‘Green’ film contest winners honoured by ConocoPhillips

ConocoPhillips’ Global Water Sustainability Centre yesterday honoured the winning schools in its pilot Junior Environmental Filmmakers competition, “Water, Camera, Action!” Ibn-Khaldoun Preparatory Independent School took the first place.Omar Bin Al-Khattab Preparatory School was second and Awsaj Academy finished third. Park House English School received “Best Creative Concept” award, Doha College was awarded for “Best Cinematography” and “Best Background Music” went to Micheal E Debakey High School. “Best Video Title” went to Mesaieed International School and Al Andalus School won the “Best Actors” awards. All winning films were screened at the ceremony attended by the top 12 schools out of a total of 17.The highlight of the ceremony was an interactive performance by world renowned scientist, teacher and entertainer James Soper, who is known for his shows on subjects that capture the students’ imagination. Soper performed a bespoke activity for the ceremony that explored water using exciting demonstrations, multimedia and lots of volunteer help. Frank Feghali, vice president and commercial manager at ConocoPhillips, said one of the main goals at ConocoPhillips is to raise awareness around water conservation in Qatar. “The competition brought in the participation of students to spread the awareness,” he said.Salem al-Halbadi, director of government affairs at ConocoPhillips, said in his opening speech that water is a national priority in Qatar.“Each one of the participating students has done a great contribution to water conservation by so eagerly engaging with this competition.”The Junior Environmental Filmmakers competition was launched in September 2013 in 20 schools around Qatar as part of its many initiatives to promote water conservation in the country. Each school had one month to film and edit a four-minute video that highlights water sustainability in Qatar. Key environmental figures in Qatar were invited to evaluate each film and choose the top three films, which will also be screened at the Environmental Fair 2014. The judging panel included Somaya al-Mutawa, head of community awareness and development at Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation (Kahramaa), Abdulla al-Hajjaj (environment specialist, Qatar Foundation), Rand Agha (corporate citizenship officer, Qatargas), Sadiq Gholoum Mohamed (head of environmental assessment project, Qatar Petroleum), Abdulrahman al-Abduljabbar (environment adviser, Ministry of Environment), Dr Samer Adham (ConocoPhillips water solutions manager), Salem al-Halbadi and Gary Sykes (president, ConocoPhillips Qatar).