2022 Winners & Shortlists

Write a short summary of what happens in the film

In the Noble Speech, scientists like Dr. Esther Lederberg - who was part of a team of scientists who pioneered microbial genetics and should have won the Nobel Prize actually gets to giver her acceptance speech. Dozens of previous Nobel Prize ceremonies were analyzed to ensure that the created scenography looked as authentic as possible. The scientists’ hairstyles and apparel that were in vogue in the year they should have won were replicated, making the cast the only real element of the film, while the rest was entirely crafted using technology. Traditional deep-fake algorithms require a large data set of source faces to successfully replace a target. Since only a few photographs of the selected scientists are available, the faces were first recreated using CGI. The resulting 3D faces were then interpolated into the algorithm, achieving convincing face replacements from only one source image.

Cultural / Context information for the jury

Fighting for gender equality in the world’s most unequal region. According to World Economic Forum’s Gender Equality Index 2021, MENA remains the region with the biggest gender gap (60.9%), which at the current relative pace, can potentially be closed in 142.4 years. For decades, in the male-dominated field of science, many female scientists have had to witness their achievements being attributed to their male colleagues, leading to the women being omitted from Nobel Prizes. For instance, in the early 1950s, Dr. Esther Lederberg - for example, was part of a team of scientists who pioneered microbial genetics. Despite her substantial contributions to the field of microbiology, the subsequent 1958 Nobel Prize was only awarded to her male counterpart. This erasure of their legacy and place in history was a slight that was never corrected. We could continue to empower Arab women and inspire the next generation of female scientists.

Please tell us how the brand purpose inspired the work

World Economic Forum’s Gender Equality Index 2021 mentions MENA as the region with the biggest gender gap (60.9%), which at the current pace, would be closed in 142.4 years. UAE has managed to close 6% in just one year, becoming the most-improved country in the region. The nation has a vision to be among the world's top 25 countries for gender equality and Womanity is committed to its realization. Inspiring women to rise in academic pursuits, aiming to create awareness around the real gender gaps that need attention, this initiative also saved the equality conversation from getting stereotyped.