‘Be a brother’ campaign & short film launch – footscray

Award winning participatory arts program cohealth Arts Generator will launch an innovative social marketing campaign supporting young African Australian men to drink less alcohol.

Be a Brother is an innovative campaign using video and social media and driven by young African men living in Melbourne’s West who are committed to finding solutions to issues facing their community.

South Sudanese filmmaker and project lead, Ez Eldin Deng, says he was inspired to create short videos about alcohol abuse in the African community.

“We know our community has a problem and we know we need to help each other to solve it.”

“These videos are informed by cultural knowledge, and will be the starting tools for the social marketing campaign.”

cohealth Arts Generator has worked closely with the group of young men.

cohealth Chief Executive Lyn Morgain said the project is full of positive health messages and it’s exciting to work with such creative and inspiring young men.

“This project addresses the fact that these people do not see themselves represented in mainstream media, health messaging or health promotion.

“Their experience of representation is largely negative and limited to the reporting of crime and violence.

“Be a Brother is designed together and informed by the community it is targeting. Be a Brother will address the inequity in this community through an innovative and culturally informed approach.” The project has received funding from VicHealth’s Innovation Challenge: Alcohol, which supports creative initiatives to encourage Victorians to drink less.

“VicHealth is delighted to support this pioneering project to encourage young African men to reduce their alcohol intake,” says VicHealth CEO Jerril Rechter. “The campaign is delivering an important health message to a group of men who have been difficult to connect with until now. This is a truly exciting and innovative project with a lot of potential to have a positive health impact.”

Other lead partners in the project with cohealth are Victoria University and the Youth Support and Advocacy Service.

The young men are inviting people to join them for the first ever screening of the short films made for the campaign, and live performances from young African performing artists; The Movement, Fablice Diodone Manirkiza and Wani Le Frere.

When: Tuesday November 10th at 5-7.30pm

Where: Footscray Community Arts Centre, 45 Moreland Street, Footscray

Cost: FREE