Titled '47', this handcrafted stop-motion short was created for Caf茅 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 Caf茅 Joyeux employee with Down syndrome who did not get his first job until he was 47. The caf茅 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鈥檚 love, which is symbolised by a yellow scarf, he journeys along choppy seas of rejection and prejudice, until he finally reaches safe harbour at Caf茅 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 Caf茅 Joyeux whose restaurants offer an 鈥渋nclusive workplace for extraordinary people鈥.
From the team at Zombie, 鈥淚t鈥檚 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.
鈥淲e 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 Caf茅 Joyeux鈥檚 trademark storefront and interior.鈥
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鈥檚 main character, Robert. Sujeet Desai, a US pianist with Down syndrome plays the film鈥檚 soundtrack Carry On, alongside Grammy-winning rock band FUN鈥檚 lead singer Nate Ruess. Jos茅 Omar Davila, a Venezuelan orchestra conductor with Down syndrome, created the film鈥檚 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鈥檚 creation.