WaterAid | Parallel Lives
Director & producer
This dual-narrative idea became the flagship film for the DfID Aid Match campaign ‘Deliver Life’ which saw supporters raise more money than they ever had before - almost £5 million.
Nurses from the popular One Born Every Minute TV programme were due to engage with the campaign, so I pitched this concept to them in order to leverage the collaboration and bring relevance and interest to a UK audience of the struggles being felt on a daily basis by women and staff in Kiomboi hospital in rural Tanzania which had no access to clean, safe water at the time.
Meticulous storyboarding using footage from the Tanzania shoot I produced, enabled us to shoot the same frames and ‘moments’ taking place in the Liverpool Women’s Hospital so that a simple, but powerful interactive film could be created allowing viewers seamless navigation between the two hospitals.
Director & producer | Catherine Rose
DOP | Chris Turner
Editor & assistant producer | Isabelle Povey
“The WaterAid film brings to life something that is generally understood – that conditions in African hospitals are frequently extremely challenging – but seldom has it been highlighted with such clarity.”
Louise Jack, Fast Company
“Parallel Lives has had a powerful impact on our audiences at major global gatherings like the World Health Assembly and the International Confederation of Midwives Congress. The film really hits a chord with health workers and global health policymakers - the type of audience we are trying to influence through our advocacy and campaigning. Some years after the film was first shown, we still regularly get feedback from our contacts at World Health Organisation that they remember it or have shown it themselves at other events.”
Dan Jones, Advocacy Coordinator, WaterAid
Impact
Winner The Drum creative weekly competition
Successful media coverage ranging from the Daily Mail to Campaign, PR Week, Fast Company, to industry press and blogs
Engagement with the film was really high with over 50% completing the film and watching again and 71% of viewers engaging with the interactions
The film went on to be a successful advocacy tool as part of WaterAid’s Healthy Start campaign, being used at ‘Women Deliver’ and the Commonwealth Nurses and Midwives Federation Annual Conference