Piccadilly Lights and Big Syn Institute announces the first Piccadilly Lights Spotlight Prize to amplify voices that truly matter as part of the 2023 Big Syn International Film Festival and awards.
Category: Press release | Date: July 06, 2023 | By: Big Syn Institute, London. UK.
World’s biggest sustainability film festival will screen your stories of positive change on London’s iconic Piccadilly Lights.
Your stories and messages of combating local or global issues, from the cost of living crisis to climate change, can inspire millions more create a safe and sustainable world.
Big Syn Institute and London’s Piccadilly Lights, are inviting films and videos from people across the country to be screened on Piccadilly Lights as part of the 2023 Big Syn International Film festival – the world’s biggest sustainability film festival.
The festival is led by OSCAR, BAFTA and EMMY award-winning celebrities and leaders from policy, media and sustainability. Since 2019, it has reached over 8M in 90 countries to inspire positive actions, both small and big; all through the power of meaningful and relatable films.
The aim of screening films on Piccadilly Lights is to spotlight stories of positive change from the wider society in the UK – ones that can inspire millions more to act with urgency to combat local or global issues faced by the environment, economy or society at large. This unique opportunity, called ‘Piccadilly Lights Spotlight Prize’, is now open for entries until 30th Sep 2023. Anyone above 13 years of age can participate. Winning shorts or videos (max 5 min) and social media videos (59 sec) will be screened on Piccadilly Lights in November 2023. Submissions can be done via bigsyn.org.
About the Big Syn International Film Festival
This is the world’s biggest sustainability film festival and awards, and is led by OSCAR, BAFTA and EMMY award-winning celebrities and leaders from policy, media and sustainability. The festival was founded by first generation immigrants and sustainability thought leaders, Dr. Ragini G Roy and Dr. Sourav Roy, in 2019, to create public awareness about sustainability and advocate for the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs).
The festival welcomes all types of films; features, shorts, documentaries, animations, music videos, advertisements, corporate films, public service videos, as well as entries from young and teen filmmakers. The festival also includes a special free-to-enter showcase for UK’s marginalised filmmakers (women, disabled, LGBTQIA+ and ethnic minorities), and for films from Ukraine.
Anyone with an important message for the world can join the festival. The entries could be stories of change, resilience and adaptability, covering issues such as climate change, poverty, cost of living crisis, war, injustice, discrimination, disability, mental health, or the others for instance. All individuals (13+ yrs), filmmakers, schools, organisations, families, charities, neighbourhoods and communities can submitentries.
The festival has reached over 8M in 90 countries and inspired positive actions, both small and big; all through the power of meaningful and relatable films.
Through dialogue created around the films, viewers are helped to realise the greater significance of these stories and also led to suggestions around what they themselves can do to meet the UN’s Global Goals (UN SDGs ) by 2030, starting with the 170 actions recommended by the United Nations. For example, a film showing how people have started schools on boats in flood-prone regions in a certain country has inspired viewers in another country to start libraries on buses for slum children in their city.
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