Many people’s lives have changed since the WHO declared the COVID-19 pandemic. The world had to adapt to lockdown restrictions, working from home, social distancing, school closure, and financial insecurity. However, for some family members, these conditions meant living in captivity along with their aggressors. According to ANAIS Association — which fights for those who cannot defend themselves — domestic violence increased during the pandemic, with the restrictions associated with the world health crisis keeping women together with their attackers.

Getting out of a toxic relationship is difficult for the victims, as abusers are often someone they trust and with whom they shared history. But these offenders know how to build their way back to their partners’ hearts, manipulating them with gifts and falsely promising a better life, eventually keeping them in a vicious circle.

Hoping to raise awareness in women and make them ask for help, the humanitarian association teamed up with the agency Cheil | Centrade and launched the “Guilt Gifts Puppetry” campaign. The initiative takes shape as a series of experimental plays to tackle domestic violence, using toys belonging to real victims to narrate stories of women affected by abusive relationships.

During this week’s #ThrowBrandThursday, we remind our readers of ANAIS’ puppet theater show, which includes eight plays showcasing true cases of women being aggressed by their partners. Narrated by the toys, the stories reveal the harmful consequences of “guilt gifting” and how through this seemingly harmless and well-intentioned act, the abusers perpetuate the traumatic experiences of the victims.

The campaign’s first episode launched on International Women’s Day: “The month of March is all about gifts, and we would like for these gifts to have the same positive meaning for all women. We would like women coming to us for help to understand that they deserve only gifts given out of love and respect. To know that they are not alone, that they are offered protection, and that in fact, the most precious gift is to free themselves from a destructive relationship. Violence can never be justified, and their silence should not be bought with a gift,” Carmen Nemeș, ANAIS President, said.

Stuffed toys were transformed into professional theater puppets. Choreographers, dancers, and projection mapping artists volunteered to help bring the campaign to life, while famous Romanian actors lent their voices to the toys. Also, Artmark — the country’s leading auction house — joined the initiative, offering to help the association auction the toys and raise more funds. But most importantly, the pro-bono campaign sparked a national discussion about domestic abuse.

“Cheil | Centrade strongly believes in the principle of Doing Good with Data. That is why we work pro bono with ambitious and thoughtful organizations such as ANAIS, always on the lookout for innovative storytelling solutions to help them. The ‘Guilt Gifts Puppetry’ is the first experimental theater project aimed at fighting domestic violence, in the current restrictive circumstances where theater itself is a victim of the pandemic. We are confident that our team and partners’ combined efforts will not go unnoticed and that we will inspire as many people as possible to contribute by donating in exchange for watching this touching series,” Mihai Gongu, Executive Creative Director Cheil | Centrade, added.

“This project was a get-together of extraordinary partners, screenwriters, directors, puppeteers, famous actors, choreographers, dancers, scenographers who put their heart and soul into it, which is why I take this opportunity to thank them yet again for their involvement. The times are such that those working in theaters have been seriously affected and so has been the theater-loving public deprived of the art they adore; therefore, we hope that this experimental content project will be a breath of fresh air, especially since everything is for a cause ever so noble — helping the silent victims of violence,” Roxana Niță, Group Creative Director Cheil | Centrade, explained.

Check out the case study video of the campaign below. An online portal the association created for the campaign hosts all the episodes, which are waiting to be discovered by the audience. Also, the public is kindly asked to financially contribute with a donation to watch them, with proceeds used to finance ANAIS projects supporting victims.

Credits:

Client: ANAIS Association

President: Carmen Nemeș

Executive Director: Mihaela Mangu

Psychotherapist: Adela Szenteș

Agency: Cheil | Centrade

Executive Creative Director: Mihai Gongu

Group Creative Director: Roxana Niță

Copywriter: Alexandru Iliescu, Ionuț Iordache

Art Director: Ana-Ramona Tanasă

Client Service Director: Carmen Miruță

Account Director: Maria Trepcea

Senior Account Manager: Ana Maria Rădulescu

AV Director: Monica Garbur

Social Media Manager: Veronica Bratu

PR Specialists: Melania Răduțoiu, Ana Maria Gavrilă

Digital Project Manager: Cosmin Slăbescu, Mihai Tatu

Developers: Alexandru Cancel, Francisc Lorinczi

 

Lightwave Theatre Company

Petru Stratulat: Actor puppeteer & audio editing

Cristina-Andreea Ion: Puppeteer Coordinator

Oana Mihaela Cercel: Actor puppeteer

 

Les Ateliers Nomad (screenwriting, animation, post-production, co-artistic directing)

Alex Petroșanu: Creative Director

Cezar Șomîtcă: 3d Animator / Compositing

Horia Teodor: 2d Animator/ Editor / Compositing

Radu Nechit: Editor: Shooting Coordinator

Ana Cohut: 2d Animator / Illustrator

Robert Erdös: 2d Animator

Matei Derșidan: Team Coordinator

 

DOP & photography

Adi Bulboacă

 

Mike’s School of Dance

Dancers: Răzvan Rotaru, Corina Platon

 

Actors

Victor Rebengiuc: Teddy Bear voice

Mihai Gruia Sandu: Elephant voice

Dana Tapalaga: Giraffe voice

Medeea Marinescu: Octopus voice

Gabriela Bobeș: Bee voice

Isabela Neamțu: Cat voice

Radu Bânzaru: Monkey voice

Marius Săvescu: Zebra voice

 

Chainsaw Europe

Hasan Nasser / Andrei Vasilache: Master and sound editing

Mircea Lacatus / Smaranda Dacian: Video editing

Oana Manea / Raluca Iutes: Post-production coordinators

 

Music: Sonic Arts Music