The World Health Organization (WHO) organized the award-giving ceremony of its inaugural film festival –Health for All Film Festival on Tuesday. The body had received as many as 1,265 submissions for the same from over 110 countries.
Filmmakers were asked to submit a short film on either of three topics: video reports, animation movies or films about nurses or midwives. A number of special mentions were also done in the virtual awards ceremony that coincided with the International Day of Nurses. This was in view of 2020 being the International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife.
In a Twitter thread, the winners, as well as the special mentions, were announced. Here are the movies WHO wants us to watch during the pandemic.
Antibiotic Resistance
Nitai Steinberg, a biologist from Israel, won in the student category for her film Antibiotic Resistance. The movie shows how some resistant bacteria in our body can multiply in greater proportions with the human’s increased reliance on antibiotics.
Living without limits
The winner of the ‘beat NCD’ category was ‘Living without limits’ that talks of children who live with Type-1 Diabetes. The film was made by BBC Story Works in Mexico.
Living without limits
Conversations around tackling diabetes often focus on encouraging patients to get healthy by changing their lifestyle habits. But not all diabetes is preventable - Type 1 is an autoimmune disease with no cure. Helmsley Charitable Trust initiatives are helping children in Mexico living with the condition, by providing access to diagnosis and treatment for all.
War and Grace
Narrated and produced by Sienna Miller, War and Grace won in the nurse and midwife category. It celebrates the “courageous” midwives fighting for mothers and children in war-torn South Sudan, which has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world.
A Doctor’s Dream
This movie won in the video reports category. It talks about sleeping sickness and the journey of coming out with a pill for the parasitic disease.
Limbo
In the animation category, Limbo from Myanmar won. It depicted sexual abuse committed by close relatives and others’ reactions to a crime.
Moreover, there are three special mentions –Kassandra, a 13-year-old mum; Nursing in the Community; and Cancer Divided.
A panel of “critically-acclaimed artists and Senior WHO experts” had advised WHO’s Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on selecting the winners of the festival.
