Make Ireland Aware – Make a Movie
20.02.12
The Integration Centre, a non-profit organisation working towards social cohesion and the inclusion of people from immigrant backgrounds in Ireland, hosts a film competition to advance the topic of diversity.
Killian Forde, CEO of The Integration Centre said “integration is multifaceted, happens at all levels and is in many ways difficult to conceptualise.”
“This is because for successful integration to take place it must trickle into each aspect of everyday life. When it is taken as a common occurrence there will no longer be a need for such a body as The Integration Centre to exist.”
“Right now we are unfortunately not even close to this reality. The Integration Centre has a number of projects ongoing which all seek to promote integration at the local, national and EU levels. This film competition has been created specifically to target the issue of representation in the Irish media and to challenge the collective/public mindset on these issues."
“Role models are central to our identity as a society and our development as individuals. When people do not have representatives in the media they can identify with, this causes social problems and unease.”
“18% of secondary school students are from an immigrant background in Ireland. Ethnic minority invisibility in the media will have a major impact on how these young people identify themselves and interact with society as a whole."
“We hope that the films submitted to The Integration Centre will deal with these issues and the broad spectrum of topics debate on integration encourages.”
“Ireland has benefited from a burst of colour, creativity and cultural vibrancy brought by immigration in the recent past, hopefully this competition will encourage people to depict modern life in Ireland through film.”
The winning film will receive €500, be shown on YouTube, and the TIC website. The shortlisted five best films will be shown at the prize giving evening and on the TIC website.