Bogotá, September 10, 2024 – The largest film festival made with cell phones in the world, Smartfilms, took over the country with a tour that trained more than a thousand people in eight cities in the country, with the aim of teaching about audiovisual production and the importance of COP16 for Colombia.
This was achieved thanks to the alliance between Smartfilms and the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, in which the COP16 category was opened for Colombians to postulate their 30-second spots on Peace with Nature actions.
In an alliance between the Ministry of Environment and Smartfilms, more than 1000 Colombians were trained on audiovisual production and COP16, the most important summit on biodiversity in the world.
At the close of the call for entries, the Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development, Susana Muhamad, said that“We received with great enthusiasm the 400 short films from all over the country that portray our natural wealth and the actions that are carried out in the territories to make Peace with Nature. This is a sign of the great mobilization that we are generating around COP16 in all sectors. We thank all those who joined this call and challenged their creativity”.
As a result of this tour and the call for entries, which was open until September 6, 400 short films were received that portray the best of Colombian biodiversity and the actions that make Peace with Nature in the territories.
The training tour promoted the creation of content promoting biodiversity conservation and highlighting Colombia as a source of natural resources that offers new ways for harmonious coexistence with the environment. It also allowed the creatives to use their cell phones as the main tool in the production of narratives.
This tour reached Villavicencio, San José del Guaviare, Buenaventura, Santander de Quilichao, Tumaco, Florencia, San Andrés and Quibdó.
Smartfilms Festival Awards
The short films shortlisted will be presented during the tenth edition of the Smartfilms Festival, to be held from September 26 to 28 at the Bima Shopping Mall in Bogota. Finally, the winning video will be awarded 20 million pesos and will be announced on October 1st at an awards gala at the Julio Mario Santo Domingo Theater, in the country's capital city.
To date, amateurs and professionals from all over the country have submitted more than 400 30-second spots, reflecting in their short films actions for Peace with Nature in the Smartfilms COP16 category. The winner will be awarded 20 million pesos on October 1st.
With these actions in the national territory, the Government continues to ratify its commitment to make this the COP of the People, in which the scenarios of citizen participation are expanded to make visible their visions and actions around the importance of halting the loss of biodiversity in the country and the world.
COP16 will be held in Cali (Colombia) from October 21 to November 1.