What is the Health for All Film Festival?

The inaugural Health for All Film Festival launched WHO’s first call for short films in October 2019. The diversity and quality of submissions received on 30 January 2020 inspired WHO to continue with the festival in years to come! The entries focused on a wide range of topics, such as the challenges of providing health care in remote areas and countries in conflict, the realities of living and battling cancer, and the courage and resilience of nurses and midwives in the face of the most challenging of circumstances (2020 was the International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife).

While hundreds of WHO staff participate in the initial preselection process from all entries received for each edition, WHO is delighted that acclaimed artists from the film and music domains, as well as humanitarian activists, have been accepting the invitation to participate in the Health for All Film Festival jury. 

Check out the jury composition for each edition

In an extraordinary demonstration of creative energy and enthusiasm for telling public health stories, each edition since 2020 has attracted an average of 1150 short film submissions yearly - both amateur and professional - from 110 countries. In addition to the three main categories of the competition, Universal Health Coverage / Health Emergencies / Better Health and Well-being, you can take a look at the special thematic prizes which contribute to the overall official selection of about 70 short films per year.

In 2021, more than 40% of the submissions featured themes related to COVID-19, revealing the pandemic's pervasive and universal consequences.