Anna Har, Executive Director of Video4Change Network partner Freedom Film Network, shares the impact of the documentary The Story of Kam Agong in the campaign for better maternal healthcare in Sarawak, Malaysia. Directed by Lawrence Jayaraj, the film was a grant winner of the Freedom Film Fest (FFF) held in 2018.
Lawrence is the son-in-law of Kam Agong, who was due to deliver her eighth child at the Lawas District Hospital in Sarawak state. Sadly, at the age of 44, she died, with both medical negligence and lack of expertise contributing to her death. The film aims to compel the Federal Government of Malaysia to provide adequate maternity care and healthcare in Sarawak.
Anna Har notes one of the big impacts of the film: the people who made it were trained and empowered to not only know how to make a film but also to be spokespersons on this issue. It was not easy to get an appointment with the relevant minister as one of their efforts was to screen the film for the wives of ministers and other influential persons to see. Fortunately, the hospital was eventually promised an upgrade and was allocated some funds for the effort.
Read the Impact section of our Video4Change Impact Toolkit to learn more.
