EMTV has won the country another major international TV Award for its UNDP film documentary, ‘Driving the Change’.
The documentary produced by EMTV subsidiary, EMTEK Multimedia and directed by Marco Venditti, was awarded best documentary in the Humanity category at the 14th Asia Media Summit, held in the city of Qingdao, China, yesterday.
“Driving the Change” tells the story of the village of Domil in the Jiwaka province of Papua New Guinea; a community striving to achieve some of the Sustainable Development Goals as set by the United Nations, through a poultry project which uses locally grown cassava and sweet potatoes milled into chicken feed. This was in order to avoid expensive imported products.
The Asia Media Summit is an annual event that started in 2003.
It attracts productions from some of the most prestigious broadcasters in the Asia Pacific Region, as well as the wider world.
500 delegates from over 120 countries attended the summit, which covered issues such as the role of media in alleviating poverty worldwide.
In his acceptance speech, Director Marco Venditti said “..it was an honor to receive this prize on behalf of EMTV, EMTEK Multimedia and Papua New Guinea as a whole, a country which has been going through a rapid socioeconomic transformation in recent years, but often receives an undeserved negative reporting in the international media.”
This is not the first time EMTV has attracted international recognition for film production.
A short film produced by Scott Waide in 2007 was Awarded Best Electronic News Story by the Pacific Islands News Association and best news feature by the European Broadcasting Union and Asia Broacasting Union.
It told the story of a boy who relentlessly repeated Grade 6, because of a shortage of teachers, driven by a dream to become a pilot.
EMTV has won other international awards in its 30 years of Television services.
“Driving the Change” represents EMTV’s progress in the global film industry since then.
The Head of EMTEK Multimedia, Sheena Hughes, also stated that this is only the beginning of many more documentaries that will not only showcase PNG to the world but also highlight the talent of Papua New Guineans who have played a major role in these world class productions.
