Output details

Mostafaei (AKA End the Death Penalty)

In September 2011 I was commissioned by Amnesty International and Guardian Films to direct a short animated documentary about juvenile executions in Iran, which would be a pivotal part of a viral internet campaign. Working with writer Afarin Eghbal I produced a 5 minute script that describes firstly how Mostafaei’s childhood experience of poverty and abuse motivated him to become a human rights lawyer and secondly how he defended a young man mistreated under sharia law. Hand drawn character and location designs form the basis of 2D digital animation combined with a soundtrack featuring a narration by an actor, specially recorded sound effects and music.

The research imperatives were to use animation to raise awareness of human rights abuses, using personal testimony as the basis for animated re-enactments of real events that have no visual record, and to use animation to present harrowing information in a more palatable form. Animation has been used previously in documentaries to highlight human rights violations, but this is the first animation based on the testimonial of a defence lawyer who witnessed the illegal execution of his juvenile client.

I was the director, designer and art director. Afarin Eghbal worked under my direction, editing the interview dialogue as a basis for the script. I had final say on the script and intervened regularly, making numerous amendments to the wording.

The output is presented via portfolio, which should be viewed in order to gain a proper understanding of the research.