“BEYOND THEIR PAIN”

THE HELIOS APPROACH:
HOW AND WHY?

THEIR CHALLENGE

In the aftermath of our powerful anti-violence campaign, the Ontario Nurses’ Association sought to go deeper.

This time, the goal was not just to spark outrage — but to foster empathy. To shift the public’s understanding of what nurses truly endure. Not just the attacks, but the moments in between: the emotional toll, the missed memories, and the weight of always being needed, yet rarely supported.

They needed something more ambitious. A cinematic series of stories that showed the humanity behind the scrubs.

OUR SOLUTION

We crafted a trilogy of emotionally grounded short films, each centered on one nurse’s inner world, but all woven together by shared experience.

Filmed with the same ensemble of actors across all three stories, each character leads their own narrative and co-stars in the others, creating a cohesive universe of sacrifice, stress, and resilience.

Each short film runs approximately five minutes and is paired with a cinematic 30-second cutdown for high-impact distribution across social media, cinema pre-shows, and digital ads.

From surreal psychological breaks to raw verité-style moments of service, these stories showcase the unseen realities nurses face: the dream that became exhaustion, the celebrations they miss, the guilt they carry in silence.

THE RESULT

This campaign built on the momentum of our first collaboration with ONA Local 8 — expanding its emotional reach and visual ambition.

The short films received high praise internally and externally, with early screenings sparking intense emotional reactions. Nurses across Ontario expressed deep gratitude for finally seeing their lived experiences portrayed with honesty and artistry.

The campaign was used by ONA to further public education, advocate for better staffing, and continue positioning nurses not just as caregivers — but as people. People under pressure. People in pain. People worth protecting.

DIRECTOR’S VISION

My goal was to explore the behind-the-scenes consequences of being a nurse in a deep and informative way.

It’s not just the emergencies or the abuse, it’s the weight of always saying yes. The family time that’s missed, the guilt that follows them home, and how despite it all, they show up again the next day.

Structurally, I approached this campaign as a thematic trilogy. Each film centers on a different protagonist — their dreams, their losses, their inner conflict — but the same faces appear throughout. The goal was to mirror what real nurses experience: interconnected lives in an endless cycle of care.

Stylistically, each short film demanded its own language. “Dream Job” begins as a happy, idealistic fantasy before the harsh, cold reality sets in. “Lost Moments” uses immersive angles, kinetic blocking, and slow unraveling tension. “Silence” is the most psychological, blending holiday warmth with creeping anxiety, all rooted in a nurse’s inability to enjoy her life beyond the job.

In every film, we emphasized the contrast between duty and desire, between their hopes and their burdens. These stories display their strength — worn down, stretched thin, but never gone.

- Jendo Shabo, Director