Seven short films aimed at combating COVID-19 misinformation have been produced by the 2020 cohort of the MultiChoice Talent Factory Academy, putting the talent of young African filmmakers to work on one of the world’s current biggest challenges.
The films are part of the United Nations’ pause campaign, a wider behaviour change campaign that aims to create a new social media norm to help combat the rising impact of viral misinformation. The short films will be aired on MultiChoice channels between 9 and 31 December 2020. The MultiChoice group is providing the airtime as part of its ongoing support of the campaign.
The filmmakers, who are from Nigeria, Mozambique, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe, tackled the subject through a variety of approaches, using humour and slang to deliver vital and punchy lifesaving messages that appeal to local viewers.
Commenting on this, Executive Head, Corporate Affairs, Caroline Oghuma, MultiChoice Nigeria said: “We recognise the transformative power of media and the critical role we play to educate audience about the dangers of misinformation through these short films, which have enabled us to share hyperlocal information with our audience.”