2020/2021 Winners & Shortlists

Write a short summary of what happens in the film

To create some intrigue for Umbrella Academy (a new Netflix show) in Saudi Arabia, the film depicts a found footage style recording of a 9pm news bulletin from Saudi in the 80’s, that foreshadowed events from the show. In the bulletin from the now defunct Saudi Channel 3, local farmers in Dammam have unearthed a mysterious time capsule from 2019 (the future at that time) containing strange contents and a doomsday warning for Saudi Arabia from Number Five (a character in the show). The field reporter reveals an eclectic mix of show related content from the time capsule. Are they a series of clues? No one seems to know. The news anchor reads out part of a disturbing letter and urges anyone with any information to reach out. And for those who noticed, there was a “cryptic code” (url) inside the time capsule for them to dig deeper.

Cultural / Context information for the jury

Back in the days before cable, Saudi TV 1&2 were the country’s main state-run TV channels for news, sports and entertainment. The daily news bulletins were a vital source of information for things happening in the Kingdom, and everyone tuned in. For a brief period in the 80's, there was also a Saudi Channel 3. No one seems to know much about that channel or why it stopped broadcasting. Even the internet doesn’t have a lot of information about it. So releasing a never-seen clip from that station added to the mystery of the piece when it surfaced online. Umbrella Academy is a Netflix show about the Hargreeves, a dysfunctional family of adopted sibling superheroes. Number Five, the brother who can time travel, returns from the future to warn his siblings that a global apocalypse (the end of the world) is imminent and they have to save the world.

Tell the jury about the casting process.

For this to work our actors needed to embody the Saudi 80’s news anchor and field reporter in every way. How they looked, the way they delivered the news, their mannerisms, and pronunciation of English names. We supplied our casting director with hours of 80’s news footage featuring prominent Saudi news presenters, to share with our actors. It took three rounds of casting in Saudi and the UAE to find the right guys. Once we had our shortlist, it came down to facial hair. Both actors agreed to shave their traditional beards to nail the 80’s stache. For the two farmers we kept it real. We hired two farm hands from the date farm we were shooting at. Neither had been in front of a camera before, and we didn’t tell them that this was a fake news report so we could keep their reactions and performance authentic.