Started in 2008, ChloroFilms was organized as an international competition to promote the creation and use of attention-getting videos about the life and inner workings of plants and their unique abilities. The short videos are hosted on

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and assessed by a panel of judges from around the world. With funding and support from three plant biology organizations, ChloroFilms awarded over $13,000 in cash prizes in 2009 and 2010. The grand prize winner in 2009 was a 6-min video entitled "Fertile Eyes" which graphically and humorously compares human and plant sexuality in a captivating way. A first prize went to

Kris Holmes Kris Holmes (born 1950, Reedley, California) is an American typeface designer, calligrapher, type design educator and animator. She, with Charles Bigelow, is the co-creator of the Lucida font family, among many other typeface designs. She is Pres ...

for her flower-power animation "LaBloomba". Grand prize winners in 2010 include "Arabidopsis flower in 3D", which takes the viewer inside a plant and a flower bud using thin (microscopic) sections combined with video processing software, and "Kenaf Callus Hoedown", which uses lively fiddle music and stop motion film techniques to show the steps used in plant tissue culture. Other award-winning videos include a humorous animation of vesicle trafficking inside cells, the ecology of forests, a song about the

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, and more than 40 additional videos from around the world, illustrating aspects of plant life. A fourth contest is scheduled for fall 2010. Sponsors of ChloroFilms include the Education Foundation of the American Society of Plant Biologists, the

Botanical Society of America The Botanical Society of America (BSA) represents professional and amateur botanists, researchers, educators and students in over 80 countries of the world. It functions as a United States nonprofit 501(c)(3) membership society. History The soci ...

, the Canadian Botanical Association, and

Penn State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a public state-related land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania. Founded in 1855 as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania, Penn State became ...

Institutes for Energy and the Environment.

References

{{Reflist Science competitions