Film to educate sub-Saharan Africa on HIV/AIDS science coming soon

The feature-length film would combine fiction and non-fiction storytelling to unravel the mystery of HIV and empower millions of Africans with the knowledge they need to make informed health decisions. In order to start production on Inside Story in 2011, DCGEP launched a GlobalGiving online donation campaign on World AIDS Day 2010, allowing individuals to […]

The feature-length film would combine fiction and non-fiction storytelling to unravel the mystery of HIV and empower millions of Africans with the knowledge they need to make informed health decisions.

In order to start production on Inside Story in 2011, DCGEP launched a GlobalGiving online donation campaign on World AIDS Day 2010, allowing individuals to contribute to the project’s success. This first-of-a-kind campaign for DCGEP will also receive the support of Discovery Communications’ expansive social media networks in the U.S. and beyond. After production is complete, a comprehensive roll-out for the film will include national broadcasts across Africa, theatrical screenings and grassroots efforts from NGO partners, schools and governments.

According to recent estimates by UNAIDS 22.5 million people in sub-Saharan Africa were living with HIV in 2009, more than two-thirds of the global population afflicted with the disease. This number has grown over 10% since 2001, proving that there is still a need to reach adults and children and educate them about the causes and effects of HIV/AIDS.

“INSIDE STORY is an important project, addressing a gap that our field has not yet been able to fill,” said Ben Plumley, Chief Executive Officer of Pangaea Global AIDS Foundation. “Working daily to help the millions of Africans affected by HIV/AIDS, I am excited about DCGEP’s efforts and hope individuals and other public and private entities will join me in supporting it.”

INSIDE STORY is told through the eyes of Kal, a young man from the Zambian Copperbelt who dreams of a professional soccer career. When he moves to South Africa, begins a promising relationship with his coach’s daughter and is on the verge of soccer stardom, he learns that he is HIV positive. The film will demonstrate the science of how HIV works in a personal, practical and memorable way, replacing misunderstanding with facts and demystifying the virus through a realistic animated journey inside the human body.

Partnering in the project are PEPFAR, Chevron, Discovery Communications and Access Bank, with 94 percent of the funding needed to produce the film.