Panasonic's alluring film making programme for students returns

General director of Panasonic Vietnam Marukawa Yoichi shared, “2022 is truly very special for us. Firstly, even though the challenges of the 2021 pandemic helped us to come up with initiatives to conduct our film-making programme online with various activities for the first time, we can now fully resume the KWN programme after a long interruption. Secondly, it is also the first year of our next 50-year journey with a strong commitment to wellness in Vietnam. In line with this vision, we have introduced the new Panasonic Sustainable Schools programme, and KWN is a part of this with new scope and new activities.”

Talking about the results of this year's programme, he also said, “I was really impressed by the way the children told their stories with deep care for the environment, families, friends, and various matters they observe. Throughout the filmmaking journey, we hope kids can develop a deeper understanding of what matters the most to them and the society and will be inspired to join initiatives for a better future.”

In 2022, the programme has been implemented with many exciting and meaningful learning opportunities, providing experience for participating students, such as soft-skill training, environmental classes, field trips, team-building, and film review activities. For the first time, the programme was expanded to local schools in Dong Anh district as a part of the Panasonic for Sustainable Schools programme.

For the KWN 2022 season, the film entitled If only my father did not smoke from the Viet Bamboo team has been honoured with the first prize in the 10-12-year-old category. It is a story of a kid spending a lot of effort to help his family and other people realise the harmfulness of smoking.

The first prize for 13-18-year-old students belongs to the film Dejavu made by a student group from Dong Anh district. It was an interesting and bright story about a kid who was used to throwing garbage around but finally changed to care more about environmental protection from the smallest action.

The two winning teams will have the opportunity to exchange their movies with other teams around the world at the KWN Global Summit event held online around the end of this year.

Nguyen Danh Khai, a student from the Viet Bamboo team who studies at Dich Vong Hau Secondary School shared their experience, “It was so much fun and made for an exciting summer, especially when I could participate in the programme with my friends. We learned a lot and would never have known that we are able to make an entire film from the start with our ideas to the final cinematic product. During the journey with KWN, getting to know how to use the professional camera was probably my favourite thing. So, I registered for the cameraman position in the group.”

Nguyen Thanh Van, the famous film director from Vietnam and a member of the jury board stated, “With more than 20 films produced this year and last, I see it was a great effort from the children and the organisers. I hope this programme will continue to be implemented every year as it is a great opportunity for children to learn about cinematography in a professional way. We really hope that among the hundreds of children participating in the programme, more talented directors and producers will be found in the future thanks to these very meaningful first steps.”

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