BAFTA winners and luminaries from film, media, academia, sustainability and policy join the Grand Jury of the Big Syn International Film Fest, the biggest online UNSDGs film festival.
Category: Press release | Date: November 7, 2019 | By: Big Syn Institute, London. UK.
“Films entertain, but can also educate and connect people and hence can be a unique force for change”, said Amma Asante, MBE, the first Black woman to win a BAFTA film award for directing a feature film, who is part of the a 12-member Grand Jury of the 2019 Big Syn International Film Festival (#bigsynfilmfest19). She added, “this festival is an important platform for the society at large to be made aware of the UNSDGs and encourage further participation from everyone for the UN 2030 Agenda.” Another esteemed member of the Grand Jury, Gurinder Chadha, OBE, the U.K’s most prolific female director working today, remarked, “now it is more urgent than ever for cinema to inspire global citizens to make positive changes for our society and our planet”. That is exactly what the films submitted for the festival are trying to achieve. The festival is the world’s biggest not-for-profit film festival that is exclusively celebrating feature films, shorts, animations, documentaries and all other forms of videos, that are inspiring viewers to act on the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs).
“Our festival is a novel online platform, where, through meaningful visual stories, thousands of global viewers are relating the importance of the UNSDGs to their own lives and communities around them. Only an honest relatability to issues like climate change, poverty, hunger, gender equality and others can encourage real action from people”, stated Dr. Sourav Roy, CEO, Centre for Big Synergy, the festival organiser. The festival has reached more than 20,000 filmmakers in over 30 countries and supports sustainable filmmaking.
As a part of the ongoing festival, a very diverse array of films, documentaries and animations has already been nominated for the People’s Choice Award and are currently being viewed and voted by the public. “The mix of films in the festival are diverse with a wide range of voices, but above all engaging”, remarked Professor Lyndsay Duthie, Head of School for Film, Media & Performing Arts at University for the Creative Arts, another esteemed member of the festival’s Grand Jury. With over 3700 votes received so far, public voting for these films ensure that viewers from across the borders and continents are made aware of the filmmakers’ motivation for making the films and the significance of relevant UNSDGs portrayed in those. Filmmakers too are able to connect with hundreds and thousands unlike a conventional film festival.
The festival is raising funds for WWF,UNICEF, MIND, World Cancer Research Fund, and the Film & Television Charity. Filmmakers can donate any amount to these selected charities and submit their films for free!
Entries are open until 20th of December – official selections and winners will be screened online between 26th – 31st December 2019.
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