18 March-15 April Registration form and video submission
16 April-19 April Final review of works & program packaging
20 April Award Ceremony & broadcasting and streaming of prize-winning video works
Summary
Coinciding with the 50th anniversary of China's restoration of its legal seat in the United Nations, CMG (China Media Group) Europe, the UNOG (United Nations Office at Geneva) and the Permanent Mission of China to the United Nations at Geneva are jointly launching the 2021 United Nations Chinese Language Day & First CMG Chinese-language Video Festival Abroad. The event intends to run an original video works competition online for foreigners from all across the globe, and to hold a virtual Chinese Language Video Festival and Awards Ceremony. At the end of the festival, part of the award-winning works will be selected to produce a special program, which will be subsequently streamed on the official website of the United Nations, Facebook, YouTube, as well as the multimedia platforms of the CMG and the websites of the cooperative media organizations of the event. The purpose of the event is to show the world a genuine China in an all-round way from the foreigners’ perspective.
The event will be held jointly by the UNOG (United Nations Office at Geneva), the PMCUNG (Permanent Mission of China to the United Nations at Geneva) and the CMG (China Media Group).
Theme and Format
Do you still remember those incredible things that happened to you in spring time? They could be small but beautiful moments in the form of a poem, a song, or just some special pieces of memory.
The cold winter cannot stop the pace of spring. No winter lasts forever. No spring skips its turn. It's once again a good spring time.
It is evident that everyone is looking forward to the end of the pandemic and the recovery of everything in the post-pandemic era. People are waiting for the trees to bud and for the flowers to blossom. Meanwhile, they are also looking forward to cooperation to replace estrangement, understanding to replace prejudice, and faith to replace fear. We as organizers firmly believe that what will eventually usher in will be blooming spring flowers in all sorts of colours.
There has never been a lack of language to describe the beauty of spring in both ancient and modern times. The beauty of spring is that it is a picture full of prosperity and that it brings life and hope to all things in its own unique way. Now that the spring is in the air we feel that the world is full of hopes for better times because of its diverse civilizations, and all civilizations share the same beauty because of exchanges and mutual learning between different countries and peoples.
In light of this, the United Nations Office at Geneva, the Permanent Office of China to the United Nations at Geneva, and the CMG would like to invite everyone whose mother tongue is not Chinese to make their own short videos to talk about spring and to tell their stories happening in spring.
The video works can include but not limited to the following themes and topics showcasing:
Chinese characters in the Chinese language,
Chinese culinary culture,
Chinese calligraphy,
and the beauty of Chinese poetry.
In addition to the aforementioned topics, candidates can also choose to record their videos by telling their own stories or narrating pieces of memory related to springtime. The format can be flexible, candidates can make their videos through talent show, storytelling, scientific knowledge explanation or Chinese language challenge games etc, as long as the video works are original.
Eligibility
The competition is open to all foreigners who love the Chinese culture and language and who have been learning the Chinese language.
Terms and Conditions
1. There is no limit for the length and the format of the participating videos. However, the content should be lively, positive and engaging.
2. Every candidate can submit up to 2 videos.
3. Videos can be in one of the following formats: MOV, AVI, MP4 or WMV.
4. There is no language restriction on the work, but the content must contain Chinese cultural elements. All candidates are required to prepare their own manuscripts in both Chinese and English, and the organizing committee of the First CMG First Chinese-language Video Festival Abroad will package the award-winning videos and use them to produce a whole special program for broadcasting and streaming purposes.
5. The videos should not contain any content (text, language, music, narration, scene, background information etc.) that contradicts the laws and regulations of the People's Republic of China, nor should they contain pornography, violence, drugs, gambling etc. In addition, they should not contain any content involving religious discrimination, racial discrimination and any other form of social discrimination.
6. All candidates should confirm that they own the copyrights of their video works. The participating works and the footage used should not involve any issues in relation to any third party’s intellectual property rights, portrait rights and rights to reputation and privacy etc. nor should they violate the relevant laws and regulations of the People's Republic of China, and will not be investigated or sanctioned by any administrative and/or judicial agencies. If there is a dispute over the copyright of the video works or is subject to administrative investigations or sanctions, the organizing committee reserves the right to cancel the participation qualification and the prizes.
7. If the videos work infringes the intellectual property rights and/or other legal rights of a third party, the participant shall be solely responsible for handling relevant disputes and compensate the third party. If the organizing committee has to suffer any damage due to the aforementioned reasons, the participant shall fully compensate the organizing committee for the loss.
8. All the video works submitted by either individuals or organisations are deemed to be granted the right to broadcast and stream by the organizing committee of the First CMG Chinese-language Video Festival Abroad during the competition. The videos, still images, copies of Chinese/English subtitles, and promotional films of the entries may be used by the organizing committee of the First CMG Chinese-language Video Festival Abroad for any promotional activities of this festival and its subsequent screening. These activities may include being reported by news media organizations, broadcasting, making trailers, appearing in any promotional booklets, special book issues, TV, steaming on the Internet and mobile platforms and other new media special promotional programs.
9. By submitting the videos, all the participants agree to authorize the CMG (hereinafter referred to as the "Main Station") to broadcast and stream them on the official website of the United Nations, Facebook, YouTube, all the media platforms of the main station and the websites of collaborating media organizations and institutions (including but not limited to TV, radio, Internet, mobile communication network, IPTV, Internet TV, mobile media TV, various software applications and any other audio and video broadcasting and streaming platforms) permanently, irrevocably, non-exclusively and free of charge. The Main Station can use the whole or part of the video. It can also copy, modify, edit the video and publish and translate the content of the video for broadcasting and streaming purposes.
10. The organizing committee has the right to issue limited commemorative albums, commemorative DVDs, etc., without paying any fees to the participants.
11. The organizing committee has the right to keep the shortlisted videos and use them for screening and international cultural exchange purposes.
12. By participating in the competition, all candidates agree to authorize the organizing committee to act as the exclusive agent for their videos to be used and marketed outside of Mainland China. The organizing committee is also entitled to negotiate any international exhibition and overseas promotion opportunities for these videos on behalf of the candidates.
13. Any submission of works for the festival means that the participant agrees to accept all the terms and conditions published by the organizing committee. Any updates to rules of the competition will be published promptly on the official website of the event. Should the participant find the updates unacceptable, he has the right to withdraw from the competition. If the organizing committee is not notified of the decision to withdraw from the competition by email by the participant seven working days after the announcement of the changes to the competition, it will be deemed that the participant accepts all the updates and changes.
14. Once submitted, candidates shall not withdraw the works that have been selected for the First CMG Chinese-language Video Festival Abroad without authorization for any reason.
15. After the announcement of the winners, the organizing committee will notify all winners. If no one confirms and collects the award within seven working days of the notification, it will be deemed as an automatically waiver. All winning works will receive a certificate issued by the organizing committee.
16. Once submitted, the videos will not be returned. Participants are requested to make their own backup copies before submission of their work.
17. No application fees required for taking part in the competition.
18. The organizing committee shall not bear any legal responsibility if the film festival cannot be held due to force majeure, the requirements of laws and regulations, the requirements of the headquarters, or the orders and notices of other competent authorities.
19. All disputes arising from participating in the Festival shall be resolved by the Organizing Committee and the participants through friendly negotiation. If the two parties fail to reach a friendly negotiation, they shall submit their case to the People’s Court of Beijing Haidian District for settlement, and the settlement of relevant disputes shall be governed by Chinese law.
20. The organising committee of the 2021 United Nations Chinese Language Day & First CMG Chinese-language Video Festival Abroad reserves all the right for the final interpretation of this event.
Sign up
1. In order to sign up, candidates living in China should log in to the official website of the event (still to be decided by www.cctv.com). They need to fill in the application form and upload the video file.
2. Candidates living outside of China should fill in the same application form and send the completed form to the following email address: chineselanguagevideofestival@gmail.com
In the subject area of the email, candidates should give the following information: name of the video & name of the contact person.
Awards
The event organizer will invite experts in the field to form a jury. The jury will make preliminary and final evaluation of the submitted video works. The selection process will result in three for each of the following awards: Best Video Photography, Best Video Editing, Best Video Creativity, Best Video Influencer and Special Jury Award. In addition, six special awards of Youth Cultural Ambassador will also be given. Winners will receive scholarships to study Chinese from top Chinese universities and be able to take part in “Experiencing China” summer school project. They will also get work placement and even employment opportunities at CMG Europe. Moreover, five “Excellent Organization Awards" will also be given. Contingent on the pandemic, the five winners will have the opportunity to visit and exchange at the Palais des Nations of the United Nations Office at Geneva.
All award-winning individuals and organizations will receive certificates jointly issued by CMG Europe and the United Nations Office at Geneva. On the day of 2021 United Nations Chinese Language Day & First CM Chinese-language Video Festival Abroad, outstanding award-winning video works will be streamed simultaneously on multimedia platforms arranged specifically for this competition by the organizers, the co-organizers, the media partners, collaborative agencies, institutions and individuals.