Richard Bullock via Hungry Man London directed a pair of films–a 95-second piece and a five-minute short–sponsored by Swiss running company ON and celebrating the Athlete Refugee Team, which is the brainchild of Tegla Loroupe, a former Kenyan star runner who convinced the IOC to enter a refugee team in 2016. Now Loroupe runs the Athlete Refugee Team Camp in the Ngong Hills in Kenya and she recruits from the country’s UNHCR (the UN Refugee Agency) camps. There are 65 million refugees on earth right now, the highest number in human history. It is her hope to bring respect and identity to all refugees.
The scripts were written by former Wieden and 180 staffer Carlos Furnari. As a runner himself, director Bullock responded to the sentiment in the script; “We’ve all done our share of the big brand sporting promise which is essentially the same message. Crush, destroy and conquer your opponent. What Carlos identified was what if you had experienced real war? The Refugee athletes have lived through unimaginable pain and are running to uplift themselves and those around them. It’s an entirely different message.”
Bullock explained, “We shot the films extremely lo-fi. My DP Jordan Maddocks and I spent a lot of time bouncing along dirt roads in the back of a pick up truck. We recruited local school kids to play the roles of the young athletes. Unlike some superstar athletes I’ve worked with, the refugee athletes ran themselves into a genuine sweat over all kinds of terrain. Their good humor and positive attitude never failing them. It was an inspiring story to shoot and we are proud of the work. Technically we had a crew of two which ballooned to four on some days. But with the reduced numbers came great freedom.”
Supporting the films–including this minute-and-a-half piece–is a photo exhibition featuring portraits shot by the director and DP, on display at the “On Embassy” at the Eight Club London in Moorgate.
The campaign supports the five Athlete Refugee Team athletes who are competing at the World Championships in London.
Client ON-running Agency The Bay 13 Institute, Melbourne, Australia Carlos Furnari, writer. Production Hungry Man London Richard Bullock, director; Matt Buerls, exec producer; Jordan Maddocks, DP. Editorial Adam Spivey, editor. Postproduction The Mill London Dave Ludlam, colorist. Audio David Hill, Brendan@Wave, sound supervisors.
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