Local youth groups call on Ireland to get viewing and get voting!

Local youth groups are calling on the people of Ireland to vote for their film projects ahead of the X-HALE Film Festival 2013. The Youth Groups have devised and created several film projects which are competing for the Most Popular Online Award at the event.

The X-HALE Film Festival is part of the X-HALE Youth Awards, an initiative of the Irish Cancer Society which looks at novel ways to encourage young people to address the issue of smoking in their own communities. The Festival will see over 38 youth groups from around the country enter a film for the showcase event, where they will be in with a chance of winning awards under various categories.

Ahead of the Festival on July 4th, the youth groups will compete for the Online Award which will see them vie against each other for the public’s vote. The films, which all focus on the issue of smoking, can be viewed online here until June 12th, 2013. You can support your local group by viewing and sharing the film around your community. The film with the most genuine ‘views’ online will be awarded the title and €500 worth of digital equipment for their youth group.

Irish Cancer Society Health Promotion Officer, Eimear Cotter, said: “These youth groups have made fantastic entries to this year’s X-HALE Film Festival. We are impressed with the high level of quality of the films. Most importantly, they have dealt with the issue of smoking with originality and creativity, while asking some serious issues of the tobacco industry.”

The X-HALE Film Festival follows months of hard work by the youth groups in developing their films. Several of the young people attended the Irish Cancer Society’s X-HALE Film Workshops where they learnt how to film, edit and produce their work from digital filming professionals. The youth groups managed all aspects of their project from acting in the film to developing the finished product.

View the X-HALE film entries here or like the X-HALE Facebook page over here.