The road to tokyo
Client: Japan International Cooperation Agency
JICA aims to contribute to the promotion of international cooperation as well as the sound development of the Japanese and global economy by supporting the socioeconomic development, recovery or economic stability of developing regions.
Services: Conceptualization, scripting, filming, and editing.
About the project
The Tokyo 2020 Olympics will be remembered in history as the first Olympics without spectators due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With Japan being the host country and with this in mind, we were tasked by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to produce send off videos for Ugandan athletes. As the videos were going to be used by the Japanese Embassy they also wanted videos that would demonstrate the beauty of Uganda and the possibility of Japanese athletes training in Uganda.
Strategy
How can we celebrate and send off athletes participating in one of the most prestigious sports event in the world? Through our creative brainstorming sessions with JICA, we decided to create inspirational stories based on motivation and drive. Our ultimate goal was to have viewers in Uganda, Japan, and around the world, deeply relate with the athlete beyond seeing them on the field. We ensured that each video was filmed in various landscapes of Uganda to highlight its diversity and beauty.
To achieve this, we traveled to one of the most spectacular places in Uganda which also happens to be the home of the prominent athletes - Kapchorwa. During our 3 day stay, we interacted with the athletes on a more personal level, visited their homes, watched them train, and had candid conversations with them. This approach allowed us to understand their ambitions, fears, achievements, and drive. With this, we created videos featuring;
Joshua Cheptegei, a long-distance runner. He is the reigning Olympic champion in the 5000 metres and silver medalist for the 10,000 metres; World Champion in the 10,000 metres; and World Cross Country champion. Cheptegei currently holds world records in both the 5000 metres and the 10,000 metres, and holds the world record in the 15-kilometres road race.
He is also the current Ugandan record holder in both the 5 km and 10 km.
Halima Nakayi is a middle-distance runner who specializes in the 800 metres. She is the 2019 World Champion at the event, and won the bronze medal at the 2022 World Indoor Championships. Nakaayi is the current Ugandan record holder in the 800m both outdoors and indoors, and also for the 1000 metres. She competed in the 800 metres at both the 2016 Rio Olympics and 2020 Tokyo Olympics, reaching the semi-finals each time.
Sahdir Bwogi Musa started boxing in 2009 under his father's guidance. He has since represented Uganda at the 2017 African Championships in Congo-Brazzaville, 2018 Commonwealth Games and the 2019 African Games. In February 2020, Bwogi qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo after defeating Ghana's Jesse Lartey in the welterweight box-off on the last day of the 2020 African Boxing Olympic Qualification Tournament that was held in Diamniadio, Senegal. At the Games, he lost 3-1 to Eskerkhan Madiev of Georgia.
“We’ve worked with Marula Creative Consultancy on numerous projects over the past two years and it has always been an easy and stress-free process. They’ve done onsite filming, photography, video editing, voice overs that are of the highest qualities. It was great to get such versatility from one company and work with the same people from start to finish. They’ve always performed with the utmost professionalism and found creative solutions to our sudden change issue. Marula Creative Consultancy is always a pleasure to work with and can handle even the tightest of deadlines. We would recommend them without hesitation to any organization searching for video production expertise.”
