Milan, Italy, October 16th, 2015 - the Association of Schools of Public Health in the European Region (ASPHER) launched the inaugural Health Rights Video Film Festival. The online film festival highlighted video stories about accessibility, health care issues, stigma, and human rights issues. The following are award winners from the festival:
Impact Award
The impact award recognizes outstanding achievement in the use of video for advocacy. The winners were selected by a jury of international experts in public health and digital advocacy.
The nine finalists are:
1. Your health, your care, your human right! by Roma SOS
2. When 60 Denars Is A Luxury by HERA, about their work in Roma women’s health
3. Vaccines are still unavailable for Roma people by the Association for the Emancipation, Solidarity, and Equality of Women
4. Raluca by Ceva de Spus, on integrating people with disabilities into society
5. Mobilization and Integration of Male and Transgender Sex Workers to Improve Secondary Health Care by Star-Star
6. Judgement Overdose by Sexual and Health Rights of Marginalized Communities Coalition on insufficient access to opiate substitution therapy
7. Demanding Access to Hepatitis C Treatment in Georgia by Georgia Young Lawyers Association
8. Call of Patients of Ukraine to reduce prices for drugs! by Ukrainian Community Advisory Board Patients of Ukraine
9. Barriers in Access to Emergency Health Care by KHAM on lack of Roma access to ambulance services
The winners are:
1st Prize: Vaccines are Still Unavailable for Roma People by the Association for Emancipation, Solidarity and Equality of Women (ESE), Macedonia
This video demonstrates excellence in all areas of advocacy video. The video is well-shot and well-edited, allowing footage of Roma settlements to make a silent argument about their plight. The video furthermore creates an emotional connection with the viewer by allowing those directly affected to make their own argument in their own words, pairing this emotional content with clearly-presented and well-chosen statistics about low rates of Roma vaccination. The video was then used in an array of advocacy tactics from public screenings to sharing on social media platforms to online sharing with public health officials.
As a result of their advocacy, the Roma settlements featured in the video received vehicles for outreach nurses and the immunization ward was refurbished for the first time in many years. ESE furthermore witnessed an increase in immunization coverage of Roma children from 2012 to 2014 as a result of their advocacy.
For excellence in all these aspects, we are pleased to present ESE first prize in the Health Rights Online Film Festival.
2nd Prize: Raluca by Ceva de Spus Association, Romania
This video highlights the effectiveness of a well-filmed and targeted advocacy film, with a clear and focused interview and message. Instead of creating a general advocacy video, Ceva de Spus use the story of Raluca Popescu to specifically ask for improved accessibility at universities for people with disabilities.
Raluca is the co-president of Ceva de Spus Association. She has a severe physical disability and she graduated the West University of Timisoara. She tells us about the difficulties she and her mother had to face in order to be able to finish her studies. The “hero” is a fantastic advocate.
Ceva De Spus has made effective use of video in direct advocacy presentations. They used this movie to emphasize the need of accessible and inclusive education, showing the video at events and in presentations to the university. As a result, the West University started an accessibility project. Ceva du Spus intends to extend the use of the video in advocacy for improving accessibility in three additional universities of Timisoara.
For excellence in all these aspects, we are pleased to present Ceva de Spus second prize in the Health Rights Online Film Festival.
3rd Prize: Call of Patients of Ukraine to reduce prices for drugs! by the Ukrainian Community Advisory Board (UCAB) Patients of Ukraine, Ukrain
Video advocacy is a tool we can all use. Even without fancy editing and high production values, video allows those directly affected by injustice to speak to a broad audience. This video proves that even something simple can be effective. It combines the personal stories of those affected by price increases on essential medicines with statistics about the price increase and a clear call to action using simple editing and filmmaking methods. Because patients could not meet directly with drug company executives, UCAB emailed the video to them. As a result of their advocacy, prices of medicines were decreased, allowing the government to provide the patients with treatment, and saving their lives in the process.
For excellence in all these aspects, we are pleased to present the Ukrainian Community Advisory Board third prize in the Health Rights Online Film Festival.
Audience Award:
The Heath Rights Film Festival Audience Award recognizes the most shared video in the Health Rights Online Film Festival as calculated by public votes on the festival website. And the winners are...
Honorable Mention:
Stop Sending TB Patients to Prison by Kenya Legal and Ethical Issues Network on HIV and AIDS.
3rd Prize:
Everyday Questions Deserve An Answer by Health Education and Research Association (HERA) of Macedonia.
2nd Prize: Giving Hope: The Andrey Rylkov Foundation by Hungarian Civil Liberties Union .
1st Prize: Barriers in Access to Emergency Health Care by KHAM.
All of these videos are available for viewing on the Health Rights Film Festival website http://filmfest.health-rights.org/. We encourage all to view and continue sharing with others in your network.
