BRBR | HEROES OF TODAY | 2019
In 1936 Berlin, a 2019 Tweet Echoes / BRBR "HEROES OF TODAY"
The screen is black and white: Berlin, 1936. A Black athlete walks down a street hung with swastikas. People passing by turn to stare and whisper, and even a child hurls a slur at him. Then, just as he steps into the stadium, it hits you — wait, this is a tweet from today.
The problem
This short film was made as the first piece for "Heroes of Today," a platform backed by several Spanish companies. Its aim is to lay bare the racism that still lingers in the world of sports today.
The insight
The film centers on Jesse Owens, the Black athlete who competed at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. The words layered over the recreated footage — the kind of abuse he likely faced back then — are actually real tweets from today, used exactly as they were written. You think you're watching a reenactment of the past, and then you realize it's happening right now. That single gap is what forces you to see that things haven't changed at all.
The idea
Made by DDB Madrid and Garlic, the entire film is shot in black and white. Passersby stare, whisper, and a child spits out an insult — and over that atmosphere, the text of real modern tweets is overlaid exactly as written. Directed by BRBR, with cinematography by Michal Babinec.
What happened
The film won Gold in Entertainment for Sports at Cannes Lions 2019 and was shortlisted in 10 categories. It also picked up numerous awards at El Ojo Iberoamérica, including Grand Ojo Sports.
Afterthought
That cold, sinking feeling of "nothing's really changed, has it." There's no lecturing here — just words laid on top of words. And that's enough to cut deep. We shouldn't look away from the ugliness hiding behind the beauty of sports.
Awards
- Cannes Lions Gold 2019
