2020/2021 Winners & Shortlists

Write a short summary of what happens in the film

Two Saudi influencers arrive and make their way through the airport ready to catch their flight to Cintra. But this isn’t an everyday flight. They’re not the only ones going. The airport is teeming with strange folk all going back home and they’re doing a terrible job of blending in. This leads to some humorous encounters involving ranged weaponry, magic potions, mystical levitation and finally, teleportation. Everything you’d expect on a flight to the medieval yet magical world of Netflix’s new show The Witcher.

Cultural / Context information for the jury

Darin Al Bayad & Abdulaziz Bakr (one of The Saudi Reporters) are prominent comedic content creators in Saudi Arabia with a huge fan following on Youtube & Instagram. Prior to this film releasing they were both sent a Witcher kit that contained an invite to an undisclosed place and useful things that would help them on their journey. They revealed the contents of the kit on their social channels and told their fans to stay tuned for what’s coming next. The Witcher is a new Netflix show based on the original book series of the same name by Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski. Set on a fictional, medieval-inspired landmass known as "the Continent", The Witcher explores the legend of Geralt of Rivia. Cintra is a Kingdom within the Continent.

Tell the jury anything relevant about the direction. Do not name the director.

The idea of the film was to thrust our Saudi audience via the influencers into the exciting and magical world of The Witcher. The influencers play themselves and feel progressively out of their element as they get a little taste of this world. Until they embrace it. The direction had to create a balance between our Saudi leads, each with their own style of comedy, and the medieval characters from The Witcher. The supporting cast of Elves, Warriors, Mages and village people had to look and feel authentic - everyday folk from the Continent waiting to catch their flight. Airports can be quite bland visually, but the world of The Witcher isn’t, so we staged every scene with rich lighting and blocking. The storytelling was kept simple, with natural camera language, and each frame was visually interesting with the nice pops of colour and texture accentuated by anamorphic lenses.