Q: How many countries participated in the 2023 One Earth Young Filmmakers Contest, and were there any surprises?
A: We received entries from 45 countries. This shows how much our contest resonates with young filmmakers around the world. I think the biggest surprise was that two of the winners flew into Chicago from Brazil and Mexico for our Awards weekend. It was very exciting. And the nicest surprise was the esteemed Dr. Jane Goodall’s participation: she opened our awards event on screen!
The story of this stuff begins in the once-upon-a-time land of the late 1800s, when Coca-Cola was an environmentalist’s dream—served in stylish, refillable glass bottles that were washed and reused dozens of times. Today, however, according to the Story of Stuff website, Coke has become the world's biggest plastic producer and polluter, “pumping out a quarter of a million plastic bottles every minute . . . almost one-quarter (23%) of the world’s PET plastic bottles.”
The annual One Earth Young Filmmakers Contest Global Awards Celebration is gearing up to take place at 11:30 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 17, both in person at the Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 N. State St., and online virtually anywhere in the world. Featuring the top 10 winning films from among 403 submissions, this event is the first with global reach.
Reserve free tickets here: tinyurl.com/yfc23awards
