The 10th Okinawa International Movie Festival is hosting the commercial contest “Jimot CM Republic,” which features 30-second videos built around one of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Anyone could participate simply by putting a video online with the hashtag #JIMOTCM. Submissions were separated into three categories: 41 towns and villages of Okinawa, the other 46 prefectures of Japan, and the rest of the world.

The finalists were screened at an award ceremony on April 21st at Naminoue Umisora Park. Jeffrey A. Brez, a United Nations official in charge of NGO relations, attended the ceremony and served as one of the judges. “I want you to believe that SDGs are really achievable,” Brez told the audience. “I hope you will feel that as we watch these commercials together.” Kaoru Nemoto, Director of the United Nations Information Centre in Tokyo said “this contest is just one of the efforts to raise awareness of SDGs that started at the festival last year, and we plan to continue till the year 2030.”

Many of the international submissions came from Japanese comedians based overseas. The comedy duo Double Wish created a video celebrating how colorful clothing in Vietnam makes for a happy society. The Indonesian-based trio The Three made a 30-second ode to the country’s street food. The duo Ougon Jidai (“Golden Age”) made a commercial about Jeepneys, the shared buses in The Philippines that relieve traffic jams and bring people together in a social space.

The prize in the international section went to the NPO YouMe Nepal, which raises funds in Japan to build schools in Nepal. Its video shows how a school can change the lives of children in remote areas used to walking three hours or more to school and shares that important social message through beautiful images.

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