Global Health Film Festival programme published for 30 and 31 October

The full programme has been published for the first Global Health Film Festival to be held on Friday 30 and Saturday 31 October at the Royal Society of Medicine, 1 Wimpole Street, London, W1G 0AE. A collaboration between the Royal Society Medicine, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, the festival aims to use film and media as a catalyst to inspire change in health and development.

Open to all, the line-up includes a rich programme of feature films, virtual reality experiences, panel discussions, short films and workshops together with special sessions for health advocates, filmmakers and journalists.

The welcome address on Day 1 of the festival will be delivered by Joe Cerrell, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Day 2 will open with an interview titled ‘Official truths are powerful illusions’ with war correspondent, filmmaker and author John Pilger.

Feature films include;

The Divide, directed by Katharine Round

Screening: Friday 30 October, 10:45 (75mins + Q&A)
Inspired by the seminal book, The Spirit Level, written by Professor Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett, and the inspiring work by Sir Michael Marmot and colleagues, The Divide is a film on the human impact of rising inequality on society. The film, alongside director and producer Katharine Round and executive producer Christo Hird from Dartmouth Films, will launch the first Global Health Film Festival.

* European Premiere * Body Team 12, directed by David Darg
Screening: Friday 30 October approx. 17:00 (13 mins + Q&A)
Body Team 12 follows the first female member of the Ebola response body teams in Liberia. An inspiring, and at times harrowing, short film, Body Team 12 takes you to the front line of urban Monrovia, deep into the communities affected by the world's largest outbreak of Ebola.

Ping Pong, directed by Anson and Hugh Hartford
Screening: Friday 30 October, 18:30 (80 mins + Q&A)
In the words of Matthey Syed, The Times, "It is about ageing, mortality, friendship, ambition and love. The stories stay with you for hours, weeks, after the credits have rolled. But perhaps its most powerful achievement is to leave us with a more humane conception of sport, and of life itself".

Every Last Child, directed by Tom Roberts
Screening: Saturday 31 October, 10:45 (83 mins + Q&A)
As World Polio Day fast approaches and Africa approaches becoming a polio-free continent, children continue to be infected in Afghanistan and Pakistan. We follow the journey of polio eradication officers in Pakistan as they face tough challenges to eradicate polio from the world.

That Sugar Film, directed by Damon Gameau
Screening: Saturday 31 October, 16:00 (90 mins + Q&A)
Damon is carrying out a unique experiment: eating only “healthy” foods that are in fact laden with hidden sugars like low-fat yoghurt, muesli bars, fruit juices and cereals. We follow his journey delving into the issues plaguing the sugar industry and supermarkets in an effort to forever change the way we think about “healthy” food. The session will discuss the science and media behind eating sugar and the role of business in tackling the epidemic of non-communicable diseases.

Workshops include:

• Film for social change in low-resource settings (led by Medical Aid Films)
• Guerrilla filmmaking and global health (led by What Took You So Long?)
• Crowdfunding for global health film (led by Dartmouth Films)
• Impact of global health film (led by BRITDOC Foundation)
• Innovation at grass roots: public service announcements in low resource settings (led by BBC Media Action)
• Virtual reality and social impact (led by VRSE works)
• Media training for health advocates (led by Rockhopper TV)
• Mass media and behaviour change- the Media Million Lives campaign (led by Development Media International)

Festival passes cost £60 for both days and £40 for a single day.

Click on the link to view the full programme and book.

The Royal Society of Medicine is one of the country's major providers of accredited postgraduate medical education. Each year, the RSM organises over 400 academic and public events, spanning global health, medical innovation and over 60 medical specialties, providing a multi-disciplinary forum for discussion and debate. Videos of many key lectures are also available online, increasing access to the Society’s education programme. The RSM is home to one of the finest medical libraries in the world, with an extensive collection of books, journals, electronic journals and online medical databases. As well as providing medical education, the Society aims to promote an exchange of information and ideas on the science, practice and organisation of medicine, both within the health professions and with responsible and informed public opinion. The Society is not a policy-making body and does not issue guidelines or standards of care.