Winner announced for Oscar-winning director’s $5,000 challenge
Select finalists join forces in human rights film anthology Children of War.
September 18, 2017 | by Creative Armenia
Pim Pam Pum by Asier Urbieta and Andoni de Carlos - winner of Creative Challenge 001
Human Rights Watch and Creative Armenia unveiled last night the winner of director Terry George’s 60-second filmmaking challenge. At a special presentation in Los Angeles, it was announced that Pim Pam Pum, a film by Asier Urbieta and Andoni de Carlos, had won the $5,000 prize awarded to a 60-second film that illuminate a vital human rights subject.
“Masterfully executed in one continuous shot, Pim Pam Pum engages the audience in a thoughtful portrayal of children’s innocence within the violence of a police state,” read the jury’s statement. “A beautifully executed and visceral piece of work.”
Watch Pim Pam Pum, a vision of children in the police state
The jury was composed of jury president and Oscar-winning filmmaker Terry George; Cannes-winning filmmaker Atom Egoyan; social impact campaigner Bonnie Abaunza; social impact filmmaker Carla Garapedian; Peter Bizans, executive director of the Skoll Center for Social Impact Entertainment at UCLA; and Jessica Peake, Assistant Director of the Promise Institute for Human Rights at UCLA.
The Creative Armenia and Human Rights Watch teams in Los Angeles on September 17, 2017
Also unveiled were plans for a human rights anthology titled Children of War, which will include not only Pim Pam Pum, but also finalist Vahe Terteryan’s touching parable Human Rights (Armenia), Aram Shahbazyan's Green and Black (Armenia), a haunting journey into Syria, and Anna Maria Mouradian’s exquisite animated short Pomegranate Tree (Canada).
“These extraordinary films confront in different ways one of the most vital issues of our time: the experience of children in wartime,” said Garin Hovannisian, founding director of Creative Armenia. “Although they span countries and genres – animation, documentary, and fiction – they share a commitment to both humanity and art. They achieve both at the same time.”