Videos about science receive awards from the Festival do Minuto

The first time it has called for science-related videos, the contest, supported by FAPESP, received 264 entries.

By Elton Alisson

Agência FAPESP – The Festival do Minuto [Minute Festival] has announced the winners of its contest for videos about “Science”. The first time it has called for science-related videos, the competition received 264 video entries and was funded by FAPESP.

 

Of the competing videos, which could be up to 60 seconds long, 87 competed in the “Minuto na Escola Ciência” [“Minute in Science School”] category, which was open to primary and middle school students from state-funded schools in the state of São Paulo. Another 177 competed in the “Minuto Ciência” category, which was open to the general public.

 

The winning entries were chosen by the Festival do Minuto board of curators and FAPESP representatives, and they were voted upon by the public on the Festival do Minuto and Minuteen (up to 14 years of age) sites, where there were nearly 30,000 views. 

 

Winners in the “Minuto na Escola Ciência” category were Frankensteco, by Nayara Monteiro de Carvalho, O Big-Bang e a TV, by Paulo Henrique da Silva, and Fio d’água, by Viviam Barbosa.

 

Winners in the “Minuto Ciência” category were Dia do Índio, by Martin Haag from Porto Alegre (RS), O infinito e as palavras, by Caio Lang from São Paulo and Fluxo Terra, produced by Jef Telles from São José do Rio Preto (SP).

 

Aside from the “Science” contest, Dia do Índio also won best video in the “Word” contest, and it was chosen by Festival do Minuto followers on Facebook as one of the best on the topic. 

 

The three winners in each category received a laptop computer, the “Minute Trophy”, and had their videos shown during an awards ceremony at Cine Sabesp in São Paulo.

 

“We received more entries than we expected, and the under-18 participation was very positive,” Festival do Minuto director Marcelo Masagão told Agência FAPESP.

 

In competitions on other topics held by the Festival do Minuto, most video entries are by people from 19 to 25 years of age. In “Science”, 47% of the participants were under 18. “We had more young people participate in this contest than we usually do,” said Masagão.

 

According to him, one of the factors leading to the new “Science” category is the Festival’s strong relationship with education. 

 

The Festival has programs specifically for elementary and middle school students. These programs include the “Minuto Escola” contest, held together with the São Paulo State Secretariat of Education, and “Minuteen”, for children and adolescents up to 14 years of age. The Festival also created the “Minuto móvel” ["Mobile Minute"]—a truck that shows Festival do Minuto films at schools. 

 

Masagão said that most of the entries to the first edition of “Science” were very literal, showing audiovisual records of small school science experiments performed by students. However, as new editions of the contest are held, the tendency will be for competitors to send increasingly elaborate videos. 

 

“The ‘Science’ topic is quite challenging, because it requires one to think about a scientific concept and use audiovisual language to convey it, which isn’t simple to do and involves an abstract process to get a good result,” was his evaluation. 

 

“As time passes, we will receive more and more entries along these lines that may even be made into educational materials for classroom use by teachers and students,” said Masagão.