Young people against AIDS!

International Contest

Fifth Edition

From 1st December 2007
to 15th March 2008

GO FOR IT !

Click here to download the contest leaflet in Microsoft Word
(103Kb, 2 pages)

Otherwise, KEEP READING......

You are invited to come up with an original idea (a "scenario") for a short film up to 5 minutes in length. The best ideas will be adapted by professionals and turned into films by some of Africa's greatest directors.

It's up to you to decide what form your idea will take. It can be a short story, a comic strip, a song, a poem… You can even record your idea on an audio or video cassette or CD, complete with music, if you would like! Anything is possible as long as the text is in English.

As you create your scenario, please talk to organisations or individuals in your community who can provide you with good information on AIDS.

The participant (or the team leader) must fill in the official contest questionnaire (see below). So, to participate in the contest, you must provide two things: your scenario and your completed questionnaire. Those two things must reach the Scenarios from Africa team, either by post or by e-mail (again, see below), by 15th March 2008, at the latest.

Each scenario may be up to 10 pages long (maximum!). The length of scenarios recorded on cassettes or CDs may not be more than 10 minutes. Write your name (or the name of the team leader) at the top of each page, and number the pages, please.

Contest winners will receive their prizes before 31 December 2008 at the address they give on their questionnaire. Only one prize will be given to each winning team. The juries' decisions are final.

You can choose one of the following topics (1 to 8) as a starting point for your scenario, if you would like. If you choose to do this, please write the topic number in the space provided at the top of the questionnaire. YOU DON'T HAVE TO CHOOSE ONE OF THE SUGGESTED TOPICS. If your scenario is on a subject that is not on this list of suggested topics, please write the number "9" at the top of the questionnaire.

Please remember to write not only about the things that happen in your story, but also about your characters' feelings and thoughts. In addition, we are especially interested in stories in which characters seek solutions to the obstacles and challenges they face.

1. Write a story for a very short, fast-moving film involving HIV/AIDS and football - a film that you would like to see on TV during halftime of matches of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

2. She's married and has just learned that she's living with HIV. How will she tell her husband? How will he react? In your story, help this couple to deal with the situation in a positive, loving way.

3. Imagine that you had magical powers for a day, and just by lifting a finger you could change all the things in your community, in your culture, that make people vulnerable to HIV infection. Tell a story that describes what you would change and what your new world would be like.

4. Today, your cousin is happy, has many friends, and is at the top of the class in school. It's a remarkable story, given that your cousin lost both parents to AIDS several years ago….

5. This young woman's family is very poor. She's beautiful. And, in a world with HIV, she's without doubt the strongest person you've ever met. Tell her story.

6. As the newly appointed Health Minister of your country, you intend to put an end to the dangerous myths about HIV/AIDS that are so widespread. What are those myths and, as Minister, how will you stop them?

7. Your best friend is living with HIV but refuses to get any help or treatment because he is afraid of how people might react if they knew. Stigma, rejection and discrimination - or at least your friend's fear of those things - could kill him. What do you do?

8. She's your sister, or your daughter, or your wife, or your best friend, and you love her dearly. And she's just been raped. You want love, dignity, good health and justice to prevail in the hours and years to come. Write a story about what you and others do to help her.

9. DON'T FORGET: YOU CAN WRITE ON WHATEVER SUBJECT YOU WANT, AS LONG AS IT'S RELATED TO AIDS. IF YOU HAVE A GOOD IDEA THAT'S NOT ON THE LIST, GO AHEAD!

And finally: If you have ideas for more than one story, please feel free to write as many stories as you wish!

How would you like to send us your scenario? Please select (click on) one of the following for more information and to see the questionnaire:

BY POST - write out the questionnaire by hand or print it out, fill it in and send it to us with your scenario.

BY E-MAIL - send us your completed scenario and questionnaire in an e-mail message or as e-mail attachments.

SCENARIOS FROM AFRICA is co-ordinated by GDT (The Global Dialogues Trust, charity registered in England, No. 1071484). All contest entries will become the property of GDT, which reserves the right to adapt them and to publish them in any form in the context of HIV/AIDS prevention or research activities, duly mentioning the author's (or team leader's) name wherever possible and appropriate. Participants cede all rights relative to their scenario to GDT. The winners authorise the organisers to use their name and address for publicity purposes.