Queen Letizia presented this Thursday the awards corresponding to the 2nd School Short Film Festival ‘Diversity in series’, which has put the finishing touch to the second edition of the project ‘Diversity in series, stories that deserve to be told’, promoted by Netflix and the FAD Youth Foundation.
The initiative seeks to give visibility to discourses on gender, cultural or generational diversity, as well as to promote artistic or audiovisual vocations, through the scriptwriting of short films by young students between 14 and 20 years old. According to the host of the event, Eva Hache, in this edition nearly 900 students from different centers have participated, who have presented 109 short film scripts.
Thus, this Thursday the prizes were awarded to five winning teams. The award-winning boys and girls have accessed a master class with the film director and head of talent training at Netflix Spain-Portugal, Susana Casares, and the recording of her works professionally, thanks to the artistic company Lanau.
Specifically, the young Daniela Valentina Mangones Paternina (Valencia) has been recognized for ‘Different flavors of pizza’, a script in which a social experiment tests the differences and peculiarities of a large human group, who end up understanding each other they do have in common.
Likewise, Laura Chana Morales (Madrid) has been awarded for the script for ‘Not everything is always what it seems’, which tells the story of Mia, a girl discriminated against for her physical appearance, who is unjustly accused of stealing money from the school. However, the young woman manages to make the truth known, thanks to their friendship.
For their part, Natalia Alamillos Agudo, Patricia López Merino and Alba Campos Clavo (Valencia) show in ‘Daniela’ the situation of some trans people and the need for support from their classmates, to denounce discriminatory treatment by a teacher who refuses to call the student by her name.
In ‘Alcalde’, Víctor Sánchez Romero, Raúl Gaia and Erik Borrella Navarro (Valencia) illustrate the story of a young mayor who understands cultural diversity as an opportunity for progress and the generation of social wealth. This character has the idea to repopulate his town and make it better with a call to people “outside”.
The last of the award-winning scripts this Thursday was ‘My Story’, by David Valladarez Melgar (Valencia). This short tells the story of a young man who decides to go live with his mother in a country “on the other side of the pond”. The protagonist of it faces various types of discrimination, all around having to adapt to being “different” and the suffering that this entails.
The award ceremony has been enlivened by the musical company Kubbo. In addition to the screening of the winning works, a testimonial video has been viewed, made with the support of the Nadine Foundation, of young creators who defend that diversity ceases to be an object of reflection and is integrated into audiovisual production.
Queen Letizia has been accompanied by the Minister of Health, Carolina Darias; the president of the FAD Youth Foundation, Ignacio Bayón; the global vice president of Netflix content, Bela Bajaria; and the general director of the FAD Youth Foundation, Beatriz Martín Padura; among others.
A UNIQUE, PERSONAL AND AUTHENTIC IDEA
In his speech at the event, Bela Bajaria addressed the audience, made up mostly of 14 and 20-year-old students: “All the great stories around the world began right where you are today: with an idea that is uniquely yours, that is local , that it’s personal, that it’s authentic. And when you share that, you inspire people all over the world.”
“Each of you has exactly the same superpower: your perspective, background, experiences, everything makes you unique,” said Bela Bajaria, Vice President of Worldwide Content at Netflix.
For his part, Ignacio Bayón declared: “Today we have heard the voices of the generation that will write, direct and star in the stories that should have been told too long ago. And the more diverse these stories are, the greater wealth, solidarity and inclusion they will generate” .
Lastly, the inclusion and accessibility advisor of the National Dramatic Center and coordinator of the Residency Program of the Film Academy, Inés Enciso, has urged those who want to dedicate themselves to cinema to feel the freedom that they can tell the story they want. to tell, but “also the responsibility that this story can help illuminate the path of all those people who are in the shadows”.