KWN Global Awards Ceremony was held in Tokyo as part of the KWN
Global Summit 2017
Panasonic Corporation held the awards ceremony for the Kid
Witness News (KWN) Global Contest 2017 on August 4 in Tokyo. This
year the Grand Prix in the Primary Category was won by "One day of
Beijing Kids," the video of Beijing Haidian Wanquan Primary School
of China, while the Grand Prix in the Secondary Category was won by
"Open.," the video of Fukushima Prefectural Iwaki Senior High
School.
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The KWN Global Contest 2017 was held with
18 countries/region students as part of the KWN Global Summit 2017
Week. (Photo: Business Wire)
The 26 first-place works in each country for the global contest
this year were particularly notable for the degree to which they
depicted the diverse societies and real world that children live
in, from their own perspective as children, dealing with themes
such as school, family, persons with disabilities, patients with
post-traumatic stress disorder, sports, and the joy of creating
video works.
"One day of Beijing Kids," the Grand Prix-winning work in the
Primary Category, by Beijing Haidian Wanquan Primary School,
highlighted the hardships of children in Beijing who spend morning
to night busy with study and activities. This work probes at the
core of what children really want to do, as they are caught up in
their own busy lives.
"Open.," the Grand Prix winner in the Secondary Category, by
Fukushima Prefectural Iwaki Senior High School, was shot as a
silent film without spoken dialogue to convey the message that
there are things that can be communicated even without words. It
shows us that communication is the best way for people to become
closer to one another, with the ability to open up closed hearts
even with unconscious behavior.
The awards ceremony this time was held as part of the first-ever
KWN Global Summit 2017 Week. KWN Global Summit 2017 was held from
August 1 to 5 in Tokyo, bringing together approximately 100
representatives from 26 schools in 18 countries involved in the KWN
Global Contest. The awards ceremony on August 4 announced and
presented the Global Citizenship Award and six other awards, and
finally the Grand Prix. At the KWN Global Summit 2017, the Kid
Journalists representing various countries gathered information
about their own country, other countries, and Tokyo to present
their own proposal to a future society.
KWN activities are currently being conducted in 18 different
countries and region around the world as part of Panasonic's
educational support activities for the next generation. This is an
interactive educational program in which participating schools are
supplied with video equipment and the videos they produce are
judged in contests every year. The children complete the entire
production process themselves, from planning to investigation,
filming, and editing. First launched in the United States in 1989,
KWN has now been running for 28 years with a total of more than
180,000 children and their teachers taking part so far. This year's
contest stimulates children's interest in sports under the current
themes of "Environment," "Communication," and "Sports."
Panasonic will contribute to the development of the required
qualities and skills to live in the future society and global
talent. From this perspective, Panasonic will give its full support
to children and youth through KWN and other activities to enable
them to show all of their skills and potential as they strive
toward their dreams and the future.
● Brief summaries of the KWN 2017 works
(Listed alphabetically by country name)
Award
Country/school/title
Topic/details Primary Category (primary schools)
Grand Prix andBest K-FactorAward
[China]Beijing Haidian WanquanPrimary
School
Communication: The video depicts the sadness of Beijing
children who spend their entire days studying. One day of Beijing
Kids
BestStorytellingAward
[Malaysia]Long Sepiling Primary School
Communication: The video focusing on hands, with the message that
hands are a divine gift that joins people together. The Power of
Hands
TrueSportsmanshipAward
[Thailand]Assumption
SamutprakarnSchool
Sports: The main character of the video learns about sportsmanship
and paying respect to one's opponent. The Winner
Secondary Category (junior high and high schools)
Best EditingAward
[Germany]Wirsberg-Gymnasium
Communication: The video is a comedic documentary taking a humorous
look at the various attempts and difficulties encountered producing
this video from the students' aspects. Attention Film!
Grand Prix andBest ConceptAward
[Japan]Fukushima PrefecturalIwaki Senior
High School
Communication: The video without words shows communication is the
best way of bringing people closer together. Open.
Creative MediaAward
[Thailand]Montfort College
Communication: The story of a young girl whose mother suffers from
schizophrenia, and who falls into depression herself due to
relationships with society and at school. Dead End
Global CitizensAward
[United Arab Emirates]Elite Private
school
Communication: The video is about the people suffering from PTSD
due to war or the loss of loved ones getting back on their feet
with the support of those around them. Afflictions
* The final seven nominated works can be seen on the
official KWN website.
- KWN Global Contest 2017 Special
Websitehttp://www.panasonic.com/jp/corporate/kwn/contest2017/
- KWN Global Contest 2017 Special Website
(English)http://www.panasonic.com/global/corporate/kwn/contest2017/
● What is KWN?KWN was launched in 1989 when the local Panasonic
company in the United States supplied video recording and editing
equipment to public elementary and junior high schools for an
educational program in which children could produce news videos
from their own perspective. The program was then developed
globally, with 18 different countries and region taking part today.
The aims of the KWN activities are, through video production, to
foster creativity among the children and to raise their social
awareness as they investigate things like regional society and
global environmental issues. Those overseeing the activities have
also reported an educational value to the teamwork skills that can
be cultivated through the video production process. The program
also allows participating schools the opportunity for international
exchange through the global network of KWN participating
schools.
* Participants: 18 countries and region (in alphabetical
order)
North America Canada, United States Latin America
Brazil, Panama Europe Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Slovakia
Middle East/Africa Oman, Tanzania, United Arab Emirates Asia
China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam
About PanasonicPanasonic
Corporation is a worldwide leader in the development of diverse
electronics technologies and solutions for customers in the
consumer electronics, housing, automotive, and B2B businesses.
Celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2018, the company has expanded
globally and now operates 495 subsidiaries and 91 associated
companies worldwide, recording consolidated net sales of 7.343
trillion yen for the year ended March 31, 2017. Committed to
pursuing new value through innovation across divisional lines, the
company uses its technologies to create a better life and a better
world for its customers. To learn more about Panasonic:
http://www.panasonic.com/global.
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Media Contact:Panasonic CorporationGlobal Communications
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