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First National Contest of Cinema, Video and TV

Cinthia Membreño | May 24, 2011

Filmmakers, independent producers and fans of cinema will be able to participate with their films and audiovisual pieces in the First National Contest of Cinema, Video and Television, a contest that seeks to promote creation and production in Nicaragua. The event, which will provide awards to the best of each category, is being sponsored by the Film and Image Foundation (Fucine), the Nicaraguan Institute of Culture (INC), the Casa de los 3 Mundos Foundation, and other institutions related to culture and cinema.

Fernando Somarriba de Valery, Fucine's president, explained that Nicaragua hasn't had a contest like this one before, only festivals mainly that were mainly focused on international films. "We'd like to encourage national producers to create high quality pieces. This is also a good opportunity for guild members, because this will get a chance to know each other," he stated.

Luis Morales Alonso, director of the Nicaraguan Institute of Culture (INC), described the competition as a festival of images. "Supporting this contest is a commitment for us (...) it's not worthy to say that we're proud of Nicaragua if we don't support national artists," he said. In addition, Morales explained that the approval of the Law on Cinematography and Audiovisual Arts is one of the major accomplishments of the cinema guild, which will help promoting Nicaraguan projects.

According to organizers, this first contest will have two categories: cinema, and video and TV. The first category includes genres such as fiction, documentary, institutional documentary, video clip, amateur video and animation. The second category, on the other hand, comprises TV programs, TV reportages and commercials. There is no there is no required age range for participants, nor specific subjects or duration of the pieces. The only requirement is that they have been filmed in Nicaragua during the two years prior to the announcement.

As for the reception period, participants must send copies of the pieces between May 21st and September 30th, 2011, at Fucine. Also, these copies must have a registration form tha can be requested via e-mail (info@fucine.org.ni). After this period, the selected pieces will be publicly announced (October 15th) to compete within each category. Winners will be awarded during the second week of December and will get a statuette and a certificate.

In addition to this acknowledgements, organizers will be in charge of promoting the cinematography and audiovisual pieces. Fernando Somarriba explained that, since this is the first edition of the contest, winners will only get physical awards. However, organizers expect to be able to provide scholarships to study abroad in the near future. Somarriba also informed that the event will be held every two years, until the quantity of productions allows organizers to do it annually. For further information about the competition go to: http://www.fucine.org.ni/fucine/Inicio.html.