A short film depicting the true story of WhatsApp’s role in helping the Afghanistan Women’s Youth National Football Team escape the Taliban was awarded a Grand Prix in Entertainment. The 26-minute video, which was created by Meta’s Creative X along with Modern Arts, was awarded the Grand Prix at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity on Tuesday.
The “We Are Ayenda” documentary shows how the female team used WhatsApp to flee the country when the Taliban rose to power three years ago in Afghanistan and banned women from participating in sports.
“They are looking for us,” reads one WhatsApp message shown in the film. “We need to get out.” The Meta-owned message service was particularly effective because of its privacy offerings at a time when public posts on social media were under scrutiny. “My life depended on my phone and on my privacy,” says one of the athletes in a trailer for the film.
Anonymous Content handled production duties on the film, which also won a Bronze Pencil at the One Show awards earlier this year.
