A tale of inequality based on the story of St Bridget’s Night and narrated in Manx was one of the joint winners of this year’s It’s Not Fair! short film competition for primary school children run annually by the One World Centre.
Participating for the first time, the Bunscoill Ghaelgagh used the story of how St Bridget had dressed as an old beggar woman seeking shelter on a stormy night to explore attitudes to refugees, displaced people and those who lose their homes through natural disasters.
Also picking up the title of Overall Winners at this year’s event was Sulby school with a film that compared the types of things that children in the Isle of Man think as unfair with the challenges faced by children in other countries such as child labour, extreme poverty and poor water and sanitation.
The It’s Not Fair! short film competition, now in its fifth year, is sponsored by Sure and supported by the Isle of Man Film Festival. The project invites primary school children to make a short film of no more than four minutes on the subject of unfairness, interpreted in a global context.
This year’s finalists from seven local primary schools covered a range of topics including the impact of conflict and climate change, health issues, Fairtrade and lack of access to education. The films were shown at a special awards screening held at Ballakermeen Studio Theatre in front of an audience of parents and teachers.
As well as picking up the joint winners award, Bunscoill Ghaelgagh won Best Story Telling and Sulby received Best Message.
Other entrants included Dhoon School who were awarded Best Acting, St Thomas’ who received Best Modelling and Animation and Arbory who won Best Design. Bunscoill Rhumsaa picked up Best Call to Action and the youngest entrants on the night from the reception and Year 1 classes at Ballasalla were awarded Best Music.
Commenting on the event Rosemary Clarke, Director of the One World Centre said, “Once again we have been over-whelmed by the work of these young students who have not only given a thoughtful response to some of the really difficult problems in the world today but have used some very detailed and tricky technical effects to produce such amazing films.
”Each year we are impressed by the variety and quality of the entries and we are very grateful to Sure and the Isle of Man Film Festival for the support they provide in helping this competition to continue.”
Sarah Jarvis, Marketing Manager of Sure who helped judge the awards along with Zoe Guildford from the Isle of Man Film Festival, said it was “humbling” to be involved with the project. “It is always an inspirational event and each year we see so much enthusiasm and passion from the students who participate, as well as the incredible filmwork they produce.
“The competition is a brilliant medium to introduce children to the fact that we live in an inequal world but, through compassion and global citizenship, we can all make a difference to those much less fortunate than ourselves.”
Photo - Students from Bunscoill Ghaelgagh and Sulby schools celebrate their joint success as overall winners in this year’s It’s Not Fair! film competition.
