Animation Case Study

Holocaust Memorial Day Films 2009

Viral 'Game' for Communication and Debate

The Holocaust Memorial Day Trust (HMDT) is a national charity formed in 2005. Its vision is that the Holocaust and subsequent genocides are known, that victims are commemorated and the lessons learnt translated into positive contemporary action in Britain.

The Hate Game features six viral films depicting real-life incidents of hate crime including stories from the Nazi era and more contemporary attacks like the Stephen Lawrence murder. These encounters were generated as scenes from a simulated computer game, each film constructed as an imaginary role play scenario, which is then revealed as a true story from which we can learn.

In this way, HMDT captivated a younger audience using a visual language extremely familiar to them, whilst enabling valuable debate in local communities, schools and educational institutions.

The use of the 'video game' format caused a huge stir online and was featured on the media pages of several national newspapers, the Stephen Lawrence film in particular garnered 1.6 million hits in the first 2 weeks of its launch.

The films were shown in schools as part of the National Curriculum and countless young people went back online to view them again and add their own comments.