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UNESCO wishes to provide talented filmmakers and public service broadcasters with an opportunity to explore new, challenging and creative ways of encouraging reflection and debate on development issues through new uses of audiovisual language.
Within the framework of its intersectorial project “Harnessing ICTs for the audiovisual industry and public service broadcasting in developing countries”, UNESCO launched a call for proposals for production grants to television and film professionals in June 2004.
With this initiative, UNESCO intends to produce and distribute a series of audiovisual productions particularly attractive for young adults (20-35), and which aim at increasing the understanding of developmental and societal issues, identified as priority fields by UNESCO, namely: human rights, peace, tolerance, the fight against discrimination, Millennium Development Goals, particularly poverty-alleviation and gender equality and women empowerment; freedom of expression and intercultural communication.
With this initiative, UNESCO intends to produce and distribute a series of audiovisual productions particularly attractive for young adults (20-35), and which aim at increasing the understanding of developmental and societal issues, identified as priority fields by UNESCO, namely: human rights, peace, tolerance, the fight against discrimination, Millennium Development Goals, particularly poverty-alleviation and gender equality and women empowerment; freedom of expression and intercultural communication.
Production proposals were encouraged to offer a critical analysis of sub-regional/regional situations that can provide audiences with a fresh perspective on development issues, as well as a reflection on alternatives, at individual and community levels to the current state of affairs. As the selected themes have sometimes been over-exposed, it was strongly encouraged that non-conventional forms of audiovisual language be used, exploring new, challenging and creative ways of encouraging reflection and public debate on development issues.
The criteria for selection of proposals were as follows:
- Genre - documentary, short film, children’s programme, animation or magazine
- Production proposals that are challenging, innovative and creative in their form and/or content
- Production proposals that are public service oriented
- Production proposals that are preferably from developing countries
- Production proposals that target all publics but particularly young adults between 20 and 35 years of age.
- Programmes in languages other than English, French or Spanish should be subtitled in one of these three languages
