2020/2021 Winners & Shortlists

Write a short summary of what happens in the film

The short-horror film tells the story of a Saudi man, living in a black-mirror like world. In this world, everyone has a green-lit chip with a number on their forehead. Our hero, takes us through his seven-day journey of hell, that starts off with a normal routine-average life, yet one where he, never finishes a meal. Horror starts when his chip turns red, hitting the number 184. Panic hits when he realizes that cannot see food - everyone is eating ‘nothing.’ After seven-days, as he gets weaker, he collapses in front of the water dispenser he cannot see. He opens his eyes to a screen that welcomes him to the “Food Wasters Asylum,” classifying him as an ‘Official Food Waster.’And to be unclassified, he has to eat the 184Kilos of his unfinished food. Why? Because food is a blessing, and you should always #ThinkAhead.

Cultural / Context information for the jury

In Saudi Arabia is ranked the number one country in total food wasted, with 33% of food getting getting tossed in the garbage, based on Saudi Gran Organization’s latest survey. The average weight of wasted food of an individual is about 184 kilos per year. With a population of 33 million people and assuming that 70% are wasters, the average country totals to almost 4.3 billion kilos of wasted food per year. Suffering from a large gap of income inequality, almost 20% of the population falls under the poverty line. Shawarmer’s Food Conservation Initiative was launched across schools in the KSA, where students competed for ideas on how to deliver the message best, becoming the first youthful activists to make a change. The winners worked directly with the creators of the film to, and were fully credited at the end of the film.