[afro-nets] The Three Amigos to Screen at IAC 2004

[Janet Feldman <kaippg@earthlink.net>]

The Three Amigos to Screen at IAC 2004
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THE THREE AMIGOS TO SCREEN AT XV INTERNATIONAL AIDS CONFERENCE
Humour and non-threatening approach to AIDS prevention education
gaining wide-spread support

OTTAWA, CANADA, June 22, 2004 - The Three Amigos, a series of
twenty (20) world-class animated Public Service Announcements
(PSA's) designed to entrench the use of condoms to stop the
spread of HIV/AIDS throughout the world, is to screen several
times at the XV International AIDS Conference in Bangkok. It is
the only films or shorts screening everyday at the AIDS Film
Festival. The PSA's will be presented at:

At the AIDS Film Festival at IMPACT on July 12 at 2:10pm, July
13 at 4:10pm, July 14 at 1:00pm and July 15 at 2:25pm;

at the Lido Cinema, Siam Square, on July 13 at 6pm, on July 14;

at Noon to 2pm in front of a poster of the Project at the IMPACT
Exhibition Center, Hall 3 - Track E;

at the Goethe Institute, Soi Attakarnprasit, Sathorn Rd Soi 1,
on July 15 at 7pm;

at the Canadian Booth continuously.

"We are thrilled that these spots received such recognition,"
said Firdaus Kharas, Ottawa, Canada-based creator of The Three
Amigos. "I strongly believe that mass education will signifi-
cantly impact AIDS prevention. We must succeed in slowing down
the rate of HIV infection, which is now at over 5 million people
a year."  With assistance from Foreign Affairs Canada, Mr.
Kharas will attend the AIDS Conference and will be speaking at
all four venues on the making and availability of The Three Ami-
gos.

In addition to being recognized for its excellence in media com-
munications, The Three Amigos series has been gaining widespread
support for its humour and non-threatening approach to behaviour
modification. The campaign has the strong support of Archbishop
Desmond Tutu and has already received several awards, including
two recently-conferred Golden Reels (Gold).

Recent articles have said, "A ground-breaking HIV/AIDS preven-
tion strategy" (Africa Film & TV); "They're hard to ignore" Mac-
lean's magazine (Canada); "World-class animated PSAs. This is a
highly effective HIV/AIDS prevention strategy" UN Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs; "Comic condoms get message
across" The Ottawa Citizen (Canada); "AIDS cartoon is a blast"
The Star (South Africa); "Three Amigos blast off" Screen Africa;
"Met with near-universal enthusiasm" The Independent (United
Kingdom).

The Three Amigos has been produced by over 80 volunteers in Can-
ada, India and South Africa. The PSA's are 60, 30, 20 and 15
seconds each. Featuring three animated (2D) condom characters
called Shaft, Stretch and Dick, the PSA's use comedy as a me-
dium. The PSA's are currently being dubbed into 50 languages,
making 1000 spots available for use through-out the world.

The PSA's are available free to broadcasters and NGO's and com-
munity groups. Further information is available at
http://www.thethreeamigos.org.

For additional information and interviews please contact:

Firdaus J. Kharas
Tel: +1-613-820-6121
Fax: +1-613-820-4679
mailto:info@thethreeamigos.org
http://www.kharas.ca