Participate in Asian American Stories Video Competition – Deadline for submission March 15th 2024.

Participate in Asian American Stories Video Competition as a contestant. Deadline for the 1-minute video submission is March 15th 2024.

The Theme of 2023 Asian American Stories is: “All of Us Belong Right Here”.

During the recent COVID-19 epidemic, hate crimes against AAPI have skyrocketed to unprecedented levels. Because of this, Silicon Valley Community Media (Ding Ding TV) and other organizations have created and published a video “All of Us Belong Right Here” to emphasize the strength of America is our diversity. Thus, the theme of the 2023 Video and Essay Contest will be All of Us Belong Right Here.

There will be two categories of contestants:

1. Youth Contestants for ages 12 – 18yrs of age
2. Adult Contestants for 18 years old and above

Contest Information and Rules:

1) Asian American Stories Video Essay Contest is open to all independent journalists, ethnic media, video creators, event organizers and civic organization contestants in the United States.

2) The video must be less than one minute horizontal in MP4 or MOV, the essay needs to be less than 300 words. All contents should be in English, and must be original. Submit your digital presentation not YouTube link to Google form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScdpKWyZ1tByil4CesDyXQT51uKrLOLS-dngYmJ1OBQ78RWgg/viewform?usp=share_link

3) If background music and other visual, verbal and sound (reference) material are used from the internet, the contestant must possess copyrights or have explicit permission to use such material(s).

4) By entering this contest, the contestants will have given Silicon Valley Community Media and other organizers explicit permission to distribute the video widely on media channels, the internet, and social media sites such as YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, WeChat, Twitter….etc.

5) The theme should focus on the uplifting and inspirational Asian American stories relating to the annual theme.

6) A diverse Panel of Judges will select:
1st Prize (2 winners: $5,000), 2nd Prize (2 winners: $2,500 each), 3rd Prize (2 winners: $1,000 each). People’s Choice (2 winners: $1000). Total $19000 award

Potential impact:

(1) Youth, under 18 years old

Asian American Stories Competition has a category of Youth Contestants for ages 12 – 18yrs. This will empower the youth to participate as stories tellers, promoters, and connectors of their families, neighbors, and schools. Inspire them to study Asian American histories. Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have played vital roles in shaping the nation. They made these contributions while also facing persistent discrimination and violence throughout U.S. history.

By telling the stories of Asian American Heroes, this competition intends to acknowledge the contributions of Asian Americans to our country and the influences in their work. It also inspires our youth to study Asian descent in the U.S. Chinese, Indian, Japanese, Filipino, Korean, Hmong, and other ethnic American experiences illustrate how history has defined race and racial stereotypes, determined cultural and community contexts, established pre-/post-migration circumstances, and influenced oppression and discrimination.

(2) Seniors, 65 and older

We will create a theme for seniors, for example, “Tell the stories of the oldest people”. In many Asian-American cultures, elders have a special status; they are valued and beloved for the wisdom of their years and all they have endured. Their stories, wisdom, and life experience are valuable spiritual wealth for the next generations.

During the pandemic, it is especially painful to see cherished elders of any background become targets of the kind of assaults that Asian-American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) people are now facing. Early shelter-in-place orders and recommendations to limit contact with others made seniors more physically and socially isolated.

Asian American Stories competition will feature the seniors ‘stories, not only telling their wisdom and contributions but also telling their needs and challenges. Through content creation and distribution, bring attention and support to seniors from their families, social networks, broader communities, and government for they to stay safe and well.

(3) Sustainability

Asian American Stories Video Competition is not only an annual event, but also daily activity of recording the history of Asian Americans. With the ongoing annual Asian American Stories Video Competition, more and more content will be created and distributed, more and more stories will be told, more and more unsung heroes will be recognized, more and more community partners will join us, and more and more audiences will be reached.
We are creating a movement through video art, music, and other creative works; offering a new sense of self-determination; and raising the political and racial consciousness of Asian Americans.

Become a community partner.

Become a sponsor.

Why:

To tell the stories of Asian American contributions both to the Asian American communities and to the mainstream.

To bring communities together. Promote diversity, racial justice, and equity. Stop the hate.

To foster informational exchanges amongst ethnic Asian Americans who hardly know each other or have never worked together on a pan-Asian project.

To unite KOL (Key Opinion Leaders) to join efforts and work together to enlarge the AAPI Influence Sphere.

Who:

Organizer: Silicon Valley Community Media

Co-organizers: Ding Ding TV, Philippine News Today, Indian Currents, Phu Nu Vietnamese Women Magazine, National Asian Americans United, and more.

Stop the Hate events are made possible in part under the Ethnic Media Outreach Program sponsored by the California State Library (CSL) in partnership with the California Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs (CAPIAA). The views expressed here and on other materials produced by Ding Ding TV and Silicon Valley Community Media do not necessarily reflect the official policies of the CSL, CAPIAA or the California government.