What it had to solve
Say thank you — 'Danke sagen' — to everyone who keeps working through the holidays, with craft worthy of the sentiment.
How it works
PKP BBDO (creative directors Rita Spielvogel and Erich Enzenberger, DP Mattias Rudh, editor David Arno Schwaiger) shot the film deliberately and meticulously in 35mm; scene by scene, the editing and sound build a new awareness, scored to Donny Hathaway.
What it did
Silver Award in Film & Audio Craft — Direction, Cinematography and Editing — at the ADC*E 2025 edition.
Background
'Danke sagen' — saying thank you — is BILLA's Christmas film, made with agency PKP BBDO: a deliberately and meticulously 35mm-shot portrait of the many people who are there for us every day without our even thinking about them, and who work even at Christmas.
The film uses an interplay of large yet close pictures with very lonely long shots and close-ups to portray those workers; per the award citation, the editing and sound create a new awareness scene by scene. The music is Donny Hathaway.
The craft was recognised with a Silver Award in Film & Audio Craft — Direction, Cinematography and Editing — at the ADC*E 2025 edition, with credits spanning colour grading by Arri Color, sound design by Lukas Spielvogel and Cornelius Dix, and photography by Nikolett Kustos.
Why it lands
35mm and careful pacing give an everyday thank-you the weight of a cinema film.
The large-but-close framing makes anonymous workers the film's protagonists.
Editing and sound 'create a new awareness scene by scene', per the award citation.
Donny Hathaway's music ties the film into the Christmas canon.
What you can take
Gratitude films earn their emotion through craft discipline: format, pacing and sound can turn a supermarket's thank-you into cinema.
Since then
The film won Silver in Film & Audio Craft — Direction, Cinematography and Editing — at ADC*E's 2025 edition.
FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE
The sources
- Danke sagen - Art Directors Club of Europe adceurope.org