Pure Earth Bangladesh’s Film Selected for World Health Organization (WHO)’s Film Festival

Pure Earth Bangladesh’s film ‘One in 36 Million: Story of Childhood Lead Poisoning in Bangladesh’ has been officially selected in the ‘Better Health and Well-being’ category of the ‘Health For All’ film festival organized by the World Health Organization (WHO). Nearly 800 filmmakers from 106 countries have submitted short films for the 4th edition of the WHO Health for All Film Festival, and some 90 films have been chosen for the shortlist, for review by a jury of international artists and development leaders, before the announcement of the winners in June 2023.

The shortlisted films under the ‘Better Health and Wellbeing’ category can be watched in this YouTube channel playlist

About the film:

Bangladesh is the 4th most lead pollution-impacted country in the world. About 36 million children are poisoned by lead. The story ‘One in 36 million’ is a story of one child among those 36 million. Shaila, a portrait of a mother raising a child with brain damage due to lead poisoning from an informal battery recycling operation near her home in Mirzapur, Bangladesh.

This film shows how lead pollution from the common practice of substandard lead-acid battery recycling damages children’s cognitive development, and how government agencies and industry actors can work to prevent future lead exposure, enabling children to reach their full potential.

Director: Mitali Das, Arifur Rahman
Creative Supervisor: Angela Bernhardt
Cinematographer: Shohag Chowdhury
Editor: Mahady Hasan Khan Samrat

Produced by: Pure Earth Bangladesh

The jurors will review the shortlisted films and recommend winners to the WHO Director-General, who will make the final decision. Three “GRAND PRIX” and four special prizes will be announced in June at the online Awards Ceremony followed by a series of discussions with winners and jurors.