Budding filmmakers challenged to produce ‘good’ clips

If you’re quick with a video camera, the Shari Arison Awareness Communication Center at the Herzliya Interdisciplinary Center wants you — to upload a film clip to its Facebook page and app, for the Center’s “Keta Tov” online film festival. The “good clips” (Keta Tov in English) uploaded to the site will be included in a contest in which winners receive prizes like an iMac, an iPad, or a TV.

It’s not about the prizes, though, said Yadin Katz, one of the organizers of the festival; it’s about enjoying a good clip, and about unity, the theme of this year’s event. “There are categories for the clips, like family, friends, good deeds, etc., but we’re looking for all of the clips to revolve around the theme of unity.”

The center encourages positive values, such as responsibility and fairness, among members of the media. “The clips are given to members of the media and the heads of organizations that are engaged in positive social activities, who judge them and decide which clips best illustrate the theme of the event,” said Katz. Participants can use their smartphone’s video camera, or a full professional broadcast system to upload short clips, of between 30 and 90 seconds. “We don’t care about how high quality the clip is, but what the clip is about.” The top 15 clips (based on Facebook likes and number of viewers) will be sent to the judges, who will choose the three top winners.

This is the second year the festival is taking place, and the first one to be called Keta Tov (last year, the festival was called Eco-Clip, with films dedicated to encouraging and enhancing good environmental habits), expressing the organizers’ efforts to build an event that can encompass numerous positive themes, one of which will be emphasized each year.

Last year, said Katz, the festival got off to a quick start, with over 60 clips uploaded and hundreds of thousands of viewers around the world, and Katz expects the same numbers this year. Submissions may be made until the beginning of June.

Said Katz: “The whole point is to promote responsible use of technology and new media platforms such as the Internet, social networks and mobile phones. It’s a great way to have fun, and encourage good values at the same time.”