GORT Foróige has been honoured for raising awareness of Covid-19, after scooping a prize at the prestigious national virtual festival.
More than 450 short films about science and technology were entered into the ReelLIFE Science Video Competition by over 2,500 people from 130 schools and youth groups around Ireland. Winning videos were selected by a panel of guest judges including ‘Múinteoir Ray’ Cuddihy from RTÉ’s After School Hub; BBC Wildlife and Children’s presenter, Ferne Corrigan; and the 2020 BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition winners, Cormac Harris and Alan O’Sullivan, from Coláiste Choilm in Cork.
Foróige Youth Service in Gort took third place in the youth group project category. Before the current lockdown, the Junior Filmmaking Group came together to make a short video to raise awareness about the spread of Covid-19 in everyday environments. The group was involved in all aspects of the filmmaking project, from planning, directing, acting to editing and post production. The informative and creative piece is available to view on Gort Foróige’s YouTube channel.
The group has been congratulated by the founder of ReelLIFE Science, NUI Galway’s Dr Enda O’Connell, who set up the programme with a team of volunteers in 2013. “We were hugely impressed with the standard of this year’s videos, particularly the ingenuity and creativity shown by the young filmmakers, often in challenging circumstances,” he said. “Their hours of effort and passion for science was clear to see and made it a very difficult task for the judges. Well done to everyone who took part.”
Dr Ruth Freeman, Director of Science for Society at Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) said the initiative was important in developing younger people’s understanding of science. “We are delighted to support this initiative, which cleverly utilises digital technology to develop science literacy and creativity, at a time when these skills are most needed,” she said. “ReelLIFE SCIENCE encourages young people to connect with science and technology in their everyday lives, and to bring that knowledge to a wider audience, while promoting current Irish scientific research and development.”
The winning videos can also be viewed on line at Youtube.com/ReelLifeScience.