Moxie’s Henry Lu Fights Gunshots with Crayons

Moxie Pictures director Henry Lu demonstrates how the simplicity of a pure, war-free childhood provides a lasting impact in the poignant new :60 PSA ‘Jam’ for War Child Canada out of john st., Toronto, Ontario, co-produced through Soft Citizen, Canada and Moxie Pictures.  ‘Jam’ features the violent daily lives of youths living in battle-ridden communities: machine gun hold-ups, hidden land-mines and grenades thrown in public gatherings.  Following the jarring explosions of these horrific acts, Lu delivers an unexpected beacon of light, replacing bloodshed with crayons, bubbles and children’s laughter. 

 

War Child International exists to create the conditions that will fulfil the protection, development and survival rights for children and young people living with or recovering from the effects of armed conflict.  They provide international support including child protection, education, justice, building of sustainable local livelihoods, and psychological and social development. 

 

‘Jam’ features three terrifying situations encountered daily in war-stricken communities all over the world.  We see a little boy who is playfully rolling a tire through a field before his playtime is crudely disrupted by the harsh explosion of a hidden land-mine.  We also follow a family being held up at gunpoint in their own home by a renegade gang of teenage boys.  In a trading area of a village, we see citizens scatter in panic as a grenade is unexpectedly tossed into the crowd.  

 

As each tableau reaches its terrifying, inevitable climax, the situation switches to one of innocence.  We see that the machine gun is actually filled with crayons instead of bullets, the grenade explosion delivers a cloud of bubbles rather than smoke and destruction, and the land-mine rains down colourful pictures upon the young boy rather than injury.  The spot concludes with a shot of the little boy dancing in the rain of papers with the super, “Where childhood thrives, war does not.”  We close on the War Child logo and the super, “Education.  Opportunity.  Justice.”

 

View the spot below: