“Uncontained” is a new Canadian human trafficking awareness campaign, directed by Mark Zibert of production company Scouts Honour for Banfield Agency. The emotional Public Safety Canada campaign video is set to Billie Eilish’s “When the Party’s Over” and reveals a shocking stat–almost one-third of human trafficking victims in Canada were trafficked by a current or former intimate partner.
Shot during COVID-19 with heightened restrictions and parameters in place, the intimate partners depicted in the spot are actually a couple in real life, with only one of them in the role of a professional actor.
“The main objective of the campaign is to highlight public misperceptions and help to define what human trafficking is,” said Lindsay Gavey, strategy director at Banfield Agency. “95% of Canadians confused human trafficking with human smuggling when asked to define the term. This campaign aims to educate Canadians about the reality of this problem, along with its prevalence in Canada, and ultimately recognize the signs and take action to stop it.”
Human trafficking involves recruiting, transporting, or holding victims to exploit them or to help someone else exploit them, generally for sexual purposes or work. While most Canadians said what they thought was human trafficking is a serious issue, they felt that it was not a serious problem in their own local community. The number of police-reported of incidents of human trafficking however is on the rise in Canada–from 50 cases in 2009 to 340 in 2016.
“We were presented with a unique creative challenge for this project–one that meant confronting our team’s own misperceptions about human trafficking”, said Craig Lobban, creative director, Banfield Agency. “We wanted to create something relatable to the Canadian public by evoking the common imagery many mistakenly associate with human trafficking–the shipping container. We debunk these misperceptions using the ‘Human Trafficking isn’t what you think it is’ campaign tagline and reveal that things sometimes aren’t what they seem between traffickers and victims.”
CreditsClient Public Safety Canada Agency Banfield Agency Craig Lobban, Timothy Jones, creative directors; Koa Padolsky, producer; Lindsay Gavey, strategy director; Mark Brownlee, strategist; Devin Singleton, Brad Doyle, Madison Foray, motion designers; Derrick Outram, Sherry McPhail, sr. writers; Stephen Pollock, sr. designer; Katrin Emergy, creative designer; Stephanie Heng-Yeoh, jr. copywriter; Greg Rouble, graphic artist. Production Company Scouts Honour Mark Zibert, director; Simon Dragland, Rita Popielak, producers/exec producers; Mark Zibert, Eric Kaskens, DPs; Katherine Salnek, production designer; Brady MacIsaac, production manager; Chelsea Strachan, production coordinator; Jackson Yeung, 1st AC; Kate Day, wardrobe stylist. Editorial/Offline Outsider Editorial Michael Barker, editor; Cam Anderson, assistant editor; Denise Shearer, exec producer. Online/VFX The Vanity Stephanie Pennington, exec producer; Katie Methot, producer; Andrew Farlow, lead VFX artist; Adam Silcox-Vanwyk, Kaelem Cahill, VFX artists. Color Alter Ego Wade Odlum, sr. colorist; Erik Bayley, sr. color assistant; Spencer Butt, producer. Audio Rajakovic Electric Mark Rajakovic, audio director & music supervisor; Nicole Rajakovic, producer; Vlad Nikolic, sound designer. Music Billie Eilish “When the party’s over” (English) and Mark Rajakovic original composition (French). Mix Mixed at Signal Brian Bernard, mixer.
Top Spot of the Week: EHRAC, Animation Studio NOMINT Depict Life “In Limbo” As Families Search For Loved Ones
This animated film titled In Limbo depicts the journey of a heroic woman protagonist representing the countless families in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe (where Chechnya is situated) searching for their forcibly disappeared loved ones. Utilizing theatrical elements, the film highlights the unnatural disruption caused by enforced disappearances and delves into the profound trauma these families endure. It emphasizes their long battles with the domestic authorities as they seek answers. The film also underscores the vital role of community support in helping these families cope and continue their fight for answers, serving as a compelling call to action for justice and human rights.
Through intimate storytelling, In Limbo raises awareness of the ongoing uncertainty that leaves families in a perpetual state of limbo, unable to find closure.
Directed by Afterman--the animation duo consisting of Tsvetelina Zdraveva and Jerred North--and created and produced by London-based animation studio NOMINT, In Limbo was commissioned by the European Human Rights Advocacy Centre (EHRAC).
In a joint statement, Zdraveva and North shared, “Our film takes place on a theater stage, highlighting how such tragedies are far removed from ordinary life,” they continued. “The stage is circular, resembling an artificial, perpetually spinning obstacle course, with a target—the red tail lights—just within sight yet never within reach, symbolizing the family’s never-ending quest for justice.”
“We used a limited primary color palette to contrast the two worlds all families are pulled between. Minimalist compositions of starkly silhouetted characters and environments create the ominous atmosphere of a deeply painful and... Read More