2019 Winners & Shortlists

Write a short summary of what happens in the film.

recalled the hyperbolic emotion and stupendous over-acting of the 1980s Spanish telenovas or “soap operas,” so we hinged our campaign on replicating these retro Spanish soaps entirely. Each execution played out as a single episode based on seemingly ordinary situations but shot in the dramatic style that mirrored the master scenes of the Spanish soap opera genre. Our cast remained the same throughout each episode, acting as typical soap family characters; the drama queen wife, the reactive husband, the bossy mother-in-law, the teenage daughter and eight-year-old son. Similar to the soaps, our situations were always triggered by one event that resulted in an extreme dramatic outburst. Yet that event could have been completely avoided if our products were in the home; the simple solutions that could have avoided the drama.

Cultural/Context information for the jury

The Spanish soap operas of the 1980s were much-loved by Arab families who would sit together around the television, gripped by every episode, feeling empathy and recognition with the dramas that unfolded every week. They soaps were always dubbed in classical Arabic as even though the language was no longer spoken, it added to the theatrical entertainment and allowed the dialog to be understood and enjoyed across the Arab world. This deeply nostalgic aspect of the Spanish soap operas helped bring our idea to life right away and achieve the overall look and feel we were aiming for.

Tell the jury about the casting process.

One of the most important elements in creating our series of authentic films surrounded the stringent casting process for the Armandos, our typical 1980s Spanish soap family of five. To begin our search, we contacted five casting agencies in Spain who each put forward 20-30 actors. Our casting director then shortlisted 50 actors and from this, we selected our five principal actors who were retained for the series.