La Riposte, a 15-minute short documentary produced by the World Health Organization (WHO), received a Movie that Matters Award in Cannes. The award was created by Bruno Chatelin, filmfestivals.com founder, former head of Sony and UGC FOX distribution in France to recognize inspiring and transformative films.

La Riposte is a testament to community resilience and perseverance against the COVID-19 pandemic and the hardships of life. Told through a dialogue between community leaders, health officials, scientists, and journalists, the film speaks about the importance of inclusion. Such dialogues seldom happen but must take place.

“My intention in making this film was to create a dialogue on the importance of including community representatives in decision-making, planning, implementation and shared accountability when it comes to health and well-being of those communities,” explained Nellie Kartoglu, director and screenwriter of La Riposte. Kartoglu works as Technical Officer for Partnerships, Community Readiness and Resilience at WHO.

“The film was specifically structured with no voice narration but showing the issues unfolding through the voices of the interviewees, who all agree on the same point—communities at the centre of health policy decisions. We should definitely target inclusion beyond participation and meaningfully engage with community stakeholders,” she added.

Bruno Chatelin himself presented the award and thanked WHO for the tremendous and vital work that they do for the health of people around the world.  

“With La Riposte I have recognized an initiative "that matters" in the very smart and creative usage of film to convey the important message to large audiences. I wanted to offer my "Movie that Matters Award in Cannes to WHO in the hope that they persevere in this strategy,” Chatelin said. 

 

The UHC Partnership’s work to strengthen social participation

The UHC Partnership supports countries in their efforts to foster meaningful government engagement with the population, communities, and civil society in health decision-making processes so that policies, strategies, and plans are more responsive to the needs of the population. In 2021, the UHC Partnership together with WHO and partners put forward the handbook on social participation for universal health coverage to provide practical guidance on the ‘how of’ participation for more equitable and inclusive health decision-making. Investing in these regular platforms and dialogue spaces is critical to help build trust before a crisis occurs, which can then be leveraged in the context of an emergency response.

 

Watch La Riposte here

 

 

Learn more

• About the award
• Voice, agency, empowerment – handbook on social participation for universal health coverage (available in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese)
• Video: Health is all about people