MWM Wins European Media Award

Mannheim, May 28, 2010

At the recent WorldMediaFestival in Hamburg, MWM GmbH from Mannheim, Germany garnered the international intermedia-globe 2010 silver award for the best film in the documentation/point of sale category. With impressive pictures, the documentary “60 MW around the world” showed the production of 15 TCG 2032 gas gensets at the plant of MWM GmbH and their subsequent journey of 10,000 miles to Bangladesh. The film focused on the production at the MWM plant, the handling at the Hamburg port, and various stages in the country of destination.

For the past ten years, the renowned international WorldMediaFestival in Hamburg has awarded prizes for films and AV submissions. This year, the international jury reviewed 551 submissions from 26 nations. Company headquarters is excited about the award. “Most importantly, the film is an ideal communication medium for the markets of India and Asia/Pacific”, says Frank Fuhrmann, Head of Communications of MWM GmbH, Mannheim. The award represents a milestone in the marketing activities of the traditional company that was originally established by Carl Benz and is now one of the world’s leading system providers of highly efficient, eco-friendly, complete plants for decentralized energy supply with gas and diesel engines.

The 15 gensets were sent to a natural gas-powered plant in Ashugong, Bangladesh, which generates a total of 60 MWel for the public grid. The film was realized by the agency Spire Events in Mannheim, Germany, and the thrilling soundtrack was prepared for the film by German composer Achim Vogel-Muranyi. The storyline is “without words” and is only supplemented by occasional text charts, thereby overcoming language barriers in an elegant way.

The film production in a developing country proved to be a formidable task for the film team. Bangladesh is still one of the world’s poorest and, with its population of about 150 million, one of the most densely populated countries. Meanwhile, the country’s daily demand for electricity has grown to 5,200 MW, compared to no more than 4,000 MW actually produced. The crew is the first foreign film team that managed to obtain a shooting permit for the set at the Chittagong port. About 40 low-bed trailers were needed for transporting all MWM gensets and other equipment from the port to Ashugong. Other aspects of Bangladesh, too, are quite different from Europe. Especially further up country, crowds often quickly assembled within minutes when the film team got out of the car.

The hard work was considered worthy of the international intermedia-globe 2010 award. Meanwhile, the film has been published on YouTube. A continuation of the story and a TV version are under way.

MWM 60 MW Around the World (short version)

Author: Frank Fuhrmann, Member of DPV (German Press Association)