Noaks Ark –
Friends With The Virus

What's it like to grow up with hiv? Well, turns out it's not that different from growing up generally. So why should kids still have to handle the ignorance of people around them?

The organization Noaks ark works to support individuals living with HIV. In the project Friends with the virus, they wanted to facilitate conversations, especially with and for the 130 children living with HIV in Sweden. Sojas mission is to use animation to make a difference, so when our friends at Amphi asked us if we wanted to be part of the project, our answer was obvious: yes.

Creating communications with and for young people is a big responsibility. Through animation it’s possible to avoid the ethical dilemmas of casting children and putting them in difficult on-set experiences, both in fiction and documentary projects.

Together with Noaks ark and Amphi, we used experiences and stories from the target group of children to create the story of Nina. She loves Youtube, floor ball (it’s a big thing in Sweden, we promise), and just so happens to live with HIV.

”Through warmth, being truly engaged, and a pinch of humor, Soja gave this story and these characters just what they needed.”

-  Alve Lindenbaum, story consultant Amphi Produktion

Character expressions

Credits

CLIENT

Noaks Ark

AGENCY

Amphi Produktion

DIRECTED BY

Soja

CREATIVE LEAD   
Salla Lehmus

PRODUCER
Simon Österhof

ART LEAD
David Karlström

ANIMATION LEAD
Jakob Nyström

SCRIPT
Simon Österhof

STORYBOARD
Salla Lehmus

DESIGN
David Karlström
Salla Lehmus

ANIMATION
Carl-Johan Hasselrot
Line Hagsand
Karolin Gu
Viktor Khan

SOUND DESIGN & MUSIC
Patrik Öberg,
Nakatomi Productions