The World Health Organization’s second call for entries to its Health for All Film Festival has gotten 1175 entries from 110 countries. As at now, there are somewhat more than 40% of short movies feature themea identified with COVID-19, that is uncovering the pandemic’s penetration and general outcomes.
Up until this point, countries that have presented their entries are: Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Iran, Italy, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, Philippines, Portugal, United Kingdom, the United States of America, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey and Uganda.
The Health for All Film Festival, which was launched in 2020, targets supporting a new age of film and video trailblazers zeroed in on health themes. The World Health Organization has been locked in with free movie producers, production organizations, NGOs, communities, students, and film schools, to ensure a diverse range of entries.
Speaking on this project, WHO Director-General-Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said:
“Telling stories is as old as human civilization. It helps to inspire, motivate, build empathy and share problems so we can find and share solutions together. Everything WHO does is about stories because everything we do is about people. We’re excited about the quantity and quality of entries in this year’s Health for All Film Festival. Ultimately, we hope the festival is not just a way to tell stories, but to change the arc of people’s stories around the world, towards better health”.
Three GRAND PRIX will be awarded in May 2021 for every one of the accompanying categories, which are lined up with WHO’s global goals for general wellbeing:
• Universal health coverage (UHC): films about mental health, non-communicable diseases, major communicable diseases, innovative health services and other UHC stories not part of emergencies;
• Health emergencies: films about health emergencies, such as COVID-19 and Ebola, as well as health responses in the context of humanitarian crises and conflict-affected settings;
• Better health and well-being: films about environmental and social determinants of health, such as nutrition, sanitation, pollution, and/or films about health promotion or health education.
The World Health Organization additionally plans to award three special prizes: a student-produced film, a health educational film aimed at youth, and a short video designed exclusively for social media platforms.
Entries can include short documentaries or fiction films (3 to 8 minutes long) or animation films (1 to 5 minutes).
The sythesis of the Festival jury will be announced in the coming weeks and will include various widely celebrated artists from the film and music sectors, alongside WHO specialists.
The jury will recommend winners to WHO’s Director-General, who will settle on a final decision. Initial short lists for each category, comprising 15 films per category, will be announced in March.
