Regular viewers of "Tell of" (Jiangshu), a
well-received programme on CCTV's Channel 10 will have noticed the
increasing number of amateur videos broadcast on the show.
These digital video (DV) productions are contributions of
finalists from the 2005 CCTV DV contest. Launched by the TV station
last October, the competition with the theme "to shoulder
tomorrow's sun," will close by the end of this month.
The topic of the contest, which highlights three key aspects:
communication, growth and responsibility, calls for greater social
attention to the voices of children and adult responsibility to
build a better environment for minors.
The appraisal committee received a total of 2,260 DV works from
across the country, over half of which were produced by young
students. Channel 10 is now broadcasting a selection of 67 pieces
in "Tell of," sharing touching stories and a diversity of
viewpoints.
Young biographers
A university student, who called herself Jiangzhe, submitted a
short film about her bitter-sweet experiences as a volunteer
teacher in a remote mountainous village of West China's Guizhou
Province, where she worked for a year.
Students of the Tianjin University of Technology and Education
portrayed the interesting school days of their 10-year-old
classmate, Zhang Xinyang.
This little native of North China's Liaoning Province joined the
university in 2005 as probably the youngest applicant in the
history of the 27-year national college entrance exam.
Zhang attends class accompanied by his father, who is to take
care of him for the next four years of college. Zhang's much-older
classmates have gotten accustomed to discussing study matters with
him, but find it difficult to spend time with the youngster outside
class.
Like many college students, Zhang is also looking for a
part-time job as a tutor, but wonders if people will find him too
young for the job.
Four schoolmates, also from Anshan, Liaoning sent in their
co-production about parental love, entitled "A secret birthday
present."
On his 18th birthday, Wang Xiaoyu received a big envelope from
his parents, containing a calendar sheet of the day he was born,
the name card the nurse tied to his leg, letters written by his
grandparents on the same day, and other little things signaling his
birth.
Wang's father carefully kept the gift a secret till the day the
youngster entered adulthood.
Another noteworthy piece, "Between father and son" deals with
students' addiction to the Internet, which often strains the
relationship between children and parents.
"The story of Laodian," explores the inner world of Ren Shaojie.
Nicknamed Laodian, Ren is a good-natured sports teacher in a middle
school in Xinxiang of Henan Province. He devotes most of his spare
time to coaching the school football team. Last year, the team won
the national championships. The video shows Ren crying in his
wife's arms at this emotional moment in his career.
Staff at "Tell of" say that although most of the DV works lack
sophisticated technique, they managed to touch a cord.
After the broadcast of one entry by a Beijing high school
student which recorded a woman giving birth, a mother called to say
that her disobedient 14-year-old daughter burst into tears after
seeing it, and said to her, "I love you, mom."
"We believe the contest has strengthened the bond between
society and minors," said Liang Hong, producer of "Tell of."
"Through DV, we will continue to encourage discussions between
adults and children about responsible education."
(China Daily January 26, 2006)
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