2023 Winner

In the Royal Ontario Museum’s “Immortal” video, by Broken Heart Love Affair, key moments and milestones in human history – both as a collective and as individuals – are depicted through a series of eerie, slow-motion set pieces that appear to take place underwater and are lit by a single source of natural light. The film begins with a big bang, a burst of light and a baby splashing into water before floating peacefully.

“My mother is 4 billion, 600 million-years-old. She is the mother of the seas, the land, life itself,” says the voiceover. Humans appear to be standing on the bottom of the ocean, their hair floating the way it would in water, as the voiceover talks about the range of human emotions. It continues: “I will paddle the rivers of Turtle Island,” as an Indigenous man rows a canoe while seemingly suspended in the water.

Battles are depicted by individual men wearing uniforms from different eras fighting each other, including one between a Black man and a police officer in riot gear. Skillful editing and direction build tension and drama throughout the six-minute film, which evokes both the beauty and awfulness of the human experience.

The video ends with the words “I will give birth and I will die. But I will live on in what I leave behind,” as a series of artifacts from the ROM are shown in quick succession.

Credits

AGENCY
Agency: Broken Heart Love Affair
Chief Creative Officers: Denise Rossetto, Carlos Moreno & Todd Mackie
Chief Strategy Officer: Jay Chaney
Art Director: Carlos Moreno
Copywriter: Denise Rossetto
Client Success Team: Beverley Hammond, Joline Matika,
Carlos Game-Garcia, Olivia Cousineau
Executive Producer: Erica Metcalfe
CULTURE CONSULTANT: Shaunoh Wilson

CLIENT
Client: Royal Ontario Museum (ROM)
Chief Marketing Officer: Lori Davison
VP, Brand and Marketing: Kathryn Brownlie
VP, Communications: Sally Tindal

MEDIA
Media Agency: OMD
Christine Wilson

PRODUCTION
Production Company: Scouts Honour
Executive Producers: Simon Dragland & Rita Popielak
Director: Mark Zibert
Directors Of Photography: Mark Zibert & Eric Kaskens
Producers: Simon Dragland, Rita Popielak
Creative Research: Tricia Zaremba

Production Service Company: Moonlighting Films
Executive Producer: Shayne Brookstein
Line Producer: Suzanne Currie
Production Designer: Naobie Noisette
Costume Designer: Ruy Filipe

PROSTHETICS / SFX
Prosthetics: Cosmesis
Lead Artist: Clinton Aiden Smith

CASTING
Casting: Kamikaze Casting
Casting Director: Lee-Ann Hendrickse
Indigenous Casting: Shasta Lutz

EDITING
Editorial: Nimiopere Editorial
Executive Producer: Julie Axell
Editor: Graham Chisholm
Assistant Editor: Griffin Stobbs

CG & VFX
CG & VFX: Motif Studios
VFX Artist: Craig Parker
Executive Producer: Jacques Bock

COLOUR, VFX & FINISHING
Colour: Alter Ego
Colourist & VFX: Wade Odlum
Executive Producer: Hilda Pereira
Senior Producer: Genna Mcauliffe

Additional VFX: Tantrum Studio
VFX Artist: Dominik Bochenski

AUDIO
Audio House: Rajakovic Electric
Music Composer / Audio Director: Mark Rajakovic
Executive Producer: Nicole Rajakovic
Mix & Sound Design: Aaron Mccourt
Voice Over: Alana Bridgewater

GRAPHIC DESIGN
Agency: Leo Burnett Design
Chief Creative Officer: Lisa Greenberg
Head Of Design: Man Wai Wong
Account Lead: Kim Le