The short film Ana’s Playground is a short film that serves as an allegory for the moment a child is forced to choose between ideology and humanity while growing up in a war zone. The film intentionally avoids political or regional stereotypes through its use of ambiguous ethnicity and minimal dialogue spoken in a fictional language. Its focus remains on the universal impact of war on children rather than on the specifics of any one conflict.

Our challenge was to art direct an environment that could exist anywhere in the world, drawing influence from a wide range of cultures. The result was an award-winning visual world and marketing campaign for an Oscar-shortlisted film that sheds light on the 300,000+ children currently involved in armed conflict. The film’s graffiti wall was so well received that it became a permanent installation in the atrium of the Minneapolis post house, Splice.