2020/2021 Winners & Shortlists

Write a short summary of what happens in the film

Cairokee, Egypt’s most loved rock band, tells the untold story of the “Guardian of Feathers”. In this heartfelt animated song, the band members morph into their childhood selves, joining a forgotten ritual that took place in 1900s Egypt. The film starts with Cairokee’s lead singer Amir telling the story of the magical journey where parents took their children from every corner in Egypt to the shrine of a mystic named “Sidi Abulrish” or “Guardian of Feathers”, to perform a ritual like no other where the child wears a feather crown and sits backwards on a donkey circling the shrine of “Guardian of Feathers” to commemorate the child’s survival past the age of five. We end the film on Amir wondering whether it was divine intervention that Egypt’s most important children’s hospital, “Abulrish” was built on the exact same spot where this ritual took place, and making a call for donations.

Cultural / Context information for the jury

The month of Ramadan in Egypt is filled with commercials of charitable entities, since this is the time of the year when Egyptian Muslims pay their “Zakat” - a yearly donation to help those in need. While the norm is to play on guilt and rely on emotional blackmail, we decided to revert to the magic of beautiful storytelling, positivity and entertainment. Abulrish “Guardian of Feathers” is one of those names in life that are phonetically heard without ever questioning the meaning or origin of the name. It became a mere sound without essence. The magical story behind the name had to be told to give the hospital the iconic stature it deserves, to make it top of mind in order to keep the donations flowing and continue saving the lives of thousands of underprivileged Egyptian children every year.

Tell the jury about type(s) of animation used and summarise any relevant challenges or techniques.

Is there a way to bring to life a 100 year old sad story in a positive inspiring light? After many trials of illustration styles we decided on a style that projects innocence and even naivety to help create a sense of childish charm for the film. Then was the challenge of designing with this simplistic style, the characters of the famous members of the Cairokee band as well as designing their younger versions and making them recognizable for their millions of fans. The result was a traditional hand-drawn 2D frame by frame animation with seemless transitions using a cute bird and its magical feather, guiding us through places and scenes to tell a very rich yet layered story.