Below please find the introductory text of and link to the complete details, rules, etc. for a film competition from the Social Equity Venture Fund (SEVEN). This competition seeks short films, 2 - 5 minutes, using the power of film to capture the story of an entrepreneur overcoming poverty in his home country. The grand prize is $20,000, with a second prize of $10,000 and a third prize of $5,000. Please don't hesitate to let me know if I can provide you with additional information.
Thanks so much,
Elizabeth Hooper
Executive Director
SEVEN
Everyone knows the statistics - half the world's population, over 3 billion people, live on less than two dollars a day. The images out of Africa, Latin America, Asia, and even here in the United States, show the ravages of poverty - starving children with bloated bellies; dusty huts without electricity or clean water; countryside blighted by drought and war. These images of poverty are stark, evocative, powerful, and persistent.
But these pictures are only part of the reality. They focus on the problem - without offering a solution. Obscured by these despairing images of poverty, there exist people, entrepreneurs, role models, who are changing their personal stories and the lives of their families, neighbors, villages, and countries. These ordinary women and men are seizing opportunity, starting businesses, and are making a difference locally and globally.
Cinéma Prospérité, a film competition sponsored by the Social Equity Venture Fund, strives to change the dialogue by infusing the world's imagination with new imagery, imagery that focuses on the solution. We invite you to take an active role in reshaping how people view other parts of the world, and even their own backyard.
At SEVEN, we believe there exists an opportunity to change the terms of discourse surrounding poverty, to change the assumptions and behaviors of entrepreneurs, investors, policymakers, aid professionals, academics, and business leaders by exposing them to these successful models of enterprise-based development. We believe that entrepreneurs who are starting and running for-profit businesses in ethical ways -serving customers, treating and paying workers well, generating returns for investors, and achieving all these things without negatively impacting future generations or damaging the environment - should be celebrated.
With this goal in mind, SEVEN is funding the Cinéma Prospérité competition. Through it, we are inviting amateur and professional filmmakers around the globe to help us tell the stories about real people who understand that ending global poverty is serious business.
