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The Cola Road trailer
The film
The Cola Road is an independent film made about our work. It was not commissioned by ColaLife. It was premiered in the UK at the RSA at an event chaired by the BBC’s Business Correspondent, Peter Day (now retired), on 23-Sep-13.
In Aug-12 Claire Ward spent 5 weeks shadowing the ColaLife team as we prepared to launch a trial in Zambia to see if the Coca-Cola distribution system could be used to distribute an anti-diarrhoea kit, called Kit Yamoyo, and make it as ubiquitous as Coca-Cola in remote rural communities. This is her story.
Since the film was made, a 12-month trial was run (Sep-12 to Aug-13) which produced compelling results. See: Seven of the headline findings from the ColaLife trial in Zambia. The flow of kits has continued into the trial areas after the trial ended while the team worked to secure funding for a national scale-up. The national scale-up programme ran under the name of KYTS – Kit Yamoyo Transition to Scale from Feb-15 to Sep-18. In Sep-18 ColaLife’s involvement ceased. Kit Yamoyo continues to be sold through small community and shops and supermarkets nationwide. It is produced under local management by a local manufacturer (Pharmanova) in Zambia. In 2018, the Zambia government added co-packaged ORS and Zinc to its Essential Medicines List and the government is now the biggest customer for a government branded version of Kit Yamoyo. By the end of 2019, 1.2 million kits had left Pharmanova’s factory and 85% had been bought by the government. These kits will have improved around 1 million lives and saved an estimated 1,200 lives.
Film excerpt
The trouble is, you never consulted us 2:28
The Cola Road on the internet
The Cola Road on Facebook
The Cola Road on IMDb
About the film’s maker – Claire Ward
Claire Ward now works for Vice News as a documentary filmmaker and journalist. She travels the world from a base in New York City.
Her videos have appeared on Maclean’s, Al Jazeera English, NYC-TV, the New York Times blog and the Local East Village.
Claire won Best Director (Documentary) at AOF Festival 2013, Monrovia, California for The Cola Road and received an Honorable Mention, Sidney Gross Memorial Prize for Investigative Journalism (2013).
A dual citizen, Claire hails from Nova Scotia, Canada and was raised in the Netherlands. She holds a Master’s in documentary filmmaking from New York University.
Support for screenings
The film prompts a lot of questions and a lot has happened since the film was made. By prior arrangement, members of the ColaLife team are available for post-screening, remote question and answer (Q&A) sessions. We are also able to provide tailored PowerPoint slides to update audiences on what has happened since the film was made, current activities and future plans. To arrange a Q&A session following a communal screening please email act@colalife.org.
Download the film and trailer
The Cola Road can be steamed or downloaded from Vimeo below:
- Trailer (HD) Stream | Download | FREE
- The Film (HD). 24hr rental (£0.75p) | Download or Stream (£3.02)
If you have any comments on the film please add them below.
Last updated: 21-Aug-20
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