Pooja Didi
Award: Graphite Pencil
Graphite Pencil / Sound Design & Use of Music / Original Composition / 2021
Award: Wood Pencil
Wood Pencil / Casting / Film
Diwali, the ultimate festival of prosperity, offered an opportunity to tell an extraordinary story that spoke to the moment. Pooja Didi tells the story of 28-year-old Pooja, who uses Facebook to find people who have lost their jobs, who she keeps hiring – even though she doesn’t need them. These same people come through for her, again using Facebook, to tell the world about her selflessness and save her shop.
What did the judges have to say?
"First of all, as much as I find Facebook a great tool for us to connect and share things together, for me it heavily affected our lives in many negative ways. This piece of work really sheds the light on the strength and the real power of Facebook. The real power, the human aspect of it. And when it comes to the sound design and use of music, this being an original composition, it really stood out to me. It’s very difficult to make a super cultural taste of music appeal to the world in a very modern and interesting way. The wide range of emotions and the way the music led me throughout the film was beautifully done and put together. It might not be something new, it might not be crazy, but it’s really genuine and left me with no choice but to tear up when I reached the end. Skills, techniques and even the right choice of music can be achieved, but to be able to strike your heart and reach your soul is pretty difficult. I believed it!"
Shereen Mostafa, Head of A/V Production, Leo Burnett Dubai
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