IEV Staff
Local creatives from across the region are invited to participate in the Air Quality Short Film Contest intended to involve the community in civic engagement via the arts to showcase the impacts of poor air quality on health and ways to counteract poor air quality within the Inland Empire.
The contest is sponsored by the Engagement Resource Collaborative (ERC), led by the College of Engineering, Center for Environmental Research and Technology (CE-CERT), and the Center for Healthy Communities (CHC).
Awards and Prizes will be presented to participants including a first place award of $300; a second place prize of $150; and the third place winner will receive $50. In addition, the top three award winners will have their films showcased on CHC’s webpage.
Submissions will be judged based on whether the film shows the adverse effects of air quality within the Inland Empire, reflects the reality of the situation; shows people with dignity, equality, support and integrity, presents a unique perspective of the issue, and presents a practical/pragmatic solution.
To be considered competitive for an award in this competition each entry must submit a short film to CHC@medsch.ucr.edu; participants must be residents of Riverside or San Bernardino Counties; and the short films should be between three and five minutes in length. Entries can be submitted by individuals or groups, for example, student organizations.
Contest officials state the top-five short films will be chosen based on the judging criteria above and be posted on CHC’s social media outlets for the community to view and vote on their favorite top-three short films.
This contest is intended to help bring attention to the region’s poor air quality particularly regarding the impact it continues to have on the area immediate to J.W. North High School and surrounding neighborhoods that sit squarely in an area where the air quality is highly disadvantaged according to CalEnvironScreen.
As a result, many residents in these neighborhoods experience health impacts either caused or exacerbated by poor air quality on a regular or semi-regular basis, including asthma, reduced heart function and cancer.
For these reasons, this effort seeks residents, key players, and influencers who can lend their expertise on how we can effectively address the poor air quality issues plaguing our community. We will not achieve this goal without such input.
This contest encourages community members to get engaged and make a positive change within the community by asking themselves: How am I making an impact? Does this film engage the community? What is the impact I hope to express in this short film? What am I trying to say about civic engagement? Through community engagement, residents are encouraged to stop and reflect on this effort; to align intentions, ideals, and actions to ensure we are ethically impacting the lives of others in the community. For more information, please email The Center for Healthy Communities at chc@ucr.edu.