The DGA and the U.S. State Department recently hosted evenings honoring the winners of the Democracy Video Challenge (DVC) at the DGA Theatres in New York on September 15 and in Los Angeles on September 21.

The DVC is an online competition promoting a global dialogue on democracy. The DVC asked young filmmakers around the world to create videos that completed the phrase, "Democracy is..." and received entries from over 900 people from 95 countries.

The six winning short videos captured distinct visions of democracy in compelling and creative ways. Former DGA President Michael Apted co-chaired the independent jury and a number of Guild members participated in the selection of 18 finalists. The winning videos - created by Tsering Choden (Nepal), Rodin Hamidi (United Arab Emirates), Anna Carolina dos Santos Israel (Brazil), Melissa Angela Verzosa Peñafiel (Philippines), Lukasz Szozda (Poland), and Chansa Tembo (Zambia) - were selected by the voting public via YouTube. The videos were screened after cocktail receptions in both locations, followed by Q&A sessions with the filmmakers and participants.

Other DVC partners included the Center for International Private Enterprise, the International Republican Institute, the National Democratic Institute, the International Youth Foundation, the Motion Picture Association of America, NBC Universal, NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, TakingITGlobal, and USC's School of Cinematic Arts.