The Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) announced the extension of the deadline to submit the nominations for the awards of short films, drawing, story writing, musical composition or creative work, and “Bayan” for creative expression in Arabic for non-Arabic speakers, until 31 July 2020. The winners will be announced by the end of September, while the award ceremony will be scheduled at a later date.

ICESCO highlighted that this extension decision came in response to the request of a large number of people from different countries who have contacted the Organization through phone calls, emails, or messages on ICESCO’s pages on social media. They stressed the need for more time to meet the participation requirements, taking into account the exceptional situation triggered by Covid-19 pandemic.

As part of its initiative “Distance Culture,” ICESCO launched the Short Film Award to be received by three winners with a value of US$8,000, US$6,000, US$4,000, respectively. To qualify for the Award, the short film should:
• Not exceed 4 minutes in length;
• Not have been submitted to another competition before;
• Not undermine human, religious or national values;
• Be subtitled in one of ICESCO’s three official languages (Arabic, English and French);
• Be sent to film@icesco.org
As part of the same initiative, ICESCO launched three other awards for students in the following creative fields: short story writing, making a painting, and musical composition or creative work. The value of the prizes stands at US$6,000, US$4,000, and US$2,000, respectively. The winners will also receive certificates of appreciation. The National Commissions and the competent parties in the Member States will select three works from each category to be sent to the Sector of Culture at ICESCO on the following email: culture@icesco.org

Furthermore, as part of the initiatives of ICESCO Center of Arabic Language for non-Arabic Speakers, the Organization launched the “Bayan” Award for Creative Expression in Arabic. It will be awarded to three winners from each age group of students (youth, teens, and children), who will receive US$2,000, US$1,500, and US$1,000 respectively.

The Award covers creative expression where the student records a video based on a text he/she wrote in standard Arabic. The video must not exceed 3 minutes in length for children, 4 minutes for teens, and 5 minutes for young people. It must not have been published or submitted to another competition before. The nomination file must include the video, the text written by the student, and the nomination form duly accomplished. The candidate must be a student from a non-Arab country, whose first language is not Arabic. The work must be submitted through the student’s educational institution. The educational institution must only send one outstanding work for each category. Nominations received from the Member States must be submitted through the National Commissions and competent parties. The form is available at:
http://www.icesco.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Nomination-Form-ICESCO-Bayan-Award.pdf.
The nominations must be sent to ICESCO on:
bayanaward@icesco.org

Moreover, ICESCO reaffirmed that after receiving the various nominations, each Award would have a jury to assess its nominations and determine winners, who will be announced by next September while the award ceremony will be held later on.