Hakkari Girls Win Film Competition

Panasonic has been organising a “Kid Witness News” (KWN) competition worldwide since 1988. In Turkey, this short film competition has been held for the second time this year under the title “Life from Children’s Eyes”.

This year’s theme was environment and communication and the winners were announced in Istanbul yesterday.

"Snowdrop" won best film, actor, scenario and director... 

A film made in Hakkari, a Kurdish majority province in the southeast of Turkey which is usually in the media because of deprivation and armed conflict, has won the competition with prizes for the best film, best actor, best scenario and best director.

The film, entitled “snowdrop” was competing with films from other parts of Turkey. The film tells the story of a girl who lives in a village in Hakkari. She is denied education by her family and experiences gender discrimination. However, she becomes a painter.

The film was made by pupils of the Hakkari Modern Life regional boarding school. The children received their prize from Yilmaz Erdogan, a well-known writer, director and actor from the Hakkari province.

International competition 

The film will now represent Turkey in the first round of the international finals. Should it manage to be placed among the first six films worldwide, it would go into the next round.

In the same competition, the private Sisli Terakki Primary School won a special jury prize, and the Irmak schools won the prize for “best visuals.”

The jury was made up of academics from communication and fine arts departments, as well as a film critic, a film school director and a representative of the Panasonic Tekofaks company. (TK/AG)