Mawa Langa (My Tomorrow) Film

The film was shot in June 2009 in Zomba, Southern Malawi, in Chichewa, the local language. Malawian primary school children star in the drama, which deals with common issues relating to HIV and AIDS. The film tells the story of Tobias and Effie, whose dreams and lives are threatened by HIV and AIDS. The film poses the question: can the two children overcome the challenges that confront them? Children watching the film are encouraged to think about and discuss what steps they can take to protect themselves from contracting the disease.

Intended essentially for primary school children, the film is designed to be shown in an educational environment, and is distributed with a users' leaflet and suggestions for a wide variety of discussion topics and follow-up activities. YONECO and Temwa are distributing the film throughout Malawi, and Temwa Malawi transports a television, DVD player, and generator to the remote villages of the region to show the film. Since July 2010, 700 copies of the DVD were distributed and a further 2300 are in the process of being distributed. The film has been shown in youth drop-in centres, prisons, schools, at religious gatherings, and on television stations. Other organisations are also using the film to complement their project activities that target young people. According to the project organisers, over 19,000 young people have been reached directly through screenings of the film. This does not include audiences reached through national television.

HIV/AIDS, Orphans and Vulnerable Children

According to the producers, Malawi had, at the time of researching the film, one of the highest HIV prevalence rates in Sub-Saharan Africa, with an estimated 14.2% of the adult population infected. However, key figures are leading a new nationwide AIDS-awareness programme entitled Protecting the Next Generation (PNG). The thinking behind PNG is the result of research carried out in Malawi into the distribution of HIV and AIDS across different age groups. The research shows a high incidence of HIV amongst 0 to 4 year-olds due to mother-to-child transmission. Few of these children live beyond the age of 5 years, so the number of cases drops dramatically between the ages of 5 and 14. It then rises again at the age at which young people become sexually active. Therefore, the government wants to focus on the 5- to-12- years age group in order to help reduce the spread of HIV. The film was produced with this strategy in mind.

Mawa Langa won an award for best drama over 30 minutes in length at the Picture This 2011 Film Festival in Calgary, Canada.