THE THREE AMIGOS, a series of 20 animated Public Service Announcements (PSAs) designed to entrench the use of condoms to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS throughout the world, have been awarded a CINE Golden Eagle. THE THREE AMIGOS, along with 800 other PSA, are part of the worlds largest integrated behavior modification program that launched at the United Nations on Jan. 11, 2005. This public awareness program has a potential reach of approximately 80% of the worlds population.
THE THREE AMIGOS was the only Commercial/PSA honored in this round. Winners in other categories in this round include: WGBH, National Geographic, WNET, CNN, History Channel, NBC, PBS, BBC, Disney Educational and Sesame Workshop
The award is presented by CINE, founded in 1957 to distinguish excellence in professional filmmaking. The Golden Eagle is recognized around the world as a symbol of the highest production standards in film and video. More than 300 judges viewed and evaluated hundreds of entries for the awards. Prior recipients of CINE Golden Eagles include Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and many others distinguished for their work with the moving image.
THE THREE AMIGOS is a HIV/AIDS prevention strategy, strongly supported by Nobel Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who has called the PSAs a significant contribution. 0.The series has been created by volunteers and compromises PSAs of 60, 30, 20 and 15 seconds each. Featuring three 2D animated condom characters called Shaft, Stretch and Dick, the PSAs use comedy as a medium. The series was produced and directed by Firdaus Kharas.
Since completion in March 2004, THE THREE AMIGOS has received three Crystal Awards of Excellence from the Communicator Awards, the Grand Festival Prize in Berkeley, California, an Honorable Mention at the Chris Awards, two Golden Reels (Gold), a Silver Hugo in Chicago and the ZoieFest Award. THE THREE AMIGOS has also been Official Selections at several festivals, including the Cologne Shorts Festival, Ottawa International Animation Festival, CINEME in Chicago, the XV International AIDS Conference in Bangkok, Vue DAfrique in Montreal, Ten Years of Freedom in New York, the Durban Film Festival and the One World Festival in Ottawa.
The PSAs have been adapted into 40 languages. One PSA per language is currently streaming on THE THREE AMIGOS Website. Further information is available at www.thethreeamigos.org