YOUTH VISION: APE SHORT FILM AWARD WINNERS

Get On Your Bike and Save The World

“Get On Your Bike and Save The World!” This is the message from TS1, a group of young Kenyans who wowed judges to win the Artists Project Earth Youth Vision Award – part of the One Minute to Save the World international film competition 2010. The youngsters, from impoverished shanty towns across Nairobi came together to highlight the planet’s environmental problems.

Their winning hip hop video “Me and My Bike” calls on Kenyans to preserve the natural environment by “going green and keeping it clean”. 15 year old singer, Mary Ndunge, says “Nairobi’s ghettos are badly polluted so it’s an honour to win the award and to be recognised for something so environmentally important”.

“Me and My Bike” was shot in and around Nairobi slums where residents endure grinding traffic and pollution. Judge and explorer Bruce Parry, who has made a series of BBC documentaries about the natural world, says “The video has a simple message with a lot of heart and great lyrics”.

The APE Youth Visions award offered a prize of £5000 for the best film AND proposal for how the money will be spent. TS1’s proposal impressed the judges because they will spend the money making a series of six further films about climate change and environmental issues, and what neighbourhoods in Nairobi – and indeed, all over the world – can do about it. 18 year old band member, Dickson Oyugi, says “Education about the environment is a lifetime investment which has no retirement age”.

We at APE believe that this award shows an empowered young generation issuing a stern mandate to the world’s leaders through their eco-activism and musical lyrics. TS1’s creative vision and energy reminds us that we can all make changes in our lives for the good of people and the planet.

Their winning film entry can be viewed to the right.