(VNF) - In the morning of March 2^nd, an awarding ceremony for the final round of the film-making contest about "Girls' safety in public spaces and when using public transportation", initiated and launched by Plan International Vietnam, have been hosted in Hanoi.

This is a cooperative activity between Plan International Vietnam, Institute for Development & Community Health (LIGHT), and Department of Gender Equality under the Ministry of Labor – Invalids and Social Affairs within the framework of “Safer Cities for Girls” project initiated by Plan in Hanoi since 2014.

Preliminary competition was began from October 19^th to November 24^th, 2017 and 58 works were received in which five judges have selected the best 20 screenplays for the final round. During the two weeks of February 12^th-25^th, 2018, 20 short films received 5,923 views and still rising.

Sharon Maree Kane, Country Director of Plan International Vietnam delivers her speech at the award ceremony at the Youth Theatre of Vietnam.

Sharon Maree Kane, Country Director of Plan International Vietnam said: “I’m very happy to be here, in this film award ceremony in this morning. You’re all part of a very big global movement, looking at safe cities for girls. It’s a global movement has been implemented in many countries around the world. All the young film-makers today, are presenting this message in such powerful films. On behalf of Plan International Vietnam, I would like to congratuted all the award winners for their outstanding productions. You showed fabulous skills. You gives me encouragement that we are in the right track to be able to tackle these issues.”

The competition aims to create innovative media ideas about the safety of girls in public and when traveling on public transport in the city through the production of short films by young students (high school students, students are living and studying in Hanoi. At the same time, the competition also helped to create a playground for youngters to showcase their talents, to give the most true stories of social situations, and to suggest solutions to problems.

Two youngest contestants who are in grade 12 of Cau Giay high school.

Not just to showcase scriptwriting skills and film production, but more importantly, the competition was also an opportunity for young people to participate in creating a safe and friendly city where people - especially women and girls - are free to work and live, access or use public services. By participating in the contest, young people had the opportunity to speak out to promote gender equality and prevent gender-based violence, especially towards girls in public and on public transport. Young people will be the ones who express and convey the strong message "Make city safe for women and girls, make dreams come true".

On behalf of the judging panel, Nguyen Thu Giang, Deputy Director of the Institute for Development & Community Health (LIGHT), highly appreciated the quality of the entries. "Each of the submitted works has its own theme. Through all 20 works, the judges saw the seriousness and creativeness of the all contestants. Most films build a storyline that is coherent and logical.”

At the ceremony, 10 consolation prizes worth VND 3 million (USD 132) each, 3 third prize worth 5 million VND (USD 220) each, and 3 second prizes were also the highest prizes of the contest, worth 10 million VND (USD 440) each were given to 16 contestants.

Contestants/group of contestants pose for a photo.

20 selected films has officially been premiered from: https://www.unews.vn/category/an-toan-be-gai.html.

Phuong Nguyen