In Greece, juvenile violence had dramatically increased by 200% in 2023. 1 in 3 students is a victim of bullying, according to a survey, while 63% do not report it out of fear of retaliation.
The Greek Ministry of Education wanted to encourage students to speak up and urge them and their parents to file reports in a new web platform at stop-bullying.gov.gr
To showcase the cycle of violence, we created a short film inspired by true events. The idea was to dramatize the TV reports Greek viewers had been watching every week on the news about one vicious bullying incident after the other.
In the film titled "Witnesses," we see three families watching a TV report about an attack by students on a schoolmate. The parents ask their kids if they know anything, and although they all deny it, viewers soon find out they're all involved in it, whether as observers, perpetrators, or victims themselves.
To achieve authenticity, we turned to art high schools to cast real 13-16-year-old students who could connect with the narrative as students themselves instead of resorting to hiring professional young actors who looked underage. To ensure realism, the students received guidance from a professional stunt coordinator.
The Greek Prime Minister presented the film, which became the headline story on all TV networks. Over 50 TV shows featured it, 250 news articles were published, and it was shown at schools around the country.
The film went viral, receiving over 5 million organic views on Instagram in a country with 8 million internet users. The video had more than 80.000 likes and 13.000 shares.
Most importantly, the number of complaints filed through the new platform increased sevenfold (7x) compared to the average previously collected.
