Competition categories and prizes
Our HAFF’s fourth official selection of about 70 short films will be presented to the public in April 2023 via the WHO YouTube channel and WHO Health for All Film Festival homepage. Winners from this selection will be announced by mid-May 2023.
In submitting a short film, the copyright owner of the film has to choose one category of competition among the three described below, which relates to WHO’s global health goals set out in the Thirteenth General Programme of Work (GPW13). Each winner will receive from WHO a trophy, a certificate, and a payment of their copyright so that WHO could promote their film on its channels and events (see festival rules below).
Candidates can submit short documentaries, fiction films, or animation films of three to eight minutes in length for the categories below, with exception of the Very Short Film category dedicated to shorter clips made for social media platforms.
Apply here (via the FilmFreeway platform)
1. Universal Health Coverage (UHC) – films about mental health, noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), and other UHC stories linked to communicable diseases not part of emergencies;
2. Health Emergencies – films about health emergencies, such as COVID-19, Monkeypox, Ebola, disaster relief, and health in conflict settings;
3. Better Health and Well-being – films about environmental and social determinants of health as well as other non-medical conditions for good health, such as nutrition, sanitation, pollution, gender, physical activity, and/or health promotion or health education.
Additionally, four special prizes are attributed to some short-listed videos not receiving a GRAND PRIX. In 2023, the special prizes include:
Special Climate Change and Health Film Prize – Films about the health benefits of innovative solutions or ideas tackling climate change. Local or national stories are welcome in the perspective of such solutions to be scaled up around the globe, or simply those ideas to be better known. For instance, they could relate to:
- Prevention of health impact of extreme weather events,
- Clean energy and promotion of clean air,
- Sustainable transport and industry,
- Smart agriculture, sustainable food systems, and a healthy diet,
- Biodiversity and nature-based solutions,
- Building climate-resilient housing and infrastructure, including healthcare facilities,
- The role of education in health and climate change awareness, including young voices and actions as catalyzers of a future healthier society,
- Scientific monitoring of health impacts of climate change and associated research.
More information about WHO’s work on Climate Change and Health
Special Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) Film Prize – Films consider SRH and rights as a fundamental element to the overall health and well-being of individuals, couples, and families, and to the social and economic development of communities and countries. This HAFF special prize and its shortlist of films will be a contribution to the 50th anniversary of the Human Reproduction Programme (HRP) also known as the UNDP / UNFPA / UNICEF / WHO / World Bank Special Programme of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction.
For instance, the short films submitted could cover any number of topics including:
- Family planning and contraception, unintended pregnancy, and abortion.
- Maternal and perinatal health, infertility, reproductive cancers, etc.
- Sexual health and rights, prevention, and treatment of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV-AIDS
- Violence against women and girls, including Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)
- Adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights
More information about WHO’s work and recommendations on Sexual and Reproductive Health
Student Film Prize – Films produced by students who can justify the films made during their university studies.
Very Short Film Prize – Films between one to two minutes and 30 seconds (1'00" to 2'30") about any health-related topic previously described in the three main competition categories, including climate and reproductive health.
Eligibility criteria and festival rules
- Only short films about health completed between 1 January 2020 and 31 January 2023 are eligible for the Film Festival 4th edition. On the occasion of WHO’s 75th anniversary in 2023, the film festival would accept some older films about public health historical achievements which should be reformatted to meet the guidelines in the festival rules.
- All types of artistic approaches are welcome: animation, fiction, documentary, and video art.
- The length of each film submitted has to respect the format described in the rules.
- A submission can be in any language; if the film is not in English, English subtitles must be included in the frame.
- The period for submissions is from 31 October 2022 through 31 January 2023.
- Any production made by United Nations staff members or exclusively done with UN funding is not eligible.
- Commercial/corporate films advertising for a product, device, or private business service, won’t be selected.
Please read the complete application rules if you’d like to know more about our terms and conditions. Any candidate whose film may be selected will be required to return these rules to WHO with their signature for their endorsement. This will be a condition for confirming the selection of their film.
Help us spread the word
Journalists may contact us via [email protected] for media inquiries.
Anyone can help us promote this call for short films, as well as future events and activities linked to the Health for All Film Festival. Please use #Film4Health in your social media posts, or simply like and share posts containing this hashtag or any other reference to our festival.
To publish your own posts, you can use illustrations from our social media kits (on WHO Health for All Film Festival homepage).
You can also join our advocates’ group on Linkedin to be informed of the latest updates and share the ways you’ve helped support our festival.