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National Happiness and Positivity Programme, Majid Al Futtaim Group Launch ’Happiness Films’ Initiative
The National Happiness and Positivity Programme has launched the "Happiness Films" initiative in collaboration with Majid Al Futtaim Group, in an effort to establish happiness and positivity as a culture and a way of life in the UAE, in addition to raising awareness around the need to produce innovative positive content. Ohood bint Khalfan Al Roumi, Minister of State for Happiness and Wellbeing, Director General of the Prime Minister’s Office at the Ministry of Cabinet Affairs and the Future, said that the Happiness Films Award is an incentive for community members to actively contribute to the development of innovative, positive content, creating community awareness and promoting positive behaviour through short films that are widely disseminated across the Internet and social networking platforms.
"The widespread appeal of short films has led us to consider engaging the community in our efforts to establish a culture of happiness, positivity and wellbeing, and raise awareness of these noble values through meaningful films that reflect the filmmakers’ understanding and vision of happiness and positivity," she stated.
"Art plays a vital role in raising social awareness, shaping the community’s value system and vision, promoting positive behaviours and stimulating creativity among individuals. This initiative embodies abstract concepts of happiness through visual stories, depicting scenes from the everyday lives of individuals," Al Roumi noted.
The Minister of State for Happiness and Wellbeing applauded the initiative’s partners from the UAE private sector for their support, particularly in and evaluating and screening the participating short films. She. lauded Al-Futtaim Group, in particular, which operates several of the country’s leading commercial centres and manages the most popular movie theatre networks in the country, as well as SMovies, Vox Cinemas and BrandMoxie.
Ahmed Galal Ismail, Chief Executive Officer at Majid Al Futtaim – Venture, which includes VOX Cinemas as part of its portfolio?, said: "Happiness has always been an integral part of Majid Al Futtaim’s vision and our endeavours to create ‘great moments for everyone everyday’, a vision that goes hand in hand with the UAE Government’s agenda to make the country amongst the happiest countries in the world by 2021. VOX Cinemas has always been keen on hosting The Smovies competition, which plays a significant role in empowering the youth to innovate and boost the local cinema industry. We’re honoured this year to collaborate with the Government of the Future, represented by the National Happiness and Positivity Programme, to promote positivity and happiness as a lifestyle in the community."
The first initiative of its kind, Happiness Films adopts happiness and positivity as basic standards. It targets all segments of society, including the youth and university students, providing an innovative platform for them to showcase their understanding of happiness and positivity through films. The initiative allows participants to choose their own concept and context; the films later go through a thorough evaluation process that considers a number of criteria, including positive and influential content, creative approaches to promoting positivity, execution standards, and the technology used to produce the short film.
The National Happiness and Positivity Programme will be receiving applications for the contest over the course of two months, until March 20, 2018 – which is the International Day of Happiness. All citizens and residents of the UAE are eligible to apply and submit their short films or animations – regardless of cameras or equipment used – as long as they focus on happiness and positivity, and relay the participant’s point of view in one minute or less. The judging panel is made up of renowned artists and film directors in the UAE. Submissions and enquiries will be received on: www.happy.ae/thesmovies The Programme will announce the winners during a large awards ceremony, where the top three entries receive monetary prizes and a trip to the Cannes Film Festival, as well as the opportunity to have their films screened across theatres.
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