Power Of Film

FilmAid and Every Mother Counts at The Bulgari

Porter Magazine 2014

Porter Magazine 2014

It is fundamental to work together to save each and every woman.

Statistics show that one woman dies every two minutes from complications during pregnancy and birth. This is why FilmAid was honored to join Christy Turlington Burns for Porter Magazine's event with Every Mother Counts at The Bulgari, to raise awareness of the vital need for the continued progress and preservation of maternal health. 

Driven by her own experience of pregnancy and giving birth, Christy founded Every Mother Counts with the aim of providing every mother with the same level of information and healthcare she had received when she needed it most. 

Stella and Sian speak at bulgari.JPG

A touching speech was given on behalf of FilmAid by FilmAid’s UK Chair, Sian Sutherland, and FilmAid’s Country Director for Kenya, Stella Suge. 

Emphasizing the common ground shared by the two organizations, Sian discussed Every Mother Counts and FilmAid’s important contributions to safeguarding women’s health and dignity by the provision of information and the giving of hope, life skills, and voices.

 

Stella spoke of her first-hand experience working on a FilmAid maternal health program based in two of the largest refugee camps in the world, Kakuma and Dadaab in Kenya. With over half a million people living as refugees in Kenya, and over half of these people being women, maternal health necessitates urgent action. Stella expressed that she had seen women die as a result of absence of knowledge and information, a situation that was complicated further by cultural issues relating to how women receive professional hospital treatment. In light of these experiences, FilmAid devised a program that included creating an informative film made by and for refugees. The film focussed on informing viewers of the critical need and benefits of maternal health, thus contributing to the ongoing welfare of mothers and thier children. 

 

FilmAid Asia’s Power of Film Gala 2014

On March 22, 2014, Clearwater Bay Studios, Hong Kong, was over run by influential individuals from the film and humanitarian sector. More than 400 people arrived from around the globe to celebrate FilmAid Asia’s Power of Film Gala and ultimately raise over HK$3.5 million. The evening was filled with generous individuals, committed to FilmAid’s mission of projecting hope and changing lives through the medium of film. 

This was the Gala’s third year and the third time for Moet & Chandon to demonstrate their unwavering support of FilmAid Asia by acting as the presenting partner for the event. The night was filled with stars, and members of the FilmAid Board, unanimously dedicated to FilmAid’s values; Tilda Swinton and Donnie Yen paid tribute to the humanitarian filmmaker Ruby Yang, whilst other guests included Jamie Campbell Bower, Fan Bingbing, Godfrey Gao, and Cheng Pei-pei.

Ruby Yang was honoured by FilmAid Asia for her contribution to using media to promote awareness of crucial social issues, for example, through founding Chang Ai Media Project to raise awareness of HIV in China. On top of that, Yang’s world renowned documentaries touch on diverse themes, ranging from the posionous consequences of chemical plants, to the lives of gay men in China who are obliged to marry women in order to please their parents.

The evening was spent enjoying a performance by Grandmaster Flash . After cocktails, guests were seated for a special dinner prepared by the Grand Hyatt Hotel. Following this, the charity auction begun, which included items such as tickets to Burberry's London Fashion show, and an original artwork by graffiti artist Mr Brainwash. In addition, and as a complete surprise to everyone, Tilda Swinton ingeniously auctioned off the reading of a bedtime story to the highest bidder in the room. Jamie Campbell Bower attended the Gala as FilmAid's Global Artist Council member and assisted Levina Li-Cadman and Claire Breen Melwani raise funds during the Educate Through Film section. Jamie also auctioned his guitar to raise extra funds.  All this money raised is invaluable and supports the ongoing programs in Asia, which include skills training for NGOs, film production, community outreach to refugees and mobile cinemas which raise awareness of social and health issues.

FilmAid thanks its generous sponsors for the event, and the unceasing generosity of the guests, who made the third inaugural Power of Film Gala Asia, the best yet.

Thank You Anthony Russell!

One of Kenya's top visual artists, Anthony Russell, generously donated his piece "Seeking Time" for the auction at our Power of Film Benefit in New York this year. We wanted to take a moment to share more about Russell's beautiful work.

Born and raised in Kenya and the UK, Anthony Russell is an artist, designer, musician, and most of all, mad-keen conservationist with a passion for lions and Maasai culture. In addition to creating eco-friendly luxury safari camps and lodges, Anthony has worked with Richard Leakey, Ian Douglas Hamilton, the Honourable Member of Parliament George Saitoti, Paul Allen and Donna Karan on community design orientation projects and pure wildlife protection projects.

Thank you for your support Anthony, and keep up the amazing work!

Read more about Anthony and check out his artwork here.