2020/2021 Winners & Shortlists

Write a short summary of what happens in the film

In an attempt to raise awareness of the most common causes of residential fires, this film tells a real-life story of a house fire victim who was unfortunate not to make it to a specialized burn centre on time, for the lack of adequate facilities in Egypt. The story is a firsthand account, told from the perspective of a close relative of the victim who was there during the incident, but was left helpless. The storytelling highlights how important it is to take caution and prevent a home fire from happening in the first place, rather than try to seek help when it is too late.

Cultural / Context information for the jury

Egyptians tend to switch the TV channel whenever they come across an emotional form of communication that speaks the truth about a real cause. Emotional films, songs or television series of dark nature tend to not succeed in the country. This has posed a challenge for a campaign that relied merely on the shock factor to provoke action. The campaign needed to be as real as it could be to highlight how serious timing is in cases of residential fires. The true-to-life storytelling had to be balanced with the visual execution. We opted for a colorful animation style rather than actual footage. This made it easier for us to grab the viewers’ attention and raise awareness about the cause before they could switch off the channel.