Crowdfunding Campaigns | Committee Against Torture

Every 10th adult Russian citizen has been subjected to torture. Over three years, I worked on projects for the Committee Against Torture, addressing police brutality in Russia. These were the first projects to tackle this issue for a wide audience, sparking media and social network discussions, and helping the Committee begin receiving regular donations to support torture victims. The organization is currently labeled a foreign agent by Russian authorities.

No Torture

Torture victims in Russia often go unnoticed, with no dedicated article in the Criminal Code. To highlight the issue, we launched a campaign featuring a music video with real victims and “invisible articles” — blank pages on independent media sites that revealed stories of torture only when highlighted. The campaign resulted in over 110 articles in the media, more than 8,500 social media mentions, over 2 million video views across various platforms, and reached a total project coverage of over 100 million people.

My role: Idea, Creative Director.
Awards: Silver Mercury grand prix(1) gold(2) silver(1) Red Apple Festival gold(6) silver(2) Art Directors Club of Russia gold(1) silver(2) White Square grand prix(1) gold(4) silver(3) bronze(2) E+ gold(1) bronze(1)

Russian Yoga School

The integrated crowdfunding campaign highlighted the paradox of torture methods being given innocent names like Swallow, Baby Elephant, and Songbird by Russian law enforcers. Within 10 days, the Committee Against Torture received enough pledged monthly donations to cover the medical support for torture victims on a monthly basis.  You can see all other videos from the projects at this link.

My role: Idea, Creative Director, Writer.
Awards: Cannes Lions shortlist(1) Epica Awards bronze(1) Art Directors Club of Europe gold(1) bronze(1) Art Directors Club of Russia gold(1) silver(1) White Square grand prix(1) gold(5) silver(3) bronze(1) Big Picture Festival gold(1) silver(1) G8 gold(2) AdBlack Sea silver(1) bronze(1) MIXX Awards grand prix(1) gold(2) silver(1) Red Apple Festival gold(1) silver(2)

Police Cartoons

3 out of 4 people who reported being tortured by security forces were denied criminal proceedings. This is because the authorities prefer to trust the words of police officers rather than their victims. The video is based on absurd statements made by actual police officers, attempting to 'explain' the injuries found on torture victims. These statements are so ridiculous that we did not alter them in any way; we simply copied and pasted them from official statements and visualized them with cartoons to emphasize their absurdity. All  people mentioned in the video are actual victims of torture.

The project has reached over 2 million viewers across various social networks and has been covered by multiple Russian media outlets and prominent bloggers. Since the video was released, the number of donations has increased by 57%.

My role: Idea, Creative Director, Writer.
Awards: Art Directors Club of Europe gold(3) silver(1) bronze(1) Silver Mercury gold(1) bronze(1) White Square gold(3) silver(1) bronze(1) Art Directors Club of Russia gold(3) Big Picture Festival silver(1) Effie Awards gold(1) Unknown Film Festival gold(1) G8 gold(3) Red Apple Festival gold(1) silver(4) bronze(1)