This Animation Shares the Touching Journey of a Man with Down Syndrome

Titled '47', this handcrafted stop-motion short was created for Café Joyeux by Klick Health and directed by Paulo Garcia and Natalia Gouvea through Zombie Studio.

Co-created with the Down Syndrome Community, it is based on the real story of a Café Joyeux employee with Down syndrome who did not get his first job until he was 47. The café chain is committed to employing people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and just launched a site in midtown Manhattan.

The film uses a nautical metaphor as it follows the personal odyssey of Robert, a boy with Down syndrome. Guided by his mother’s love, which is symbolised by a yellow scarf, he journeys along choppy seas of rejection and prejudice, until he finally reaches safe harbour at Café Joyeux, where his extraordinary abilities are embraced.   

Using a tactile mix of stop-motion and CG, Zombie Studio reveals the social and societal challenges faced by people with mental and cognitive disabilities for Café Joyeux whose restaurants offer an “inclusive workplace for extraordinary people”.

From the team at Zombie, “It’s a very special project to us, with a very sensitive and inspiring story to tell in a playful way. Our goal was to create an animation with simplicity and elegance in an aesthetic design. All that combines with the empathetic content, bringing the viewer closer to the experience of the intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) community and giving everyone a glimpse of their lives.

“We had 130 artists at Zombie Studio working in production (the characters and sets were handmade) and post-production brought the stop-motion animation to life. Many puppets were created, including 11 versions of Robert, made of steel and aluminium (for the skeleton), coated with foam/silicone and finalized with resin 3D printing. Eight miniature sets were also built such as Café Joyeux’s trademark storefront and interior.”

It was co-created by people with - or connected to - IDD. Zombie Studios art director Bruno Jacob and his daughter Luna, who has Down syndrome, designed the film’s main character, Robert. Sujeet Desai, a US pianist with Down syndrome plays the film’s soundtrack Carry On, alongside Grammy-winning rock band FUN’s lead singer Nate Ruess. José Omar Davila, a Venezuelan orchestra conductor with Down syndrome, created the film’s sound effects and sound design together with music company Canja Audio Culture. 

47 won the Silver Film Lion and three other awards at Cannes this year. The credit sequence follows touching real-life stories and takes a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the film’s creation.