Save the Children chases 'Superhero' sightings across the world to raise awareness of child poverty
Save the Children has enlisted the help of Don’t Panic to create a short film raising awareness of the millions of children struggling to survive in some of the world’s poorest countries.
The ‘Superheroes’ film trails a group of documentary makers as they chase leads on a multiple sightings of ‘masked figures’ around the globe. Visiting the likes of Mexico, India and Kenya the team work to track down these mysterious benefactors.
Using real children, who claimed to have been saved by these elusive heroes, first-hand accounts the film coincides with the launch of Save the Children’s global campaign, Race for Survival, and the UN International Day for the Eradication of Poverty (Friday 17 October).
Of the project Don’t Panic creative director, Richard Beer, said: “Just surviving every day as a child in some of the world’s poorest places requires almost superhuman effort. Save The Children are doing everything they can, but the world needs more superheroes who are willing to fight for these children’s lives. We hope this video will be their call to action.”
Filmed on three continents over the course of one week Jacob Proud, one of the films two directors, called it the “toughest but most rewarding shoot we’ve ever done” and that the “imagination of the kids” they spoke to was the “key to this project”.
He added: “It was important that we only planted the seed of a story in their minds, and then let them run away with it. It was such a cultural contrast - in Mexico, the kids had no concept of “superheroes” in the way that we think of them, so It was about working with translators to get the nuances right.
“In Kenya the kids were incredible artists; we got them to draw their impressions of a superhero and some of their pictures blew us away. The Indian children were all Bollywood stars in the making; they loved being in front of the camera and needed no encouragement to perform. And, of course, none of this would have been possible without the enthusiasm of Save the Children staff on the ground.”
The film follows earlier work for Save the Children by Don’t Panic including ‘Second in a Day’ and ‘If London was Syria’.