Run by tv/e, the tvebiomovies 2013 competition was aimed at both aspiring and established film-makers. Entries were submitted to seven individual categories – Climate Change; Seas and Oceans; Agricultural and Forest Biodiversity; People and the Planet; Food Waste; Sustainable Resources Initiative; and a World Worth Protecting. A total of 565 film proposals from 75 different countries were received, each one using a unique style and technique to convey its message.
UNEP has supported the competition since it began four years ago and this year it sponsored the Climate Change and Food Waste categories to reflect its key areas of work, in particular its current campaign to reduce food waste. Anna Chenery from the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) was part of the judging panel that selected 14 proposals, two from each category, to receive USD 300 and an opportunity to turn script into film.
Once made, the films were uploaded onto YouTube for the whole world to watch and share, and were even shown by UNEP at the UN Climate Conference COP 19 in Warsaw, Poland, in November 2013. After two months, the video in each category with the most views on YouTube was declared the winner. The results were officially announced at an event in London, United Kingdom, on 15 January where Eugenie Regan, Senior Programme Officer at UNEP-WCMC presented the UNEP sponsored prizes.
The recipient of The UNEP Prize for Food Waste was Amrit Bhandari from Nepal with his video, ‘The Foolish Guy from Nepal” and the winner of The UNEP Prize for Climate Change was a group called Alkeemia from Mauritius with their video, “Anti-Climate Change Missiles”. All winners received a prize of USD 1,500. The films are still available online where they will continue to showcase the imagination of these environmentally minded film-makers.
Watch all 14 shortlisted films
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