Ginkgo Award Honours Work Against Violence

Munich, May 2015 - The 7th International Creative Contest will start immediately under the motto of "Change the world! Be creative! Take part!". Awards will be given for special ideas and outstanding work that address the topic of preventing violence and protecting children and young people. From photography to lovingly animated films, from music to advertising: during the past, hundreds of pieces of work from all over the work have been submitted and the most convincing received an award.

Under the motto of "Change the world! Be creative! Take part!", the aim of the 7th Creative Contest is to increase awareness with regard to the dangers involved for children and young people when using media and in society. This contest calls for participants to find creative solutions for conflicts without resorting to violence. The challenge is to resolve conflicts at all levels in an open and peaceful manner.

Media contest in nine categories The contest includes the categories of Photography, Film, Animated Film, Game Design, Music/Sound, Dramaturgy, Painting/Drawing/Illustration/Comic Art, Advertising/PR and Journalism. The closing date for submission is 31 July 2015. This contest is open to professionals as well as amateurs, children, young people and adults. Individuals as well as school classes, associations and clubs may make submissions. The jury regards contemporary interpretation and modern language to be important for their decision, as this will enable ideas to be accepted quickly and directly by the audience and allow these ideas to be spread widely on the Internet and in the media.

We are looking for ideas that will carry the idea of preventing violence around the world. The winners of this Creative Contest will receive valuable non-cash prizes donated by our sponsors (including Hasselblad, Red, Leica, Avid, Canon, JVC, Yamaha, Korg, Ricoh and Casio) as well as international coverage in various media. As in previous years, the winners will receive the Ginkgo Award during a gala event in Munich, while honorary awards will be given to celebrities from the film industry for exceptional productions. In the past, the German actor, Klaus J. Behrendt, the well-known director, Kai Wessel, the dubbing actor, Joachim Kerzel (the German voice for Jack Nicholson, Dustin Hoffman and Anthony Hopkins) as well as the Bayerische Fernsehen and SAT.1 have received honorary awards.

For the seventh time, the agi (ArbeitsGruppe International) and the non-profit organisation “Glückliche Familie e.V.”, a registered association, are organising this international Creative Contest. Together with universities, academies, institutions and renowned cooperative partners and sponsors, anyone and everyone is invited to engage themselves creatively with the prevention of violence.

In addition to physical violence, children and young people, in particular, are increasingly being exposed to psychological violence. On the one hand, traditional media such as cinema and television play a major role here. Many of the contents that are easily accessible on the Internet, distributed by suppliers without restriction and in an uncontrolled manner, proclaim questionable values and burden children and young people with extreme images and content. In order to process all of this, they need adult support. An enormous challenge for families, professionals, society and politics! The deliberate confrontation with violence against children and young people and, in particular, the concept of prevention is of great concern to the organisers of this contest and all of the people committed to this project.

Holger von Hartlieb, Executive Board of Glückliche Familie e.V., explains the vision behind this year's contest: “The prerequisite for peace and a life without violence is to ignite a global spark of comprehension that the actual value of life is not found in material wealth, but in spiritual wealth, not in mutually killing one another, but in peaceful co-existence. How do we get that into people's heads? Certainly not by using force.”

Click here for more information as well as to view the work of the award winners from previous years: http://www.foto-film-game-contest.de/index.php/printplakate.html

Prominent ambassadors for the Ginkgo Award (video clips): http://www.glueckliche-familie-ev.de/

Conditions http://www.foto-film-game-contest.de/index.php/teilnahmebedingungen.html

Upload portal: http://www.foto-film-game-contest.de/index.php/home.html

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