In the Middle East and North Africa, child marriage has existed for a long time. Many young girls have been abused, lost their childhood, or have even lost their lives. The Middle East and North Africa are home to nearly 40 million child brides including currently married girls and women who were first married during their childhood. In recent years, there have been 700k child brides each year, around 1in5 young women get married before their 18th birthday and child brides are five times more likely to die when giving birth before the age of 15 or under.

The scene firstly opens with a group of women, wrapping a white cloth over a loved one. The video then shows closeups of their hands, with fabric wrapped around what we slowly realize is a young girl. However, it’s not just any white fabric. The audience expects that a funeral is taking place, but as the camera pans out, it becomes clear that the young girl is being fitted into her wedding dress. The ending aims to shock viewers by taking something that is so familiar and that is normally linked to death, yet twisting its meaning by transforming the cloth into a wedding dress.

The video posted on social media will include a call-to-action tab, whereby users will be re-directed to a micro-site that includes definite numbers and statistics about child marriage as well as Save the Children in order to raise awareness about the topic and the organization.

We wanted a shocking film to remind people of the shocking situation children are going through in the region.

Child Marriage Kills Childhood. This was our idea. We wanted to create a literal representation of that line.

The audience expects that a funeral is taking place due to a group of women wrapping a white cloth over a young girl. The cloth is later then unveiled and a young girl in a wedding dress appears.

The white cloth is what is used to wrap the dead, used in this video as a symbol to indicate how child marriage affects the bride’s childhood.

This also reiterates the idea we are putting forth: encouraging young girls to get married at such a young age only “buries” them alive. The ending aims to shock the viewer by taking something that is so familiar (the kafan) and that is normally linked to death, yet twisting its meaning by transforming the cloth into a dress.

Not released yet.