Women's Empowerment - Live the change, change lives (WE - LCCL) is an international campaign to empower women through creative works. In particular, the campaign advocates for new creative approaches to addressing women's empowerment. We invite filmmakers from around the world who want to work for gender equality to participate in our project, a campaign that will include an art exhibition, a book project and a matchmaking workshop. The innovative short film competition portion of the WE-LCCL [featuring films in three categories of short films, documentary and a special category of short films with run times of 90 seconds or less] will begin its activity in 2023 in Dortmund.
A critical aspect of promoting gender equality in all areas of societal development is empowering women, focusing on identifying and redressing power imbalances and giving women more autonomy to shape their own lives. Gender equality and women's empowerment means that access to opportunities and changes in life are neither dependent on nor limited by gender. To move towards the requisite gender equality in all areas of societal development, from human rights, peace and security, to economic growth, education and sustainability, women must be empowered. When women (accounting for half of the global population) are empowered, everyone benefits.
Our goal is to address women's empowerment with art and culture makers from different perspectives. This is to contribute to human rights, peace and security, economic growth, poverty reduction, education, climate change and sustainability.
The theme of the film competition is women's self-determination, which can lead to a big change in the lives of many women. From this contest, we hope to procure many examples of women's self-determination, which has led to great change in women's lives. This can be presented as examples of the advancement of women. Our platform will serve as an exchange platform for those interested in giving the successful changes in the lives of others an exemplary character, stories women from around the world can adapt for their own lives and cultures.
The competition is concerned about the fact that in most film competitions, most of the directors are men. As we are committed to gender equality, we hope that fully half of the directors in our competition will be women.
We want to fight more for the equality of women. Equality does not mean that men are excluded. But since the number of men is always more than women, we want to give women the chance to stand in equal distribution to men.
Our competition is a meeting point for filmmakers, a source of inspiration and new knowledge for experts, students and film lovers.
Photo by Annette Liese
Design by Raban Ruddigkeit
PIROUZ Award
Our PIROUZ ("victorious") Award for short and documentary films, will empower talented filmmakers who promote positive social change through their uploads to various platforms, usually without financial support. The prestigious PIROUZ Awards honors the last remaining Asian cheetahs and the sustained drive to conserve the subspecies. Pirouz, a cheetah cub born in Iran, had become a source of national pride. He was the only surviving cub out of three live births, the first of this subspecies to reproduce in captivity – a last resort in the effort to prevent the extinction of the Asiatic cheetah.
We aim to raise awareness about conservation efforts in building a sustainable world, and honor PIROUZ's memory. We aim to encourage filmmakers to interweave the themes of gender equality, animal rights, and protection of the planet’s biodiversity. We aim to support and promote the work of young filmmakers, offering them avenues to access resources and income. Our goal is to showcase short films and documentaries as a culturally vivid art form and change agent, encouraging the involvement of producers, directors, writers, actors, and others.
We aim to give voice and support to young filmmakers who are just starting out. We recognize that many of these filmmakers begin their journey by brainstorming, writing a script, and self-producing their film, often with the help of a small group of volunteers. Our festival is designed to provide these aspiring filmmakers with a platform to showcase their work, and to offer them the recognition that they deserve. An award jury of industry professionals and creatives will be assembled to judge the entries and select the winners. We believe that by empowering these young filmmakers, we can help to cultivate the next generation of storytellers and give them a chance to share their unique perspectives with the world. Winners will receive a beautiful, signed PIROUZ statuette from the designer.
The PIROUZ Awards provide a platform for fearless and talented filmmakers to share meaningful, life-affirming stories.
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We are pleased to announce the prize package for our short film festival focused on idea creation and storytelling for new and aspiring filmmakers:
● Best Narrative Short, Documentary, and Animated Short Awards: PIROUZ Statuette, access to the European film market, consultations with branding and marketing experts, and educational resources for creating effective storytelling.
● Audience Choice Award: PIROUZ Statuette, industry connections, mentorship, and business-themed merchandise.
● Emerging Filmmaker Award: PIROUZ Statuette, access to the European film market, mentorship, and a consultation with a business coach.
● Promotion of Socially and Environmentally Conscious Business Solutions Award: PIROUZ Statuette, consultations with branding and marketing experts, and educational resources for creating effective pitches.
We're proud to support emerging talent in the film industry and grateful to our sponsors for making these prizes possible. Join us for an unforgettable festival showcasing the best short films of the year and celebrating creativity and innovation in storytelling.