As a conclusion and testament to the pivotal year of 2020, we created this poetic brand film for the Louvre Abu Dhabi; resulting in an ode to the region.

Being an art piece in and of itself, the film epitomizes the transformative role that art plays in the human story. With its imaginative visual language, it is a visual poetry exercise that speaks to the diverse regional youth and reinforces the Louvre Abu Dhabi’s positioning as a modern museum steeped in local culture.

Written and narrated by novelist and poet Ben Okri, the film’s script sends an inspiring message of hope and unity at this time for renewal and asks the viewer one vital question: What does it mean to be human? A question now more important than ever.

Following the poem’s dramatic curve, we created the film mostly in black and white that is gradually interrupted by colour imagery to depict the gradual transformation of the film and its protagonists.

The punctuated interventions of the protagonists, who break the 4th wall occasionally, create an intergenerational dialogue between the unseen poet and the visible youth.

The film features themes that are borrowed directly from the art world through metaphors and juxtapositions, such as the following:

Light / Shadow (chiaroscuro)
Black & White/ Colour
Movement/ Stillness
Life/ Still Life
Expression/ Emotion
Realism/ Abstraction
Composition/ Deconstruction
Classic/ Modern

All this is set on a cross-cultural bed that spans from ancient times to today but is constructed in a ‘time out of time’ experience.

Turning the film into an amalgamation of different types of imagery and renditions that excite the eye and contribute to the overall message.