Documentary film from Thailand wins Grand Prix award in Panasonic KWN Global Contest 2019

Panasonic Group in Thailand led by Panasonic Management (Thailand) General Manager Sirirat Yongcharoenchai brought the Grand Prix winning work from the Panasonic Kid Witness News 2018 to compete in the KWN Global Contest 2019. Representing Thailand, the documentary film which was created by a team of Thai high school students competing against those from 11 countries including Canada, USA , Brazil, Pakistan, Malaysia, Vietnam, China, Hong Kong, Japan, the United Arab Emirates, and Tanzania.

 

A total of 18 teams were joining the competition this year, comprising 10 primary-school teams and 8 secondary-school teams.

 

A movie titled “Sport for Living [Boxing for Life],” the documentary film from Ammartpanichnukul School (Krabi Province) won the secondary category’s Grand Prix award. It tells a story about a needy classmate who is facing family hardships and financial distress, forcing him to be a boxer in an attempt to earn a living for his family. Although boxing is exhausting and discouraging,  He has to keep fighting as a way to help his family survive.  

 

The documentary film was made from a true story of Sahassawad Promsorn (Rak), a high school student who is also an amateur boxer. Surrounded by family hardships with a father suffering partial paralysis, and that means only his mother’s daily income cannot earn a living for the whole family. Rak, therefore, decided to step onto the boxing ring to make the ends meet for himself and his family. However, he keeps fighting without an idea to drop out of school. The story is intended to reflect truth in society – a school student whose life facing many challenges, and aims to share that spirit of encouragement and passion for living, patience, determination and struggle against difficulties. Besides, the video features the story of a boxer and the glorious art of Muay Thai as a unique national legacy to be preserved.

 

Parattakorn Kamlangdee (Kim), one of the team members representing Ammartpanichnukul School from Krabi, said, “I am extremely excited and proud of representing Thailand to receive the award. We are honoured to promote Thailand’s reputation on the world stage. It has been our school’s effort over the past 10 years to create documentary films like this and this year is the second try for me and the Chingchan Team competing in the Panasonic Kid Witness News Contest. It took us some time but eventually, we succeeded thanks to lots of support from family, school, teachers, friends and the judge. Most importantly, the story of Sahassawad Promsorn is the inspiration for us to create this documentary film.

 

 

By participating in the Panasonic KWN Global Contest, teams are provided with an international platform for the exchange of ideas for media creation and a better understanding of different cultures. Also, it is an opportunity to network with new friends and make even more room for collaborations, which result in a constructive experience for all participants to strengthen their self-development skills.

 

Another team member, Peerawit Angchuan (K), said, “I am extremely proud of our success on the world stage. I would like to thank our teacher, Mrs.Chiraporn Na Nakara , for her useful advice and support. Thank the Chingchan  Team for their concerted effort, creativity, and energy that have made things possible. Thank Panasonic for giving us an opportunity over the past 10 years and 6 years for us to make our dream come true. We value every moment in the past that made us what we are today. And we would like to thank Panasonic again for giving us a chance to open a wider view, practice new techniques, learn from new friends from different countries, and explore the endless world of learning.”

 

 

According to Sirirat Yongcharoenchai, General Manager of Panasonic Management (Thailand) Co Ltd, the Panasonic Kid Witness News (KWN) Contest has been organized for 15 consecutive years in Thailand and the country’s representatives won Grand Prix award four times in 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019. She commented, “Panasonic Thailand is very delighted with those achievements and we are very proud of seeing how Thai students express their ability in that international scenes. They have brought what they have learned from Thai media experts into action and enhancement of their creative works. With this, the way they present their works has become increasingly interesting. Students brilliantly showed their creative skills in creating a news documentary that impressed the judge, so that their works won the Grand Prix award and brought reputation to Thailand.”

 

 

“We hope we can take part in allowing Thai students to express their creativity and transform their creative ideas into a news documentary that catches attention. Besides, the contest helps promote team spirit and the use of technology in creating pieces of work while enabling them to understand their interest and potential. Most of all, we are very proud of seeing the participants getting the job they want and advancing their career in the media sector in a promising way,” said the general manager.