Being based on real stories, the craft and direction of this film was particularly important: Navigating retelling their heart-wrenching stories while taking great care to portray both the children and their situation in the way they deserve. From the script and the casting of local Lebanese talent to the adapted music and both the visual and character direction, this project seeks to engage the audience emotionally and give both a sense of hope and urgency - a true balancing act.

Based on real stories collected by Save the Children fieldworkers and sourced through extensive interviews, «Save the Imagination» portrays how children affected by war and conflict uses their imagination as a way to cope and escape.

Children living in these conditions explain how the sound of gunshots and explosions can be imagined as rain storm and thunder. How the fighter jets over the villages becomes passenger planes coming to take them on vacation. And how their imagination lets the stories have the happy ending they deserve.

Unlike children growing up in safe environments, those living under unthinkable circumstances are dreaming about heartbreakingly simple things; grass under their feet, clean clothes air-drying in grandmas garden, and the ability to just be children.

Imagination is not only an important coping mechanism for children in crisis, but also one of the earliest signs that the hope of a better, safer future is alive.

The change in behavior we want is the same as «always» for Save the Children: We still need people to donate. But we want them to do so while not selling the dignity of children in need. Although the circumstances might be, these are not helpless individuals.

Previous campaigns had liking as low as 6%, so brand perception is an important part of the communication. By re-telling real stories that show how resourceful and resilient children are, Save the Children proves that after more than a 100 years of field work, they not only know what children are living

The film follows a girl and her younger brother witnessing an attack on a local market. After surviving the explosion, they hide in a shed. Temporarily safe, the older sister helps her brother (and herself) to cope with tragedy and loss by escaping into a fantasy world of their own.

The spot ends back in reality, the siblings having found higher ground (as they often seek in situations like this), overlooking what just minutes before was a safe space.

Traditional fundraising communication is often conducted by portraying people in desperate situations as helpless symbols of a crisis, inviting the Western world to help.

The problem? It raises a lot of money, at the expense of their dignity.

Our brief was as simple as it was complex: Try to match the efficiency of the «traditional» Save the Children campaigns, but do so while portraying children with the integrity and dignity they deserve.

This campaign portrays how children living i areas affected by war and conflict uses their imagination as a way to cope and escape the harsh reality. The story is based on real stories from children, collected by Save the Children workers.

Basing the communication on real stories, we’re retelling their experiences with the respect they deserve and portraying them as what they really are: So much more than children in need.

The true testament to the direction of this film is how it delicately balances a heartbreaking portrayal of the reality of wars and the limitless power of a child’s imagination. The audience needs to believe and emotionally connect to both these «worlds», which is achieved through meticulous attention to detail in every step; from the authentically handmade dolls, the locations, the adapted version of Gene Wilder’s 1971 song «Pure Imagination», and the seamless VFX and SFX. But arguably most importantly; the human connection between the on-screen siblings, aged 10 and 7.