2019 Winners & Shortlists

A CLOSED LINE

BrandVODAFONE
Product/ServiceBRAND
EntrantJ. WALTER THOMPSON CAIRO, EGYPT
CategoryCasting
Idea Creation J. WALTER THOMPSON CAIRO, EGYPT
Production NEO PRODUCTIONS Cairo, EGYPT

Write a short summary of what happens in the film.

A typical television-series trailer. The film begins with familiar faces of celebrities in an action-based scene, located in a typical Egyptian-neighborhood, and titled 'A Closed Line.' As a character appears to be engaging in a physical-fight, the main hero appears to run from far. Approaching to save the day, he surprises the offender from behind, throwing him across the street through a store's window. Starring in his new role, and to the audience's surprise, the hero appears to be Ahmed Fathy, an Egyptian National-team football player. Through exaggerated non-existing acting, Fathy continues to showcase his combat skills, kicking a man off his motorcycle, and smoothly landing on the floor. As he dramatically concludes his performance, we hear the director shouting 'cut!' with exaggerated satisfaction, of which one of the real-actors appears confused. The film concludes with a message of, 'those who can represent us in Russia, can represent us anywhere.'

Cultural/Context information for the jury

For Egyptians, Ramadan is all about television series. Anticipated by millions every year, the celebrities take over the screens of a nation as the stars of the season, making it the peak of television viewership. Bombarded by advertisements, series and shows, communication makes its way to viewers in an unparalleled manner. This year; however, was different. Egypt was taking part in the World Cup in Russia after 28 years, with the tournament scheduled to kick-off on the last day of Ramadan. With advertisements getting lost amidst the hundreds of television-series and excessive communication across all categories, the obvious trend was either to focus on a Ramadan insight, or football-based scene. To stand out, one would need to abuse the nation's love for football, television-series and Ramadan by creating the perfect fusion of showcasing another side of their 2018 stars.

Tell the jury about the casting process.

To ensure the realism of the series-like scenes, we needed real celebrities. Using the familiar faces of Egyptian television supporting actors, we were already half way there, matching each to the genre they usually star in. The real challenge was our main heroes. Using football players whose only experience behind the camera was on the field, in football context or advertising for a product/service, we needed to find the players who had certain attributes that were relevant to specific genres. Despite their poor and non-existing acting skills, appearance was key. Given Ahmed Fathy's toned body and bold facial details, all he needed was a moustache, a sleeveless shirt and applied sweat to appear like most action-heroes dominating the screens do. Pushing him to exaggerate his performance, the mixture of his appearance and poor acting skills delivered the perfect scene our viewers were familiar to; with a twist of course.

Credits

Name Company Role
Omar Hilal Freelance Director Director
Mai Azmy J. Walter Thompson Cairo Managing Director
Diana George J. Walter Thompson Cairo Business Unit Director
Heba Hosny J. Walter Thompson Cairo Account Director
Karim Magdy J. Walter Thompson Cairo Senior Account Executive
Nour Torky J. Walter Thompson Cairo Senior Account Executive
Sherif Mounir J. Walter Thompson Cairo Creative Director
Youssef Hammad J. Walter Thompson Cairo Associate Creative Director
Tamer Tawfik J. Walter Thompson Cairo Senior Copywriter
Amir Adib J. Walter Thompson Cairo Planning Director
Ibrahim Islam J. Walter Thompson Cairo Creative Head
Quim Miquel Freelance Director of Photography Director Of Photography
Mohamed Attia Freelance Art Director Art Director
Ahmed Hafez Aroma Post-Productions Editor
Links
Social Media URL