Film Craft

This film tells the emotionally raw and visually striking journey of a mother raising her son with haemophilia A, a rare genetic bleeding disorder. The film’s fluid camera movements and seamless transitions capture the relentless chaos of the mother’s daily life.

Our storytelling balances grounded realism with heightened, poetic visual moments that turns the invisible weight of caregiving into something that the audience can actually feel, not just watch. Every detail of the film, from the cinematography to the music, comes together to tell a deeply human story about the universal experience of parenthood – of protecting someone you love.

Judges Comments

This was a strong and hotly contested category, with some excellent entries. But it was this one that resonated most with the judges.

It’s a powerful piece, inspired by real-life stories, and it brilliantly captures the rollercoaster experiences of a haemophilia A patient and his parents.

It’s a film of two parts.

From the subtle heartbeat at the beginning, the dramatic storyline and striking visual effects convey the initial joy of birth and parenthood, before revealing the emotional impact, uncertainty and chaos of a diagnosis in a newborn. We see a family whose lives are literally turned upside down. The story then moves through different chapters of the patient’s life as he grows, and we are taken on the journey with the family as they learn to live with the condition and its treatment.

The brilliant visual effects do a fantastic job of accentuating the feelings of fear, frustration and isolation during this period of their lives.

Then we see the patient and his family turn a corner. We learn that, with the right care and treatment for haemophilia A, he can lead a more fulfilling and normal life. To help accentuate this part of their story, the film also adopts a more positive look and feel.

The judges felt that the exceptional cinematography, lighting, casting, music, pace and visually arresting effects truly amplified the storytelling, making this a deserving winner in a category full of exceptional entries.

Arron O’Hare, CAN Advertising

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a rare disease characterised by progressive muscle wasting. When diagnosed and treated at birth, children can live full, independent lives; even a short delay can have devastating, sometimes fatal, consequences. SMA UK asked for observational footage of young Ollie and his family, but we saw an opportunity for more impactful storytelling.

In the film, Ollie, voiced by a child actor, lists the everyday experiences he’ll never have. Beginning on his face, then tracking back to reveal his wheelchair, the dramatic film contrasts his voice with childhood imagery, underscoring the urgency of early diagnosis.

People living with obesity (PwO) have difficulty accepting obesity because they feel a lack of control, often aren’t aware it’s actually a disease, and don’t recognize the narrow version of obesity that’s so often portrayed.

Our target PwO have internalised the negative stigma and perception that being obese means being “less than.”

Obesity needed rehumanising by ensuring the film showed everyday scenarios where PwO have to balance joy and challenge, as some things become harder because of their size. And make them the heroes of the piece because they’re already doing the hard parts in life.

Many people with vision loss put off treatment. Some are afraid. Others do not know their options. Many simply accept their sight getting worse. In this situation, most patient testimonials relied on a face to camera and clinical claims, which did little to change behaviour.

People with diabetic macular edema and wet AMD weren’t taking action. They were living with their symptoms instead of seeing a retina specialist, getting diagnosed, or asking about Vabysmo.

Regaining the ability to see is one of the most dramatic experiences imaginable, yet standard talking-head testimonials never captured it. We redefined the form and created four mini-dramas starring our patients. This became the “Defining Moments” campaign. Each film showed the moment when sight loss became unbearable and pushed the patient to act. The narratives were written like short films and carefully storyboarded to feel cinematic and authentic. The result was powerful stories that drew audiences in and gave them both the awareness and the confidence to recognise their own defining moment and take action.

“Defining Moments” reimagined what a patient testimonial could be. Each film was carefully scripted and storyboarded with a strong narrative arc, then realised through direction, cinematography, editing, sound and design. The result was a series of short films with a cinematic look that would feel at home on Netflix. By blending authenticity with high-end production, “Defining Moments” set a new standard for how patient experiences are told in the category.

“Anything But Normal” began with an urgent truth: women’s pain has been hidden in plain sight. The campaign challenged the normalisation of women’s health symptoms, from heavy bleeding and severe pain to menopause and perimenopause. With limited education reinforcing silence, the work needed to be emotionally resonant and visually arresting.

Women were camouflaged into everyday environments using hand-painted body art, not digital effects, showing how symptoms go unseen without erasing identity. Films opened on women’s eyes, slowly revealing invisibility through sound and movement. Supported by social, OOH, influencers and an AI chatbot, the campaign reached 94K women, driving engagement globally.

Created in the universally recognised “spot-the-difference” format, the film is elevated not only by the story of “The Greatest Difference” but by meticulous craft and planning in every scene.

Viewers meet two sets of near-identical patients in near-identical scenes, timed and moving in near-identical ways. Each frame hides differences in supers, wardrobe, makeup, styling, props and room layout: 12 in the living room, 18 in the garden, 17 in the kitchen.

Ultimately, its power lies in simplicity: patients with FLT3-ITD+ AML are 3.5 times less likely to survive than those with FLT3-TKD+ AML, visualised by an empty frame.