Media
Media development action with informed and engaged societies
Media
After nearly 28 years, The Communication Initiative (The CI) Global is entering a new chapter. Following a period of transition, the global website has been transferred to the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in South Africa, where it will be administered by the Social and Behaviour Change Communication Division. Wits' commitment to social change and justice makes it a trusted steward for The CI's legacy and future.
 
Co-founder Victoria Martin is pleased to see this work continue under Wits' leadership. Victoria knows that co-founder Warren Feek (1953–2024) would have felt deep pride in The CI Global's Africa-led direction.
 
We honour the team and partners who sustained The CI for decades. Meanwhile, La Iniciativa de Comunicación (CILA) continues independently at cila.comminitcila.com and is linked with The CI Global site.
Time to read
1 minute
Print
a- a+
Published 9 years ago
Last updated 1 year ago
Read so far

The Lucky Specials Film

0 comments

The Lucky Specials is a film which combines fiction and non-fiction storytelling to demystify tuberculosis (TB), explaining how it spreads, and how it can be treated.  Through relatable characters and storyline, The Lucky Specials replaces misconceptions about TB (including drug-resistant TB) with facts and shows the unseen journey of TB bacteria from the inside out through animation. By making the film personal, practical and memorable, audiences will retain critical health information in a context that reflects southern African life and values.  The Lucky Specials follows the same model as Inside Story, the award-winning film by the same producers, which focused on HIV and has been broadcast to more than 400 million people across Africa. 

The film was produced by Discovery Learning Alliance and Quizzical Pictures in association with HHMI Tangled Bank Studios and Wellcome Trust with support from Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), Wellcome Trust, and USAID and PEPFAR through the Leadership, Management & Governance Project, led by Management Sciences for Health (MSH).

Communication Strategies

The Lucky Specials begins in the dark, wet mining shafts of southern Africa, where rock dust and cramped quarters expose workers to various risks. Here, audiences meet Mandla, who works as a miner by day, but is passionate about playing guitar and has dreams of making it big in the music industry with small-time cover band, The Lucky Specials.

The Lucky Specials seeks to entertain and educate audiences across sub-Saharan Africa, while empowering communities to make informed decisions about their health. In addition, music is used as a backdrop as music is known to break down barriers, brings people together, which allows issues to be discussed in an informal way.

A comprehensive rollout of The Lucky Specials will include select private theatrical film screenings, national television broadcasts, and grassroots distribution by non-governmental organisations (NGOs), schools, and governments. Facilitator guides and educational materials are being developed for community and public health organisations and schools to help reinforce messages. The film will be available for download in mid-2017.

A dedicated website has also been developed to help expand the reach of film content to online audiences.

Development Issues

Tuberculosis

Key Points

Like HIV, TB is devastating communities across southern Africa. TB killed 1.8 million people in 2015 and continues to be the leading cause of death among people living with HIV. In addition, drug-resistant TB is a major health concern for people living in sub-Saharan Africa. The Lucky Specials is a useful global health intervention because, as shown during focus-testing, many individuals do not understand how TB is contracted. This information gap can lead to more preventable infections as well as continued stigma associated with TB, all of which the film seeks to address.

Partners

Discovery Learning Alliance; Quizzical Pictures; Howard Hughes Medical Institute; HHMI Tangled Bank Studios; Wellcome Trust; Management Sciences for Health and the Leadership, Management & Governance Project; Discovery Communications.

Sources

The Discovery Learning Alliance website and USAID/Southern Africa Exposure website and MSH website on March 15 2017, and email received from the Discovery Learning Alliance on April 6 2017.