SBS premieres short films from National Youth Week competition winners
Friday 8 April, 2016
In March, SBS launched a competition inviting 14-20 year olds to submit a video pitch for a chance to produce a one-minute film themed around identity. The films explore identity issues facing young Australians ranging from refugee stories, Middle-Eastern and Muslim stereotypes, autism and gender dysphoria. The films will broadcast throughout National Youth Week from 8th-17th April, and will also be available via SBS On Demand and through the SBS Learn Youth Week portal.
Helen Kellie, SBS Chief Content Officer, said: “We had an overwhelming response to the SBS National Youth Week initiative with so many inspiring stories from across the nation. This is the first time SBS has run such an initiative and I am honoured that we can give young Australians a platform to share their stories of identity.”
The five winners are;
Stephanie Kurlow, 14, from Sydney dreams of being the world’s first professional hijab wearing ballerina. She overcomes the negative comments of twitter trolls through her passion and dedication to dance;
Caitlin Gerkin, 18, a young artist on the Autism Spectrum uses an analogy of the “Chinese Room” thought experiment to explain how she sees the world differently from others;
Atak Ngor, 18, was born in what is now South Sudan during the Second Sudanese Civil War. He left South Sudan when he was six for Kakuma Refugee camp and some years later, Australia. His film is dedicated to those he left behind;
Taz Clay, 17, a young Indigenous brotherboy shares his difficult journey to affirming his gender and the importance of speaking out about gender identity;
Anthony Farah, 20, AKA YouTube Vlogger Captain Fizzman, is having an identity crisis. He turns to the internet to find out what young Lebanese men like him “should” be doing with their lives. This humorous film examines cultural stereotypes in modern-day Australia.
As part of their prize, the five winners attended a residential workshop in Melbourne and with the help of SBS and the Foundation for Young Australians (FYA) were given the opportunity to produce their films.
Today, SBS Learn also launched SBS Youth Week Teacher Notes, a free teacher notes pack mapped to the national curriculum for use in classrooms. This resource provides teachers and educators with easy to follow discussion guides and activities to use while screening the five identity-themed films to students in years 7-10.
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