An entire generation of Syrian children and youth are living through conflict and displacement. They are on the verge of being a lost generation. With the intention to focus attention on the plight of children affected by the Syrian crisis, ‘No Lost Generation’ initiative was launched in 2013. The initiative put education and child protection at the center of the response inside Syria and refugee hosting countries by articulating real concerns about the possible ‘loss’ of a generation of children to the effects of violence and displacement.
In the animated movie made by UNICEF and 180 LA, Unicef MENA calls attention to the difficulty of the millions of children suffering in the Syrian refugee crisis. This tear-jerking two-minute video, ‘Malak and the Boat’ shows the story of a Syrian girl crossing the Mediterranean to escape civil war. Storybook-style illustrations recreate the nightmare with threatening storm clouds and crashing waves, and the seven-year-old Malak narrates how she was terrified that she and her mother will drown.
The film is part of ‘Unfairy Tales’, a series from UNICEF and 180LA, which pairs the actual journeys of displaced Syrian children with animations like the one in Malak’s story.
The tagline of the video, ‘Some stories were never meant for children’ drives home the point – no kid should have to go through this.
The United Nations organization will release a second video, ‘Ivine and Pillow’, in March, along with other content in the ‘Unfairy Tales’ series, to mark five years of the conflict’s start in Syria.
CREDITS
Client- Unicef
Film- “Malak and the Boat”
Ad Agency- 180LA
Chief Creative Officer- William Gelner
Chief Executive Officer- Michael Allen
Chief Marketing Officer- Stephen Larkin
Director of Integrated Production- Natasha Wellesley
Art and Content Producer- Jason Lau
