KATHMANDU: Department of State and its partners made public the name-list of 18 persons who made it to the final of the Democracy Video Challenge, an international video contest providing an array of voices and vision worldwide.

An online video competition, the contest asked participants to complete the phrase “Democracy is-----“ and public voting to select the six winners is open, and will continue till midnight of June 15 (EST), the US Embassy said in a press release on Monday. The voters can log into the site www.youtube.com/democracychallenge and cast their votes.

The finalists were chosen from among a pool of more than 900 entries from 95 countries, representing Brazil, Cote d’Ivoire, Germany, India, Iran, Japan, Nepal, Philippines, Poland, Serbia, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, Uganda, the United States, Uzbekistan, and Zambia. All the finalists were selected by an independent jury.

US Embassy spokesperson Nicole Chilick expressed her delight over the selection of one of the 17 entries made from Nepal as a world finalist. She also informed that all Nepalis would have chance to vote for free online for their chosen video till June 15, including the entry from Nepali filmmaker Tsering Choden.

Six winners - one each from the Western Hemisphere, Europe, Middle East/North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, South and Central Asia and East Asia/Pacific - will be announced in mid-June this year, with the each winner receiving an all-expense-paid trip in September to Washington, New York and Hollywood. The prize package includes time on television/film sets, meetings with film professionals, democracy advocates, the media, government officials, and special screenings of their videos.

The Democracy Video Challenge was launched online and in the United Nations on International Democracy Day i.e. September 15, 2008, as a joint effort of democracy and youth organisations, the film and entertainment industry, academia and the U.S. Government.