardians Day, the story told about his journey from being bought at the market to being released into a polluted river with other goldfish. He dreamed of being free to swim in a clean and fresh stream. The film is such a gentle reminder of children about environmental protection.
"Panasonic KWN has attracted over 17,000 students from 160 schools in Vietnam since 2006. We look forward to contributing to the development of Vietnam through our efforts to accompany with children - the future generation of this potential country." Said Mr. Kazuhiro Matsushita, General Director of Panasonic Vietnam.
In Vietnam, in addition to investment in production and business expansion, Panasonic has been a pioneer in many social responsibility activities in the field of education and environment such as the continuous development of Panasonic Risupia Vietnam with more than 600,000 visitors since 2010, the Panasonic Scholarship program fostering technological passion for many Vietnamese students with a total value of more than 51 billion VND, or Global Eco-learning programs attracting tens of thousands of students across the country.
