13 youths, 6 countries, 1 goal: Exploring the reality of malaria in Kenya and capture their findings on film

Malaria is more than mosquitoes or just something to worry about for people going on holiday. For people in some of the poorest countries of the world, malaria is an everyday reality. Every night harbours the danger of a new infection through the bite of a female Anopheles mosquito. There are 250 million infections annually, one million of them with a lethal effect.

13 young filmmakers from 6 different European and African countries were selected as winners of the “Insight Malaria” film contest and travelled to Kenya in September 2010 in order to find out what is the reality of malaria like in Africa and shoot their own malaria documentary.

Participants developed their storyboard, focussing on different aspects related to the disease, together and searched for stories from the grassroots level. They went all over Malindi to find out more about access to prevention and treatment or the role cultural beliefs play in the fight against the disease. They met village elders, witchdoctors, families and nurses and found out how these people deal with malaria and how the disease affects daily life in Africa.
The findings were exciting, surprising and sometimes strange. Trying a traditional healer’s potion against malaria or seeing mosquito nets used as shower rooms or fences to keep chicken definitely belonged to the most astonishing experiences for the young filmmakers.

With the „Insight Malaria“documentary the youths want to share their experiences with the European audience and make the voices of malaria-affected people heard on our continent. Moreover, they want to pass a message to decision-makers in Europe: STOP MALARIA NOW!

The documentary premieres at the beginning of 2011 before it will be shown during a tour through 20 European cities. The German film premiere will take place on 15th of April in Cologne. Join us there >>

Get to know the young filmmakers from Africa and Europe and their experiences >>

Have a look at our making-of photo gallery here>>

Watch the film promotion clip here.

And have a look at our youtube channel for the application clips by the participants >>