United States - Young video producers from around the world will share their work with an audience and receive PLURAL + 2013 awards at Paley Center for Media in New York City at 25 West 52nd St. on Thursday, December 5th.

The three winners of the PLURAL + International Jury Awards for the age groups of 9-12, 13-17 and 18-25 are respectively: Cumulo Nimbus Organization from France; Shruti Rai from India; and Bizimana Francois, a Rwandese refugee living in Kenya.  Other PLURAL+ award winning videos, selected by PLURAL+ partners, will also be presented during the event.

PLURAL+ is a Youth Video Festival on migration, diversity and social inclusion. It emphasizes intercultural dialogue, youth expression and the desire for peace and better understanding worldwide.   It is a joint initiative of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) and IOM, supported by partner organizations from around the world.

Each year young people (up to 25 years of age) are invited to send short videos (up to 5 minutes in length) to PLURAL+, addressing issues of migration and/or intercultural dialogue.

This year PLURAL+ received over 250 videos from 71 countries.  Twenty-five videos were selected for awards. Winners included entries from India, France, Afghanistan, Mexico, Indonesia, Peru, Taiwan, Australia, Qatar, Greece, Canada, Lebanon, Kenya and Austria.  Many of these young video makers will be in New York attending the Awards Ceremony.  

The videos were selected by an international jury. Nico Daswani, one of the jurors, said: “The imagination, craftsmanship and care reflected in such a diversity of videos is an indication that there is an entire generation determined to create and shape the world they live in.  We should all be working towards helping unleash that creativity.”

The event will take place on December 5, 2013 at 6:00-8:00 pm at the Paley Center for Media, New York City. It is free of charge and all are welcome. But seating is limited, so RSVP is mandatory. Please contact plural@unaoc.org to reserve seats. For more information on PLURAL + please visit www.unaoc.org/pluralplus