‘Life is an art. Support the artists.’ We present the new commercial spot for FRANZISKANER OBDACHLOSENHILFE (Franciscan help for the homeless organization) by Ogilvy & Mather Düsseldorf, here on GoSee.
Ogilvy & Mather Düsseldorf’s action of ‘framing’ homeless people like precious paintings on behalf of the Franziskaner organisation, caused a stir during the 2013 Long Night of Museums. They now created a TV and cinema commercial, which aims to spread the message beyond the city of Düsseldorf.
The old man with one remaining gold tooth walks around the streets with his trolley carrying his possessions. He looks tired, his wrinkles are deep and tell the story of a life with few ups and many downs. We see people like Helmut on the streets every single day. We see them on every street, in every city. Tom Schwarz, creative director at Ogilvy & Mather elaborates: ‘and yet we don’t see them. They give us an uneasy feeling, which is why we prefer to just look away. This is where our idea started. The ‘surviving is an art’ project puts these people in the spotlight and raises awareness of what the struggle for survival on the streets really looks like. We demonstrate how creative you actually have to be to win this daily battle.’
The Franciscan brothers help homeless people worldwide by handing out 25,000 warm meals to those in need every day. To provide this vitally important aid, the Franciscans require help themselves. Schwarz enthuses: ‘a one-off project in the night is not enough. Therefore we went all out and collaborated with film, TV and music production companies to develop a commercial spot for TV and cinema, which is currently going around the world – not just thanks to Facebook.’
The 90-second cinema film and 45-second TV commercial show a day in the life of a homeless man in an authentic way. The little survival tricks he’s got up his sleeve, the boyish smile with which he works on the short-lived luxury of a cigarette, and the care with which he hides his few remaining keepsakes. All help and participation for this production were voluntary. 100% of the donated proceeds go to the Franciscan organisation.
After the shoot, director Florian MEIMBERG said: ‘this project was a balancing act for me as a director, because the film doesn’t depict a staged and idealised world, but reality. To translate this documentary approach into aesthetically pleasing images was an exciting challenge. Especially because Helmut (the homeless man) is not an actor. But he coped extremely well with the long hours we worked on the shoot. And he offered the team a very valuable insight into a world far away from the superficial advertising scene.’
And he also told GoSee: ‘we shot this video over the course of only one day in Düsseldorf. I didn’t want the city to look too specifically like Düsseldorf though, but a bit more ‘international’ - because this is a global subject. And the Franciscans are an organisation that operates worldwide too.’
Tinseltown Music Productions composed the music for the film in Cologne and they accompanied the project’s production from the beginning. Lucian Crisovan, international manager at Tinseltown said: ‘it was important to us that there are positive notes within the music as well. Life – even on the streets – simply just isn’t black and white either.’
About - Franciscans (latin: ordo fratrum minorum) are those people and groups (religious orders) who adhere to the teachings and spiritual disciplines of Saint Francis of Assisi.
The most prominent group is the Order of Friars Minor, commonly called simply the ‘Franciscans’. They seek to follow most directly the manner of life that Saint Francis led. It comprises three separate groups, each considered a religious order in its own right. These are the Observants, most commonly simply called ‘Franciscan friars’, the Capuchins, and the Conventual Franciscans. They all live according to a body of regulations known as ‘The Rule of St. Francis’.
Franziskus of Assisi (1181/1182 until 1226) founded the Order of Friars Minor, which gained the pope’s approval in 1210. Like any other mendicant order they live in poverty and make a living from working in manual, social, pastoral or pedagogical areas as well as begging. Spiritual guidance and counselling are also very important aspects of Franciscan life.
Credits
Agency: Ogilvy & Mather Düsseldorf
Director: Florian MEIMBERG
DOP: René RICHTER c/o DBC - DRIVEN BY CREATIVES
Film production: nasty little girl films
Post-production: Pirates 'N Paradise
Music: Tinseltown Music Productions / Cesar F. Parker
Sound design: Studio Funk Düsseldorf
