Accomplishments

Two Journalism studetns win four major award at Mobile Film contest

Giann Sun and Wing Yau (Broadcast Journalism, Year 3) of the Journalism Department of the School of Communication clinched four major awards at the 8th Hong Kong Mobile Film Festival: Mobile Film Production Contest. Their co-produced work “Happy Selfie Time”, a short documentary on the selfie trend, brought them the Grand Award, the Best Documentary – Gold, the Best Campus (Tertiary) Award and the Best Thematic Micro-film Award. This year’s theme is “Time for Timeless”.

Through the documentary, Giann and Wing showed how taking selfies changed the lives of two ladies. A breast cancer patient relieved her physical and emotional pain by documenting her cancer treatment journey through photographs. Later, she organised a photo exhibition and her selfies became a source of positive energy for other patients. Another lady, a professional photographer launched a “cosplay” campaign and invited ordinary people in the city, such as a butcher, cobbler and hawker to engage in role reversal and take selfies for her. She also gave selfie lessons for women. Through taking selfies, she helped herself and her students to explore their identity.

Giann and Wing were surprised and delighted to receive the awards. They expressed their heartfelt gratitude to the interviewees for their frankness and trust. They also thanked Mr Alan Au, Part-time Lecturer of the Department of Journalism, for his encouragement and guidance. “Many people hold negative feelings towards selfies. After making this documentary, I realised that taking a selfie can be a positive act that helps people find solace, comfort their soul, search for their inner self and express their thoughts,” Giann said.

The 8th Hong Kong Mobile Film Festival: Mobile Film Production Contest was organised by Hong Kong Wireless Technology Industry Association and sponsored by Creative Hong Kong under the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau. This year, the contest attracted around 150 entries which were judged by professionals and the public. Please click here to watch the seven-minute documentary “Happy Selfie Time”.

 

	Wing Yau (left) and Giann Sun win four awards for their short documentary “Happy Selfie Time”