Hilo Inter. Wins Category in State-Wide Video Competition

Big Island Film Office
Department of Research and Development
County of Hawai’i photo.

Hilo Intermediate School was among winners at the 13^th Annual ‘Olelo Youth Xchange Statewide Student Video Competition, presented by Sony.

The Awards Gala was held in Waikiki Wednesday morning and named winners of the annual competition in 42 division categories, as well as an Expert and Junior Expert award.

Seven broad categories and nine sponsored categories included animation, mini-documentary, news, public service announcement, short, Expert, and Junior Expert.

Sponsored categories included Be a Jerk, Clean Water Hero, Creating Peace, Forest Health in Hawai‘i, Meth: Not Even Once, Start Living Healthy, Taking Assessments Seriously, The Value of Water, and Traffic Safety.

Hilo Intermediate was the sole Big Island school winner, taking the Middle School division award for best Mini Documentary for the film “Save Our Oceans!”

Wai’anae High School won the overall Expert category with “Wai’anae Strong,” while Wai’anae Intermediate School won the overall Junior Expert category for the third year with “A Home for Larenzo.” Each school was awarded a Sony SLR video camera and other associated equipment totaling over $2,200 each.

Hilo Intermediate and other category winning schools received high-definition Sony digital video cameras, valued at $650.

The video competition is among the oldest in the state. A record 909 submissions were entered in the 2016 contest. Schools were picked out of the submissions and named finalists in late March.

Winners were selected based on subject impact and technical production. News media, film-making professionals and experts in sponsored categories made up the judges panel.