PLURAL+ Youth Video Festival Competition

New York, NY (January 23, 2013)– The United Nations Alliance of Civilizations ( UNAOC) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) again invite the world’s youth to submit original and creative videos focusing on PLURAL+ themes: migration, diversity and social inclusion.

What is PLURAL+?

Recognizing youth as powerful agents of social change in a world often characterized by intolerance, and cultural and religious divisions, PLURAL+ invites youth to address key challenges related to migrant integration, inclusiveness, identity, diversity, human rights and social cohesiveness, both at local and global levels.  Young people up to 25 years old are invited to submit short videos of five minutes maximum in length.

From http://pluralplus.unaoc.org/.

Michele Klein-Solomon, IOM Permanent Observer to the United Nations, said, “PLURAL+ videos touch very sensitive issues in a very real way.  They look at the realities that people are facing.  We like to see young people expressing their profound ideas in a manner that allows the opening of a dialogue.”

Jordi Torrent, UNAOC Project Manager, Media and Information Literacy, added: “PLURAL+ videos fit very well in this very relevant conversation: how to build more inclusive societies where we can all live together in harmony.”

PLURAL+ supports young people’s expression of their opinions by providing them with a variety of media platforms and distribution networks, including broadcasts, video festivals, conferences and events around the world.  PLURAL+ also reinforces the firm belief of IOM and UNAOC that youth are powerful and creative agents of social change.

PLURAL+ 30 Second Spot: SHARE YOUR VISION!

This video was created with the YouTube Video Editor (http://www.youtube.com/editor)

Competition information

A prestigious international jury will select three winners in each age categories (9-12, 13-17, and 18-25).  All the winners will be invited to New York, all travel expenses paid, to present their work at the PLURAL + 2013 Awards Ceremony at the Paley Center for Media in December 2013.

Mariana Araujo, a member of the PLURAL+ 2012 international jury commented,  “For me PLURAL+ is the best link between intercultural dialogue and intergenerational justice.  I can’t imagine a better way to understand the other but through their own eyes and listen with their ears.   With these videos I can internalize their emotions and realities through their stories.”

PLURAL+ 2013 deadline for video submission is 30 June, 2013. 
Early submissions are encouraged.   Further information, including guidelines, regulations, awards, and the entry form can be found at the PLURAL+ website at: www.unaoc.org/pluralplus

2012 winners

You can watch PLURAL+ 2012 winners here

Plural website

The Plural website is worth a visit. It can be found at http://pluralplus.unaoc.org/. On the website they give some resources that you can use for creating a video.

From http://pluralplus.unaoc.org/.

PLURAL+ is organized by the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations and the International Organization for Migration with the collaboration of many international partners, For more information, please contact:plural@unaoc.org

Why not give this competition a try! Your students will LOVE it! SchoolNet encourages South African teachers to enter this competition.