BBH and Audi Host Premiere of Winners for Film Competition 'Differently Does It'

BBH and Audi have hosted the world premiere of the winners of Differently Does It, BBH’s global film competition to find more diverse voices in film, launched to mark the agency’s 40th anniversary.

The exclusive screening of the four winning short films was held on Monday evening at the BFI Southbank. The four back-to-back screenings were followed by a Q&A with the winning directors hosted by Mathieu Ajan, the founder and artistic director of Bounce Cinema. The films will launch on the international film circuit at the end of the year. 

The winning films were:

• OBA, directed by Femi Ladi, an Afrofuturist fictional short in which the King of the Yoruba Kingdom is found on a South London council estate.
• As For Me, directed by Guen Murroni, is a British fictional short that challenges the mainstream negative portrayal of mental health and specifically Dissociative Identity Disorder.
• Where I Can See Them, directed by Lanre Malaolu, is a British documentary-movement hybrid short exploring the emotional and psychological effects of police 'Stop and Search' on black men.
• Flee & Engulfed, directed by Chen Hui, is a Chinese fictional short which explores whether the politics of sameness are leading us to the destruction of the concept of difference.

At the directors’ Q&A Lanre Malaolu explained why it was so important for him to focus his film on systemic racism in policing. “I’m making this film for black people, black men to be able to see themselves,” he said. “It’s also a ‘wake up’ to certain audiences who maybe don’t experience this or know this exists.”

Femi Ladi revealed that winning Differently Does It enabled him to tell his story. “I think the story was always within me, but the [Differently Does It] brief triggered me to find the story that had my own unique perspective and express it in an unexpected way”

Likewise, Guen Murroni was inspired by her own personal experiences for her film, describing the lead character, a woman with different personalities who is putting the pieces of her life together, as “very close to home”. 

In the Q&A, Guen and the other filmmakers discussed how hard it is for emerging filmmakers to get funding and why initiatives like Differently Does It are so important. Guen said: “I think it’s great that people actually stuck their necks out and were like ‘let’s make films where people can actually tell things as they are’.”

Introducing the films at the screening, BBH’s chief production officer, Stephen Ledger-Lomas, said, “All of these films were written and created from a place of truth, and the drive, passion and commitment of each of the winning teams is contagious.”

BBH’s Global chief creative officer, Alex Grieve, said, “At BBH, we always take the road less travelled and we believe in the power of difference to make a difference. There is a very real lack of difference in the creative voices shaping the industry we love. This is a small investment in giving those voices some volume.”

Founding client Audi partnered with BBH to support the screening, designed to celebrate diversity in film-making and storytelling and to give a platform to the next diverse generation of filmmaking talent.  

Differently Does It’ launched on April 28th in the UK, US, Shanghai, Singapore and Mumbai, with a theme of ‘Difference’. The four winners were selected in July with each receiving a budget of £20,000 to create four short films. In addition, they received a masterclass from a renowned director as well as creative guidance from BBH creative leaders to support the development of their vision. 

The winners were selected with a focus on supporting talent from under-represented backgrounds. Their ideas were judged by a panel of filmmaking and creative experts including playwright and screenwriter Rita Kalnejais, alongside a panel of creative leaders from across the BBH Global network.