Central School wins Pacific Prize for film production

Central School in Port Vila is one of two schools in the Pacific whose film productions have received international recognition.

The two films about climate change solutions produced by young Pacific Islanders, entered into the Connect4Climate documentary film competition, have received special recognition from the World Bank.

Connect4Climate decided to award the film ‘We Talk Too Much, But You Gotta Listen’, produced by students from Vanuatu’s Central School, a unique Pacific Prize to the value of $1500 (Vt150,000) for its creativity in presenting gender issues in the context of climate change, says the Pacific Media Assistance Scheme, PACMAS, whose office in based in Port Vila.

In addition, ‘The Children Are Our Future’, produced by special needs students from Samoa’s Loto Taumafai School, was given exceptional recognition by Connect4Climate for its enthusiastic interpretation of approaches to climate solutions.

In a media release PACMAS says the video platform, Vimeo, is also providing a Vimeo Plus account to both groups to give them high quality online access in the future. It says the attention the films have received is very timely given the recent agreement between the USA and China to further reduce their emissions, paving the way for scaling up international action on climate change.

Discussions at the recent G20 meeting in Brisbane, Australia, also focused on climate change and the actions that all countries must take in the lead up to the Climate Change Convention in Paris in December 2015.

“These talented young film makers connect their audience in emotional and powerful ways about the dangers of climate change. They have done serious, important work, which shows that climate change could result in a world that is unrecognizable today. And that we need to act now to protect the planet for future generations” Jim Young Kim, President, World Bank Group says.

Connect4Climate film competition, an initiative of the World Bank’s global communication program, Connect4Climate, asked youth from around the world to produce and submit a documentary telling a story about climate change.

Among the 230 compelling entries received from youth in 70 countries, 12 films produced as part of the PACMAS A2C2 (Action Against Climate Change) project by Pacific high school and university students from Samoa, Vanuatu, Kiribati, and Tuvalu were submitted. The films received international exposure at Cannes Film Festival, in Times Square and at a private meeting of leaders of the World Bank Group, the International Monetary Fund and the United Nations. An expert panel, head by Italian film director and screen writer Bernardo Bertolucci, viewed and charged the final films before announcing the winning entries.

“We’re so proud of all the students for getting so far in this competition – it has been a fantastic opportunity to share our local stories with the world,” said Francis Herman, PACMAS Program Manager.