Title	LIFEBOAT - THE EXPERIMENT
Brand	SEA-WATCH E.V.
Product/Service	HUMANITARIAN HELP
Category	G04. Social Behaviour & Cultural Insight
Entrant	SERVICEPLAN GERMANY Munich, GERMANY
Idea Creation	SERVICEPLAN GERMANY Munich, GERMANY
Media Placement	MEDIAPLUS Munich, GERMANY
PR	ACHTUNG! Hamburg, GERMANY
Production	MARKENFILM Hamburg, GERMANY
Production 2	NHB Hamburg, GERMANY
Additional Company	PLAN.NET Munich, GERMANY

Name	Company	Position
Alexander Schill	SERVICEPLAN GERMANY	Global Chief Creative Officer
Michael Wilk	SERVICEPLAN GERMANY	Executive Creative Director
Maximilian Florian Schoengen	SERVICEPLAN GERMANY	Global Creative Strategist
Dennis Fritz	SERVICEPLAN GERMANY	Head of Editing, Head of Motiondesign
Anton Reim	SERVICEPLAN GERMANY	Junior Motion Designer
Markus Maczey	SERVICEPLAN GERMANY	Creative Managing Director
Simone Herrmann	SERVICEPLAN GERMANY	Managing Assistant
Jochen Lenhardt	MEDIAPLUS	Managing Partner
Philipp von Mauch	Freelance	Developer, Screendesigner
Skye Fitzgerald	Spin Films	Director
Felix Tonnat	Freelance	Director Of Photography
Acki Heldens	Markenfilm Hamburg	Executive Producer
Daniel Farkas	Markenfilm Hamburg	Creative Producer/2nd unit Director
Ole Bernhardi	Markenfilm Hamburg	Assistant Producer
Adnen Abdallah	Markenfilm Hamburg	Setdesign
Steve Thompson	Markenfilm Hamburg	Lighting
Sabine Jankowski	Freelance	Camera Operator
Fabian Klein	Freelance	Camera Operator
Martina Di Lorenzo	Freelance	Camera Operator
Leonard Lokai	Freelance	Camera Operator
Mike Schmidt	Freelance	Sound Engineer Experiment
Thomas Keller	Freelance	Sound Engineer Interviews
Julien von Schultzendorff	nhbNEXT	Grading
Mike Friedland	nhbNEXT	Grading
Katharina Schoelzel	achtung!	Junior Account Manager
Katharina Bittner	achtung!	Account Director
Tina Vogt	Vogt Casting	Casting
Kathrin Heinemann	SPARK	Managing Director
Michael Seidler	Michael Seidler Photography	Photographer
Florian Zwinge	Freelance	Art Director

Write a short summary of what happens in the film

The online-film “LIFEBOAT – The Experiment” is a documentation touching the topic of the refugee crisis in the Mediterranean. Since the media coverage on this topic decreased heavily refugee-rescue organization Sea-Watch needed a strong push to get heard. Therefor we brought it closer: geographically and emotionally. Based on first hand experiences of five refugees who survived, we set up a simulation attempting to remodel conditions of a real escape: Darkness, waves, stress, anxiety, uncertainty. 40 voluntary participants represented the German society in age, gender and profession. Set up in a Germany based wave-pool we collaborated with the director and followed up on his Oscar-nominated documentary “LIFEBOAT”. He said: It is a powerful approach to move people through the heart instead of through the mind.” The documentary is a merge of both refugee and participant experiences so as the German TV-psychologist Michael Thiel who guided the entire experiment.

Cultural / Context information for the jury

The refugee crisis in the Mediterranean Sea was a largely discussed topic in 2014. It separated Germany into two main groups: one pro-refugees and the rightwing party being absolutely against them. While the refugee crisis in the Mediterranean along the world’s deadliest border continuous, its media coverage decreased heavily. The topic simply lost its „news-value“ and with it Sea-watch’s vision and ongoing efforts fell silent. Language is revolution. If we were to turn the tide, the conversation must go on. “LIFEBOAT – The Experiment” re-creates a momentum and stresses the fact that the ongoing refugee crisis is not a single countries problem, but one that concerns all of Europe. The campaign generated a mindshift in society by re-enabling access to the most human of our feelings: Empathy.

Please tell us about the social behaviour and / or cultural insights that inspired your campaign

The refugee crisis in the Mediterranean Sea was a largely discussed topic in 2014. It separated Germany into two main groups: one pro-refugees and the rightwing party being absolutely against them. While the refugee crisis in the Mediterranean along the world’s deadliest border continuous, its media coverage decreased heavily. The topic simply lost its „news-value“ and with it Sea-watch’s vision and ongoing efforts fell silent. Language is revolution. If we were to turn the tide, the conversation must go on. “LIFEBOAT – The Experiment” re-creates a momentum and stresses the fact that the ongoing refugee crisis is not a single countries problem, but one that concerns all of Europe. The campaign generated a mindshift in society by re-enabling access to the most human of our feelings: Empathy.