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“The most useful thing about the contest is that young people are given a forum to share their vision of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. That’s very interesting for us, because when we read the scenarios, we get an idea of how well communications strategies have been working and which aspects need more emphasis. That applies to communications strategies regarding both prevention and care and support. That’s very important.” Dr. Fatim Louise Dia Mme Diack, Africa Consultants International, Senegal “In addition to the films, Scenarios gives us a chance to listen to young people, to hear their voices and to know what they’re thinking so that we can help them better. While reading the kids’ stories, the jury is able to identify shortcomings relating to information, or needs, or challenges associated with cultural or religious practices, etc. Reading the texts, we become aware of specific problems. It allows us to evaluate and call ourselves into question and to adapt our response in accordance with the diverse situations we observe.” Benjamin Mbakwem, CYDI, Scenarios National Coordinator in Nigeria “I’m a specialist in socio-political issues, not health. Scenarios from Africa gives me an opportunity to immerse myself in a subject of everyday relevance to my readers. For me personally, as an individual, I’m happy because the international jury is a place where I can meet different people who work out in the field, at community level, on the front lines of the response to HIV.” Eyoum Ngangue, Cameroon, Editor-in-Chief of the popular youth magazine Planète Jeunes “Kids may be writing fictional stories, but often times behind their words lies the kids’ own lives, and the stories give us insights into their perspectives. For those of us working in the field in HIV prevention, Scenarios from Africa allows us to gauge kids’ level of knowledge and understanding regarding HIV/AIDS. When we take a close look at the texts from a given community, we see the level of knowledge there, and we can take that into account during our next awareness-raising activities.” Mistoura Salou, CERADIS, Scenarios National Coordinator in Benin "I will be shooting some of the [Scenarios from Africa] films.
The comments of my fellow jurors have helped me to clarify and specify
the intentions, objectives and appropriate approach of the films." |
Selecting the Winning Ideas
After each SCENARIOS FROM
AFRICA contest, the winning entries are selected by national and then international gender-balanced juries made up of people living with HIV; specialists in HIV prevention, treatment, care and advocacy; former contest winners and other young people; and communications experts, especially from the realm of film production. The participation of people from a range of different fields creates a forum for rich, multidisciplinary debates.
In many cases, the winner selection process provides individuals and organizations working in the same area with an opportunity to get to know one another and to collaborate directly for the first time, laying the groundwork for future partnerships. Synergy creation is a key underlying objective of all phases of SCENARIOS FROM AFRICA.
Jurors also appreciate the selection process as a unique method to evaluate the communication work around HIV/AIDS that has been carried out to date. The average juror reads roughly 200 creative works (over 600 pages of text) on HIV/AIDS by young people. Entries are also discussed at length by groups of jurors. Through this process, members of the selection committees are able to identify problem areas in the young authors’ HIV-related knowledge and attitudes and to formulate ways to adjust the response to the 
epidemic so as to take young people's views and needs into account. The jurors' findings are also compiled in reports and scholarly articles for wider circulation and application:
2005 SCENARIOS FROM AFRICA Juror Observations and Recommendations (Word, 40 pages)
Imagining the epidemic: an analysis of young Nigerians' representations of HIV/AIDS [in 2005 contest entries] and their implications for communication activities (PDF poster, presented at 2008 Mexico City AIDS Conference)
A ‘new way of perceiving the pandemic’: the findings of a unique participatory research process into young Africans’ stories about HIV/AIDS, published in Culture, Health & Sexuality: An International Journal for Research, Intervention and Care, Volume 11, Issue 4 2009; summarized in UNAIDS' HIV This Week, Issue 69 (Word, 33 pages)
2008 SCENARIOS FROM AFRICA Juror Observations and Recommendations (Word, 36 pages)
During the selection process, jurors invariably express dismay over the fact that only an extremely small percentage of contest entries will be turned into a SCENARIOS FROM AFRICA film. They come across many 
creative works that they would like to make use of in their programs in other ways: producing radio shows, adapting the stories as theater pieces, publishing collections of contest entries…. Jurors – and others who might be interested (please contact Global Dialogues) – are actively encouraged to do just that, as long as the young author is always prominently acknowledged and none of the contest entries is ever used in a for-profit venture.
SCENARIOS FROM AFRICA juries include film directors, producers, scriptwriters, actors and actresses, costume designers and specialists in film dubbing. Each time the contest is held, one or more of the internationally acclaimed directors who go on to turn the winning ideas into short films is a member of the final selection jury.
Please click here to view and download photos from national and international juries held since 1997, and here to see photos of contest winners over the years.
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