2020/2021 Winners & Shortlists

Write a short summary of what happens in the film

In 2020, Zain Saudi Arabia filmed a film that was never shot, instead it orchestrated a full remote production with 43 real casts in 43 different locations . Lockdown meant we could not shoot our yearly Ramadan musical film that is meant to uplift, so instead we got our customers to shoot themselves, with their phones, and sing on a song composed by us, in their houses, in their pajamas. Introducing the Zain pajama song.

Cultural / Context information for the jury

The people in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia were experiencing lockdown fatigue. And the loneliness and depression peaked because Ramadan was approaching. Ramadan is a time spent with family and 2020 would be the first Ramadan for many without family or a big gathering, because they couldn’t even take internal flights to get together.

Tell the jury about achievements of the production, including reference to its specific ambitions and challenges. You may wish to comment on scale of production, budget constraints, technical issues and/or challenges faced during the production process.

We could not get a director so we let people direct themselves. We could not get a singer so we let people do some genuine singing. We could not go into people’s home so we let each person shoot from within. We relinquished complete production control to the people. Cameras: 43 Phone cameras. Location: 43 real homes. Director: The people. Singer: the people. Wardrobe: Pajamas. We orchestrated a full remote shoot, with natural talent, so we had to let the shoot dictate the edit instead of shooting a sequence. The people even led the sequence.