Finalist, Hospital ICOT Ciudad de Telde (Spain), for InvICTUS, a story of triumph
What makes your project so special?
The invICTUS short film was conceived as a transgressive communication action. We intended to report on the Neurorehabilitation Unit of the ICOT Ciudad de Telde Hospital and tell, in an original way, that recovering from stroke is possible. Today, written communication has taken a backseat to audiovisual communication and, within the audiovisual world, content that tells stories is more relevant. For this reason, we use the audiovisual fiction format to launch our message. And since we couldn’t make a Netflix series, we opted for a short film. It is a short film that moves people, that reaches inside people, permeating the message that it is possible to overcome a stroke through the treatment that is carried out at the ICOT Ciudad de Telde Hospital.
What outcomes do you want to achieve with your project?
The objectives of this project are two: talk about the neurorehabilitation unit of the Hospital ICOT Ciudad de Telde to make it known, and to obtain prestige, through the recognition of the short film in film festivals and other competitions.
Stroke is the first cause of death in women, the second in men and the first cause of disability in Spain, where 75,000 new cases occur each year, of which 3,400 correspond to the Canary Islands.
From the Hospital ICOT Ciudad de Telde, every year we carry out communication actions to raise awareness about stroke among the general population of the Canary Islands. These are general informative initiatives, such as interviews with our neurologists on television and radio programs, publications on social networks, etc.
In 2022 we decided to reach the population in a more impressive and emotional way, telling the story of Felipe, a university professor who suffers a stroke and his way of life is abruptly interrupted.
We made a fictional 15-minute short film, based on real events: invICTUS, a story of triumph. The short film was shot at the Hospital ICOT Ciudad de Telde and broadcasted in 2022. It shows how Felipe suddenly finds himself completely dependent: unable to speak, walk, sit up or use his right arm. From that moment, he starts a therapeutic process to recover from the stroke, which also entails a whole emotional transformation and vision of life.
RECOVERING FROM STROKE IS POSSIBLE. This is our main message from the Hospital ICOT Ciudad de Telde, a private institution specialized in neurology, which has the only Acquired brain injury (ABI) Neurorehabilitation Unit in the Canary Islands, within its Center of Integrated Neurological Specialties.
The short film “invICTUS, a story of triumph” is based on real events. To write the script we hired a screenwriter and, together with the film director, they met real patients from the neurorehabilitation unit of the Hospital Ciudad de Telde. They talked to them and observed them during the treatment. They also interviewed different professionals of the multidisciplinary team, and they were inspired by all this to write a realistic script, to which they added a small part of fiction to shape the story.
The professionals from the Hospital ICOT Ciudad de Telde, led by the medical director and neurologist, reviewed the script, checking each scene with the scriptwriter and director, so that it would be an authentic reflection of the condition of patient who has suffered a stroke and evolution during treatment.
The short film was shot with a professional team and a cast of prestigious actors and actresses in the Canary Islands, to guarantee its impact on regional society. Filming lasted two weeks and editing three months.
The level of impact achieved has been massive, reaching aims and goals on the proposed informative communication. The premiere event of the short film was attended by more than 700 people, expanding to a much larger audience through the media and film festivals:
●At the regional level, the media coverage included the most important communication media: the main headlines of digital newspapers, radio, television and social networks, with an estimated audience of more than 400,000 people.
●Nationally, the short film has circulated at festivals in Barcelona, Madrid, Toledo, Vigo, Almería and other regions of Spain.
●To which must be added the international impact with the participation in international film festivals, as well as in Naples and Budapest.
