‘THE SALESMAN’ - TRAFALGAR SQUARE

In protest of Donald Trump’s controversial travel ban, the Mayor of London and London’s film community felt compelled to stage a public screening on Trafalgar Square of Iranian director Asghar Farhadi’s Oscar-nominated ‘The Salesman’ on the day of the awards.

APPROACH

Due to the immediacy of reacting to such a momentous world news story, the months of planning that would ordinarily be required were condensed into the three weeks that were available. That said, having the weight of the Mayor of London and the GLA behind you can sure move things on fast!

DELIVERY

With planning timelines condensed, FACE reacted quickly to produce the operational plans, technical production and site management required to effectively execute the event.

RESULTS

On a bitterly cold grey day in February, around 10,000 people descended onto the square to watch the film.

Stars of the British film industry, including Mike Leigh and Lily Cole, gave powerful speeches and the audience were treated to a surprise performance by the Syrian Refugee Orchestra led by Damon Albarn. The world’s media were in attendance and the event got a lot of people talking.

Oh, and we won an award too! “Best Event Of The Year” at the Screen International Awards, beating off the best that 20th Century Fox and Walt Disney could throw at us!