Discovery Channel Global Education Partnership's 'Inside Story' Takes Home Special Jury Award at 20th Pan African Film Festival
African-Produced Feature Film Combines Football and Science to Entertain and Enlighten Millions Across Sub-Saharan Africa About HIV/AIDS
(3BL Media / theCSRfeed Silver Spring, MD - February 27, 2012 - After three successful screenings at the 20th Annual Pan African Film Festival, the nonprofit Discovery Channel Global Education Partnership’s INSIDE STORY was awarded Special Jury Recognition in the Feature Narrative category yesterday in Los Angeles.
After debuting on World AIDS Day 2011 in Johannesburg and last month in Washington, D.C., INSIDE STORY’s February 11th premiere at the Pan African Film Festival marked its first public screening. Hailed by LA Weekly as “a rousing success,” the film stars Kevin Ndege Mamboleo (Changing Times) as Kalu, a gifted footballer who moves from rural Kenya to urban Johannesburg to follow his dream and support his family. His path becomes more challenging when he falls in love with the coach’s daughter, Ify (Kendra Etufunwa), and subsequently finds out he is HIV-positive. Newcomers Mamboleo and Etufunwa (Jacob’s Cross) are joined by international stars including Hakeem Kae-Kazim (Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Hotel Rwanda, 24) and Fana Mokoena (Blood Diamond, Hotel Rwanda).
Directed by Rolie Nikiwe (Tsha Tsha, The Lab, Intersexions), INSIDE STORY is a truly pan African project – produced by Curious Pictures South Africa, filmed in South African and Kenya and featuring actors and actresses from across the continent. INSIDE STORY also distinguishes itself by combining a compelling narrative with realistic CGI animations that take the viewer into the body to demonstrate the science of HIV in a personal, practical and memorable way.
Produced with the support of the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Chevron, Discovery Communications, Access Bank, the South African Department of Trade and Industry, SEACOM and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), Discovery Channel Global Education Partnership plans a comprehensive rollout of the film – including national broadcasts across sub-Saharan Africa and distribution through grassroots efforts of NGOs, schools and governments – later this year. The trailer for the film and regular updates on the project can be found at insidestorythemovie.org and facebook.com/insidestory.
The Pan African Film Festival is America's largest and most prestigious international Black film festival. In its 20th year, the Festival featured 170 films, representing 30 countries, spanning narratives and documentaries.
To schedule an interview with the producers, director or cast, or to request a screener and/or photography from INSIDE STORY, please email amber_harris@discovery.com.
About Discovery Channel Global Education Partnership
Discovery Channel Global Education Partnership (DCGEP) is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit charitable organization that for the past 14 years has been working in under-resourced schools around the world, using the power of television to increase student learning, teacher effectiveness and the community’s access to information and involvement in their children’s schools. The initiative is locally managed, and involves a collaborative process of educational video program development that combines contributions of expertise and high-quality documentary footage from Discovery with the needs of educators in countries where DCGEP is active. In addition, DCGEP provides three years of teacher training and capacity building to ensure their ability to maximize the value of educational television as a tool for teaching and learning. For more information, please visit www.thepoweroftv.org.
About PEPFAR
The U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) is the U.S. Government initiative to save the lives of those affected by HIV/AIDS around the world. This historic commitment is the largest by any nation to combat a single disease internationally, and PEPFAR investments also help alleviate suffering from other diseases across the global health spectrum. PEPFAR is driven by a shared responsibility among donor and partner nations and others to make smart investments to save lives. For more information about PEPFAR, visit www.PEPFAR.gov, http://twitter.com/pepfar or www.facebook.com/PEPFAR.
About Discovery Communications
Discovery Communications (Nasdaq: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK) is the world's #1 nonfiction media company reaching more than 1.5 billion cumulative subscribers in 210 countries and territories. Discovery is dedicated to satisfying curiosity through 142 worldwide television networks, led by Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, Science and Investigation Discovery, as well as U.S. joint venture networks OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network, The Hub and 3net, the first 24-hour 3D network. Discovery also is a leading provider of educational products and services to schools and owns and operates a diversified portfolio of digital media services, including HowStuffWorks.com. For more information, please visit www.discoverycommunications.com.
About Chevron
Chevron is one of the world’s leading integrated energy companies, with subsidiaries that conduct business worldwide. The company is involved in virtually every facet of the energy industry. Chevron explores for, produces and transports crude oil and natural gas; refines, markets and distributes transportation fuels and lubricants; manufactures and sells petrochemical products; generates power and produces geothermal energy; provides energy efficiency solutions; and develops the energy resources of the future, including biofuels. Chevron is based in San Ramon, Calif. More information about Chevron is available at www.chevron.com.
About Access Bank
Access Bank Plc is a socially responsible organization; with a clearly developed strategy for facilitating societal development and wellbeing. The Bank is one of Africa’s pre-eminent financial services groups, and has a full banking subsidiary in the UK and all monetary zones across sub-Sahara Africa. The Bank is ranked 14th in Africa and amongst the top 500 banks in the world by tier 1 capital as at December 2010. For more information visit www.accessbankplc.com.
About SEACOM
SEACOM is a privately financed, developed and owned submarine fibre optic cable network bringing high quality, affordable broadband capacity to Africa through the sale of wholesale international bandwidth and associated services on an open-access basis since July 2009. Stretching some 17,000km along the eastern and southern African coastlines and onwards to India and Europe, the SEACOM system has already connected many African countries including South Africa, Mozambique, Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Djibouti and Ethiopia bringing in many instances previously unavailable access to unrestricted bandwidth.
The SEACOM network offers bundled backhaul, open-access points of presence and global partnerships, to provide high quality, cost effective, end-to-end connectivity. Tiered pricing coupled with open access system integration solutions means that SEACOM has moved beyond the cable to become a major pan-African network with a full suite of IP services and unprecedented benefits for customers. SEACOM believes in a world where the African Internet experience is interconnected and characterized by abundant local content, minimal latency as well as fast download and streaming speeds. This vision is at the heart of SEACOM’s commitment to Building the African Internet. For more information, please visit www.seacom.mu.
About UNAIDS
UNAIDS, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, is an innovative United Nations partnership that leads and inspires the world in achieving universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support. Learn more at unaids.org.
# # #
