Savanna by AMAFFI

Within its first few moments, where the opening vista of the frankly jaw-dropping Saudi Arabian desert and the seraphic opening notes of Grammy-nominated French-Lebanese trumpeter Ibrahim Maalouf’s evocative jazz composition come together, Savanna, a short-film advertisement from the AMAFFI Perfume House clearly has ambitions to create something beyond sheer product placement and firmly elevate its showcase of that product into something much more.

Savanna by AMAFFI is inescapably, first and foremost a commercial for a product and as such, that product is understandably front and centre here, its shining green bottle the undeniable focus of attention throughout a number of scenes. But honestly, despite all that, nothing should take away from the fact that the directors, the post-production team and of course not failing to mention all the other clearly talented individuals involved here as well, have indeed created that “captivating collaboration” of product and cinema they were hoping for.

Of course, Savanna looks great, as you would expect from productions of high-end marketing campaigns such as these. That aforementioned Saudi desert setting never gets boring to look at, whether it's bathed in glorious sunset or impeccably lit up at night. But where some commercials of this ilk would be content to simply splash the cash on pretty sunsets, a man digging aimlessly in the sand, or another inexplicably riding a bike through bustling city streets with seemingly no connection to what it’s selling, Savanna actually looks and manages to tell a genuinely cohesive and enchanting story.

It’s one of “a love that exists but is yet to be found”. A man (played by Maalouf) plays his music straight from the soul in search of the love of a woman that he can never quite grasp, yearning endlessly for that love which is never fully realised, is impossible to describe but he can feel through his music, the one thing that brings him closer and closer to her. It’s surprisingly effective, not just in giving the viewer something tangible to actually follow and feel, but for those interested and aimed at, will undoubtedly evoke that exact intended feeling for the product itself.

Especially when all of that is then combined with Maalouf’s dreamlike jazz arrangement, itself starting off softly and building to a resounding crescendo as he finally is able to embrace his love. But it’s the harmony of all these elements that highlights the most important facet of this whole endeavour, because while all of these aspects in isolation are indeed impressive themselves, Savanna by AMAFFI more than anything really is a wonderful achievement that post-production producer Benjamin South can be proud of in how they seamlessly tie it all together to create such a brilliant blend of sight, story and sound.

Sure, at its core Savanna by AMAFFI has a job to do, and if one wants to be cynical of any possible cinematic merit a perfume commercial can achieve then that’s their

choice. But with Savanna, while there is that end goal, there also is genuinely an applaudable labour of love and creativity at work here to create this “story about the inspiration of love.”