Title	BELIEVE IN ME
Brand	BARNARDO'S
Product/Service	BARNARDO'S
Category	A01. Direction
Entrant	FCB INFERNO London, UNITED KINGDOM
Idea Creation	FCB INFERNO London, UNITED KINGDOM
PR	FCB INFERNO London, UNITED KINGDOM
Production	ROGUE FILMS London, UNITED KINGDOM
Production 2	FINAL CUT London, UNITED KINGDOM
Production 3	THE MILL London, UNITED KINGDOM
Production 4	FACTORY London, UNITED KINGDOM

Name	Company	Position
Owen Lee	FCB Inferno	Chief Creative Officer
Guy Hobbs	FCB Inferno	Creative Director
Ben Edwards	FCB Inferno	Creative Director
Jayshree Viswanathan	FCB Inferno	Copywriter
Chelsey Redshaw	FCB Inferno	Art Director
Helena Georghiou	FCB Inferno	Business Director
Jack Steer	FCB Inferno	Senior Account Manager
Jessie Landers	FCB Inferno	Senior Account Director
Helen St Quintin	FCB Inferno	Strategy Director
Sam Brown	Rogue Films	Director
James Howland	Rogue Films	Executive Producer
Emma Butterworth	Rogue Films	Producer
Devia Gurjar	Barnardo's	Director of Marketing, Brand & Communication
Sian Beveridge	Barnardo's	Brand Marketing Manager

Write a short summary of what happens in the film

A 12-year-old schoolgirl is being stalked by a pack of hyenas. They snap jaws through her letterbox, preventing her leaving home. A VO gives us her perspective. Her school locker contents are strewn across the floor while they cackle, and she hurries past a playground fence as they stare menacingly. It becomes clear the hyenas are a visual metaphor for school bullies, who are the cause of her anxiety. After they chase her home, and hatefully message her into the night, the film reaches breaking point. Sound builds to an unbearable pitch and her bedroom lights black out. The scene changes: she’s in a warm, sunny Barnardo’s centre. We realise she’s with a Barnardo’s counsellor, and the VO we’ve heard is actually her conversation with him. We learn that with Barnardo’s support, she’s now learning to manage her anxiety, and is able to look forward with renewed confidence and hope.

Cultural / Context information for the jury

Barnardo’s is the UK’s largest children’s charity. This film marks a new chapter in the ‘Believe In Me’ creative platform, which strategically recasts the young people that Barnardo’s helps in a more positive and empowered way. Instead of showing them as victims, they were portrayed as resilient individuals who, with expert support and care, can overcome even the worst circumstances. The ‘Hyenas’ film takes this a step further, by tackling the assumption that a so-called ‘Barnardo’s child’ only comes from an abusive or troubled home, and makes Barnardo’s role in the child’s healing process more explicit. The subject matter reflects the vital support Barnardo’s offers to young people with mental health problems, at a time when 60% of young people across England do not receive treatment for their condition, despite being at risk.

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

Our direction needed to make a potentially fantastical scenario feel like hard-hitting reality. It was key our viewers connected with our child’s struggle, irrespective of their own experience of anxiety – so the cinematography is simple and naturalistic. We shot in real locations, including a busy school, a rundown playground, and a graffitied underpass. Contrasted with these deeply real spaces, our hyenas appear extraordinary and menacing–but our child’s story remains the central focus. We used interesting camera angles to heighten the drama and show the story from different perspectives. We cast our protagonist for her everyday, naturally vulnerable look –making the point that anxiety can affect any child, of any background. We consciously cast a child with no acting experience. While this could have been a risk, we wanted to achieve an authentic performance, rather than a trained response, that brings home the effects of anxiety on an ordinary child.