Poignant spot reveals real-life hospital dramas

Somehow managing to be both harrowing and beautiful at the same time, the film SickKids VS: This Is Why is the next phase of agency Cossette’s SickKids VS Limits campaign. 

Directed by Mark Zibert through Scouts Honour, it features the daily life-and-death battles of actual patients, their families and medical staff at the hospital. Craig McIntosh, Cossette ECD, says: “This project was ever-evolving based on who we met at the hospital on-set, and what their story was. We created a campaign that stayed true to the kids we were filming.”

While some of the images are almost unbearably sad, the film has a meditative, almost transcendent feel, that is guided by a moving soundtrack from The Music Project Choir, along with scenes of parents’ intense love, the tenderness of medical professionals and, most significantly, the bravery and forbearance of the children themselves. 

In addition to the two-minute spot, the SickKids campaign also includes a series of shorter films – Jordan, Krish, Natasha, Sahara and Tanika – which tell more detailed stories on some of the hospital's patients and staff. 

Mark Zibert is repped by Rogue Films in the UK.