Steps International was set up in 2004 as an extension of the work of Steps For The Future. The latter produced and distributed 38 films dealing with the AIDS pandemic in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The STEPS initiative grew out of the Steps for the Future project run from 2000 -2003. Steps for the Future saw the production of 35 documentary and short films made in Southern Africa on people living with HIV/AIDS. The project was coordinated from its offices in Cape Town, with Don Edkins from Day Zero Productions as producer and Iikka Vehkalahti from YLE TV2 as executive producer.

The idea behind the Steps project was simple: to raise money throughout the world, put in place a support system for local production, and supervise the making of films. Its success was evident in the quality of the films.

To meet international production standards, Steps also provided South African film-makers with easy access to skills and training. Commissioning Editors, Producers, and Editors came from Europe and North America to supply ad hoc tuition – with often spectacular results. The learning process implied by making the films was in the long term as important as the films themselves. The South African model is an important one because it opens up new ways of commissioning and making films outside the so-called developed world.

The films made for STEPS for the Future involved filmmakers and media workers from 25 countries. They have been seen by tens of millions of people in over 20 countries, and they have been shown at some 150 film festivals – receiving awards at Cannes, BANFF, IDFA and EBU.

The $5 million budget for STEPS for the Future was funded from sources such as the Finnish, Swedish, Danish and Dutch governments, a number of broadcasters and the Nokia and Soros Documentary Foundation.

Most of the films made for STEPS for the Future have versions in eight regional languages and some were versioned into 13 African languages, with more still to come.

The project was accompanied and followed-up by an outreach programme to distribute copies of the films to organisations and individuals working on HIV/AIDS issues. Training has also been given in South Africa and Lesotho for capacity building for organisations using the films. The outreach programme is being expanded over the next two and a half years in Namibia, Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Angola, Botswana, Swaziland and Tanzania.

The website of STEPS for the Future www.steps.co.za is a key channel for the project, receiving hundreds of hits a month, and allowing downloads of film trailers.

The Democracy film initiative follows hard on the heels of STEPS for the Future, drawing on its forms and method applicable globally.

Broadcasters and film institutions

Financing for the 10 documentaries about democracy comes from leading broadcasters. They include:

ARTE, France/Germany
BBC, United Kingdom
CBC, Canada
NHK, Japan
NPS, the Netherlands
NRK, Norway
RTBF, Belgium
SABC, South Africa
SBS, Australia
SSR, Switzerland
SVT, Sweden
TV2, Denmark
VRT, Belgium
YLE, Finland


Other film institutions financing production include:

Danish Film Institute, DFI
European Broadcasting Union, EBU
National Film Board of Canada, NFB
Jan Vrijman Fund, the Netherlands
Sundance Institute, USA