“Shirley & Fatima” follows the friendship between two girls in Indonesia who come from different backgrounds. Taken from the perspective of Shirley, the audiences follow her as she playfully navigates her way through school together with her friend, Fatima.
The ad opens by showing Shirley and her lunch box as it’s being prepared by her mother. This lunch box returns at the end of the video when Shirley forgets it and Fatima runs up to her to return it. She urges Fatima to open it, and once she does, she finds it to be empty. The two glance at each other, and it’s revealed in the next shot that Shirley was fasting along with Fatima because of Ramadan.
“Shirley & Fatima” was created by RAPP Dubai for the food company ApsaraPearl Group. Chris O’Donohue, the founding director for ApsaraPearl Group, said “It has a phenomenal set of global and regional talent behind it, all of whom truly did unite with passion and compassion, to produce a story that we believe the world needs to hear.”
The ad was released on June 3, 2019, just in time for Eid al-Fitr, the end of Ramadan. Despite the two girls’ dissimilarity in culture and faith, Shirley decides to share in Fatima’s experience as a Muslim, showing that she embraces their differences.
Advertising Agency: RAPP Evoke, UAE
Production Company: Hanzo Films
Director: Samir Mallal
DoP: Piers McGrail
Editorial: The Assembly Rooms
Editor: Nik Hindson
Color: Company 3
Colorist: Joseph Bicknell
Sound: Machine Sound
Executive Producer: Hijaz Moosa
