School Students to Become Budding Filmmakers

Kid Witness News (KWN) is set to kick off once again for 2009, with 63 primary and secondary schools across Australia participating this year.

KWN is a national short film program which encourages students to think more deeply, explore their creativity and develop communication skills through the use of technology.

Students all around Australia will direct, shoot and star in a five minute video, involving all aspects of filmmaking including determining the subject matter, scriptwriting, filming and editing.

Developed in collaboration with The Department of Education, the KWN program integrates subjects such as English, Drama, Computer Studies, Creative Arts and Social Science ensuring the program satisfies the education requirements of all primary and secondary students.

TV personality, Toni Pearen will once again be the ambassador for KWN and will host the New Vision Awards which will take place in Sydney at the conclusion of the program. As of January 2009, 617 schools and around 8,000 children are participating in 25 countries/regions around the world including Canada, USA, Brazil, Peru, Mexico, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Australia, New Zealand, United Arab Emirates, Austria, Germany, Italy, Poland, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey and the U.K.