Write a short summary of what happens in the film.

This campaign set out to redefine Filipina hair beauty in the Philippines. Focused on proving that long, black, straight hair is not the only standard of beautiful hair, we set out to find real women from across the country with diversified, beautiful hair to tell their stories. 100% real and unfiltered, the women detail the struggles they faced in making their brave hair choices while ultimately celebrating how proud they are of having their hair reflect their true selves. Throughout the film, the women speak in their own native dialects representing their distinct provinces – a first for a nationally-televised campaign in the Philippines. Along with un-stereotyping what beautiful hair means in the country, we wanted to show that this fresh, inclusive view of Filipina hair beauty truly can be found everywhere.

Cultural / Context information for the jury

For Filipinas, the standard of beautiful hair has traditionally been long, black and straight. This is so ingrained in the culture that anyone who dares to step out of this norm is usually ridiculed and worse, judged. Because of this, women go to great lengths to keep within the beauty standard – straightening or rebonding their hair, shying away from edgier hairstyles, and generally reluctant to color their hair in standout colors. That is why it was crucial for us to showcase hair diversity through women who are proud of the hair choices they have made to reflect their identity. Not only do we show that women are bravely making hair choices already; we prove that these women are all over the Philippines already through meticulous casting that helped bring together a diversified, truly inclusive group in the hair they have, the dialects they speak, and the provinces they represent.

Tell the jury about the casting process.

In order to realize the creative idea behind this film of showing how beautiful Filipina hair was everywhere, the casting was of utmost importance. The brief was unlike anything we've ever undertaken - find real women (not actors or models) with diversified, unstereotyped hair, make sure that they were from all key provinces of the Philippines to have proper representation, and validate that they speak the native dialects of those provinces eloquently - all while being remotely led out of Singapore. The fact that this was a true nationwide search made it a big challenge. We utilized a combination of street casting, networking, and sheer perseverance to tick all the boxes in the brief and complete the entire process in just 2 weeks to meet timings. In the end, we had a truly inclusive cast that brought the vision of the campaign to life in the most authentic way.