Espanola, New Mexico, USA: The SikhNet Youth Online Film Festival has announced the theme for this year’s festival: “Mother Earth”. As per a written statement issued by the SikhNet, [w]ith this theme, SikhNet encourages young Sikh film-makers to explore the growing crisis that humanity faces with the environment, and create movies that explore the issue, through documentary or fiction.
“Right now, the world faces ever escalating environmental pressures. India, especially, has to deal with an unprecedented amount of pollution. Patna, the birthplace of Guru Gobind Singh, is the 6th most polluted city in the world. And Amritsar is the 14th most polluted city in the world. Some of the issues that affect Sikhs in Punjab right now are: smog, the decreasing water table, the farming crisis, pesticides, energy use, lack of mass transit, overpopulation, burning of garbage and many more”, the statement reads.
Young film-makers are encouraged to explore one or more of the following themes:
Real or fictional dramas about how the environment is impacting us personally
Punjab – education and solutions
How to decrease the smog in Punjab/India
Guru Har Rai Ji’s role as a conservator, healer and lover of nature
Films about people making a difference with the environment – real or fictional
Sci-fi enacting how good/bad the environment will be in the future
Nature according to Gurbani
How your Gurdwara/Community/Family/Friends and yourself can help the environment
Research/Documentary about environmental issues
Research/Documentary about environmental solutions
How each of us individually impacts the environment & things we can do about it
Activism – making real change
The use of disposables (especially styrofoam) for Langars and Nagar Kirtans
Organic foods and Langars
As per statement the environmentally conscious organization Eco-Sikh will be a strategic partner during this year’s SikhNet Youth Online Film Festival.
Previous winners of the SikhNet Youth Online Film Festival have gone on to create careers for themselves in media and film. These winners include well-known Sikh film-maker Satdeep Singh, the statement notes.
Additionally, a grassroots movement in India has developed over the years in response to the SikhNet Youth Online Film Festival. Sikh groups select their favorite films from the festival and organize community events that feature the films. Films are shown in colleges, at Gurdwaras, in city theaters, and even in small villages.
This year, the film festival will award prizes based on three categories: Junior (11-17), Intermediate (18-28) and Senior (29 and above).
The first place winner of the Junior category will receive a cash prize of $500.
There will be three prizes of $1000 each for the best three movies in the Intermediate division.
The Senior category (ages 29 and above) will not receive a cash prize but will receive recognition for the best film.
Mother Earth: SikhNet Youth Online Film Festival Announces Theme for 2016
This year’s winners will be selected by a panel of expert judges. However, viewers will have a chance to cast their vote for their favorite films in the Intermediate division. While the popular vote will not necessarily determine the winners of the film festival, it will be a factor in the judges’ final decisions.
SikhNet considers every film submitted a winner, each in its own unique way.
The deadline for submissions to the film festival is August 31, 2016. Sikh youth can submit their films at: http://www.sikhnet.com/filmfestival/submit/…
The SikhNet Youth Online Film Festival began in 2006, when SikhNet recognized the need for youth to get involved in online media in order to better communicate the Sikh identity.
According to SikhNet Webmaster, Gurumustuk Singh, “Tapping into the creativity of Sikh youth worldwide has been one of SikhNet’s primary goals. In 2006, when we initiated the online film festival, we could not envision what beautiful films we would receive. Nor could we have imagined the groundswell of support from the Sikh community worldwide.”
This is the 11th year that SikhNet.com has hosted its annual film competition. During this time, the SikhNet Youth Online Film Festival has become one of the premier online events for the worldwide Sikh community.