The new generation of film and video innovators is now championing global health issues to promote health education via the audiovisual medium. This year’s World Health Organization (WHO) Health for All Film Festival (HAFF) has submissions from more than 1,020 filmmakers from over 110 countries, and the films largely focus on themes ranging from the trauma of war to living with Covid-19. Independent filmmakers, production companies, NGOs, communities, students, and film schools all across the world showcase their original short films in the third edition of HAFF. Additionally, the festival joined the World Health Day (WHD) celebration on April 7 with a special playlist dedicated to ‘our planet, our health’ as the theme of WHD this year. This playlist gathered submissions from HAFF editions, as well as other productions from WHO and other United Nations agencies.

There is a wide range of health topics covered by the 2022 selection: trauma of wars; noncommunicable diseases, including mental health issues; disability; malaria; communicable diseases, including Covid-19, HIV-AIDS; as well as environmental and social factors of health, including gender-based violence, road safety and pollution, health emergencies, such as Covid-19, Ebola, disaster relief and health in conflict-settings. Films on environmental and social determinants of health, such as nutrition, sanitation, pollution, gender, and/or about health promotion or health education, besides the benefits of sports and arts on health are also part of the selection.

While over 70 films have been shortlisted, this year saw large participation from patients, health workers, health activists, NGOs, students, public institutions, as well as from professional filmmakers. Including the submissions received in 2022, almost 3,500 films have been registered by the festival since its launch in 2020, many specifically made for the initiative.

Similar public health stories in each edition in 2020 and 2021 attracted an average of 1,250 short film submissions, both amateur and professional, from 110 countries. In 2021, more than 40% of the short films featured themes related to Covid-19.

Films play a unique role today. As an art form, a language, an educational tool, a method of information delivery, and a vehicle for social marketing, films have the power to communicate stories. Especially, over the years, and in the past two years, when health has been a topic of interest for filmmakers. The Dutch Global Health Film Festival in March held online this year had films spanning key issues in global health: gender-based violence; planetary health; colonialism; and youth activism. Like Dying To Divorce, a film directed by Chloe Fairweather, was filmed over five years. It takes viewers into the heart of Turkey’s gender-based violence crisis and the political events that have severely eroded democratic freedoms. Another film titled Green Warriors directed by Martin Boudot, depicted how 500,000 Europeans die prematurely due to air pollution.

The Singapore Mental Health Film Festival in 2021, an online film festival used films as a catalyst to promote
conversations about mental health. The vision was to provide an inclusive and safe platform for stories about recovery and resilience by showcasing different aspects of mental health through a series of films, panel conversations and workshops. A film titled, Sorry we missed you, directed by Ken Loach, is about trauma and struggle of Ricky and his family, who have been fighting an uphill struggle against debt since the 2008 financial crash.

Milwaukee Film, a non-profit arts organisation dedicated to entertaining, educating, and engaging
community through cinematic experiences, with a vision to make Milwaukee a centre for film culture, since 2009, has been organising the annual Milwaukee Film Festival. While the festival celebrates the power of cinema, its Minority Health Film Festival, created to extend conversations in Milwaukee communities, presents unique film selections, community forums, and an interactive health fair on the health statuses of racial ethnic minority populations. The topics of films include: health care and medical research in communities of colour, mental health awareness, faith and healthcare, healthy relationships, healthy eating, child development and maternal wellbeing, healthcare access, housing, finance, employment, and economic development.