2018 Winners & Shortlists

Brief Explanation

Murmurs of Reverence begins with crowds gathering in Mecca to people lipsynching to the magical voice of Sheikh Mishary Rashed el Afasi, taking the viewer into a trance that then breaks down the steps of the ritual to progressively reach an individual and highly personal nirvana. It all ends with a return to the realistic sounds of Mecca, the calm after the storm. The film follows the different steps of the pilgrims across their 5-day journey, breaking down the complex and spiritual experience of Hajj to focus on the emotion of faith and the diversity of the people through the strengths of the sounds of Hajj: the murmurs, the vibrations and the quran verse recitation.

Execution

The direction approach of Murmurs of Reverence was to break down the complex and spiritual experience of Hajj to focus on the emotion of faith and the diversity of the people. We rendred the emotion of Faith using the strengths of the senses and focusing on the sounds of Hajj: the murmurs, the vibrations and the quran verse recitation. We used the diversity of the people, people whose hearts are joined together by that same emotion. They recited a verse from the Quran entitled Hajj which describes the ritual and we coupled the visuals of the diverse races, ethnicities and nationalities with the beautiful recording of Sheikh Mishary rashed el Afasi known for his sweet recitation voice. With this, the end movie rendered itself as a dreamy, abstract and impressionist representation of Hajj, one that follows the human senses and that is fuelled by emotion to reinforce a timeless story.