Panasonic honours 16 films at Kids Witness News awards

The awards ceremony, held on August 9 in Hanoi, brought together more than 200 guests, including over 70 student filmmakers, school representatives, parents, artists, and industry professionals. Two first-prize winners will go on to represent Vietnam at the Kids Witness News Global Summit later this year.

For the 2025 edition of the competition, more than 200 scripts were received from over 400 students from Hanoi and various other cities and provinces across the country. The most notable activity, and one that is a hallmark of KWN, was the filmmaking course. In this course, more than 70 young filmmakers with the most promising scripts, who were selected through a direct interview round, learned and experienced a professional filmmaking process. They were guided by renowned Vietnamese directors and actors in everything from scriptwriting, acting, and filming with specialised Panasonic cameras to post-production and the final completion of their works.

Taka Fujino, general director of Panasonic Vietnam, said, "Today's Vietnamese youth will be the country’s future leaders, which is why we focus on education in our social responsibility initiatives, with Kids Witness News (KWN) as a key highlight. Over the past 18 years, KWN has offered students a creative platform to learn filmmaking and share their unique views on issues from the environment to culture and sport. The positive feedback and enthusiastic participation from students, schools, and parents each year are invaluable, and the fresh perspectives and heartfelt messages in their films are a true gift to us every summer."

In addition to the filmmaking course, the students enjoyed a summer of learning and growth through many diverse and interesting activities, from a field trip and outdoor filming practice to exploring traditional culture at the Hanoi Museum and trying their hand at being reporters at the Panasonic factory. All these valuable summer experiences will help the students develop essential soft skills like teamwork and problem-solving, learn through real-life observation, and cultivate a love for Vietnamese culture and art.

"This year, our team got to film with a new professional camera series from Panasonic, sent directly from Japan. Although it is a professional video camera, it is compact and easy to use, so anyone can operate it and get used to filming quickly. When we re-watched our film, we felt quite proud because we didn't think we could make such professional footage. I really look forward to introducing our film to everyone," shared Hoang Bao Tram from Yen Hoa High School.

After more than a month of dedicated learning, and hands-on experience with professional directors and actors, the young filmmakers were provided the opportunity to make their own films from their own ideas. Guided by an expert judging panel, including People’s Artist Lan Huong and young director Ha Le Diem, the competition concluded with 16 noteworthy films recognised across multiple categories.

This year, the Gems team (from Yen Hoa High School and Quang Trung High School) won the first prize for the 13-18 age group with their film Trao (Give), a moving work exploring the theme of communication. The film conveys a message about the importance of sharing, showing affection, and strengthening bonds between people, especially in relationships with loved ones.

For the 10-12 age group, first prize went to the film Con khong phai la Tich Chu (I'm not Tich Chu) by the Little Dreamers team (from Archimedes Dong Anh Inter-level School). The film tells a story about a boy's change and growth in showing love and care for his family.

"The film was based on a true story about the family of one of the members in our team. We are delighted and proud that we successfully retold that story through our film and were highly praised by the directors, winning the first prize," said Nguyen Tran Quan from the Little Dreamers team.

The winning filmmaking team from each age category will have the opportunity to interact with other teams from all over the world at the KWN Global Summit, which will be held online in October of this year.

People's Artist Lan Huong, a member of the judging panel, said, "I am thrilled to have been a part of this initiative for four seasons. I am truly impressed with the creative filmmaking mindset of the students. Despite their young age, they know how to make professional films, with each own displaying its own unique beauty. I am also very impressed that Panasonic has persistently brought Kid Witness News to Vietnamese children for 18 years, so that each of their summers is a beautiful memory and a place where they can raise their voices about life around them through a colourful, childlike lens."

Panasonic held an opening ceremony for a film-making programme Kid Witness News 2025 in Hanoi on June 9 with the participation of 16 excellent child filmmaking groups alongside parents, teachers, and partners.

On March 8, Panasonic took a further step to contributing to create a green Vietnam by organising the tree planting programme to plant and donate 10,000 trees for the Thai Thuy Wetland Nature Reserve (Thai Binh) with the active participation of 120 employees.

Panasonic Vietnam was recognised for setting the record as the "Organisation that initiated and successfully planted one million trees in the shortest time" on March 18 through the "Live Wellness, Contribute Green with Panasonic" initiative.