FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 15, 2007

Road to Hope, a Zambia Documentary on HIV/AIDS Stigma and
Treatment, Wins a Silver World Medal at the New York Festivals

BALTIMORE – The Zambia documentary Road to Hope won a Silver World Medal at the 2007 New York Festivals International Film & Video Competition. The Film & Video Awards have recognized the best work in informational, educational and industrial film productions for nearly 50 years.

Road to Hope explores the realities faced by everyday people living with HIV and AIDS in Zambia. By focusing on these personal stories, the film tries to bring one of the world’s deadliest epidemics down to a personal, intimate scale. Road to Hope will play in health facilities, workplaces and churches across Zambia to stimulate dialogue about HIV/AIDS, anti-retroviral therapy, and care and support for those affected by the epidemic. On World AIDS Day, the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) aired Road to Hope nationwide.

View a 1 minute promo for Road to Hope
View a 5 minute promo for Road to Hope

At the launch of the film in November, the U.S. Ambassador to Zambia, Carmen Martinez, remarked: “Road to Hope gives people living with AIDS the opportunity to tell their stories in their own voice.  We believe one of the strongest ways to increase awareness is to empower people to talk about HIV/AIDS and offer them a common stage to share their experiences with their peers.  We are extremely proud of this film, which is born out of the creative and collaborative effort of the American and Zambian people.”

The Health Communication Partnership/Zambia, the Zambia Ministry of Health, and the National AIDS Council produced the documentarywith financial support from the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and technical assistance from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

The 2007 New York Festivals International Film & Video Awards Gala was held on Friday, February 2. Road to Hope, the only African finalist, competed against over a hundred films from Europe, Asia, and the Americas. 

The Health Communication Partnership (HCP) is a global communication initiative based at the Center for Communication Programs in the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. HCP partners include the Academy for Educational Development, Save the Children, the International HIV/AIDS Alliance, and Tulane University's School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine.