The Democracy Video Challenge

The Democracy Video Challenge

The Democracy Video Challenge is a worldwide competition aimed at enhancing dialogue on democracy. It asks filmmakers, democracy advocates and the general public to create video shorts (3minutes or less) that complete the phrase, “Democracy is…” in an effort to enhance the global dialogue on democracy. This year’s contest will build on the momentum of the first annual challenge, which saw over 900 video submissions from 95 countries.

Challenge entrants will submit their videos to the Challenge's contest site at YouTube, [ http://www.youtube.com/democracychallenge] which has agreed to provide the video platform. The four guidelines for entrants are: no incitement to violence, no profanity, no pornography, and no commercial promotion.

Six regional winners will be selected by the online voting public in the spring of 2010. They will receive an all-expense paid trip to the United States that includes screenings of their videos in New York, Hollywood and Washington, meetings with film directors, public officials and democracy advocates from nongovernmental organizations, and time on film and TV sets. Contestants who wish to compete anonymously may also submit videos.

The Democracy Video Challenge is made possible by a broad public-private partnership. Partners include: the Center for International Private Enterprise, the International Republican Institute, the International Youth Foundation, the Motion Picture Association of America, NBC Universal, the Recording Industry Association of America, the National Democratic Institute, New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, USC’s Annenberg School of Communication, TakingITGlobal, the U.S. Department of State, and YouTube.

For more information about the DVC program visit: https://connect.infocentral.state.gov/pdtoolkit/index.php/Democracy_Video_Challenge_(2009-10)