Title	FINISH YOUR HOMEWORK
Brand	UNICEF & THE EU
Product/Service	NOT FOR PROFIT / CHARITY
Category	A04. Production Design / Art Direction
Entrant	MUTANT Antwerp, BELGIUM
Idea Creation	MUTANT Antwerp, BELGIUM
Production	HAMLET Brussels, BELGIUM
Post Production	HAMLET Brussels, BELGIUM

Name	Company	Position
Odin Saillé	Mutant	Creative Director
ShiQi Ji	Mutant	Account Manager
Emilie Kino	Mutant	Account Director
Jonas Marysse	Mutant	Art Director
Frank Schouwaerts	Mutant	Design Director
Ruben Van Maldeghem	Mutant	Copywriter

Write a short summary of what happens in the film

The EU and Unicef launched a joint appeal to policy makers: keep as many schools open as possible for as long as possible. This appeal was launched through a gripping film. The closure of schools forced parents to deal with a new situation. For many parents, the combination of telework and home education is a trial-and-error process. That’s why our film keys into the familiar tutorial videos with tips on how to solve a problem in a few simple steps. But instead of seeing a bite-size video, the viewers are confronted with the facts in a very direct and impactful way. The clickbait-style design contrasts sharply with the serious topic of the video. So we could strike a nerve with politicians and policy makers and ramp up the pressure to keep the schools open, always in safe circumstances. The film sparked a debate and was featured in numerous news outlets.

Cultural / Context information for the jury

Schools across the globe were closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. This violates one of the most basic children’s rights: the right to education. More than 897 million children worldwide were faced with the consequences, both in the short and the long term. Because for many children in a difficult home situation school not only means education but also, and more importantly, a safe haven. In the long term children who are deprived of access to education are at greater risk of child labour, criminality or situations of child abuse.

Tell the jury about the production design / art direction. You may wish to comment on choices, challenges or effects.

The film opens with a light-hearted ‘five simple tips to help children with their homework’. But it soon becomes clear via the change in tone, that the film is illustrating the gripping reality of how school closures have exposed children to vulnerable and untenable situations they should not be finding themselves in. We wanted to work precisely on the perspective of the child always at the centre of the scene: how do they feel about a situation? How do they see and hear the situation? The choice to film each scene in only one shot is to put ourselves on their level in order to get as close as possible to their visions and put the spectator in their situation as much as possible. All scenes were built from scratch to create a super realistic and gripping environment and reality that was impossible to ignore.