Evoca Pictures launched in 2021, providing activists and advocates with strategic insight, expertise and expansive networks for creating world-class content that instills hope and drives visible impact. 

A nimble team of creatives mobilising fresh perspectives, Evoca Pictures aims to engage a diverse audience and disrupt popular culture. The storytellers at Evoca Pictures convey some of the most challenging messages of our time, and are proud to be the creators and producers of powerful advocacy campaigns which amplify the voices of unheard communities at the forefront of gender inequality and the climate crisis.

Sowing Seeds of Change

  • For 2024’s 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, Evoca Foundation is proud to celebrate the brilliant work of Legacy of War Foundation and their extraordinary Land for Women programme.

    In ‘Sowing Seeds of Change’, we feature a photo series by Alice Kayibanda, a Rwandan photographer whose work brings the strength and determination of these women to life. Captured at two cooperative farms, Alice’s lens tells the story of women reclaiming their agency, healing from trauma, and building a future rooted in resilience and renewal. Through collective farming, they cultivate the soil as an act of reclamation, a commitment to life, and a way to honour the past while forging a brighter future.

    Explore 'Sowing Seeds of Change'
    Celebrate these stories of strength and renewal through our digital photo gallery and magazine.

Visions for the Future

  • Every year, on October 11th, the world is asked to pause and pay attention—to really listen to the stories of girls who face struggles that are far too often swept aside. The International Day of the Girl Child is a call to reflect on the unique challenges girls encounter and to celebrate their resilience, their joy, and, perhaps most importantly, their hope.

    This year, Evoca spoke directly to the girls whose dreams are nurtured by the grassroots organisations we support. We spent time speaking with them, listening to their stories, their visions, their plans for the future. Through these conversations, we saw not just the challenges they’re facing—climate change, gender-based violence, educational barriers—but also what they’re dreaming of. On October 11th 2024, we’re illuminating the power of hope as a force for change, and sharing the girls’ voices and hopes with you, so that we can celebrate them together.

The Whale Song

  • Director: Yassa Khan

    Executive Producer: Naza Alakija

    Writer: Shanley Mitchell

    CGI Artist: Christos Mavridis

    Editor: Jacob Caron

    Composer: Mara Carlyle

    Music Supervision: Marina Guy

    Graphics: Beatriz Coias

    Campaign Team: Evoca Pictures

Evoca X Youterus Health

  • One in three women globally will be affected by some form of reproductive disease in their lifetimes. They can seriously impact a woman’s quality of life, livelihood, and productivity. Many are poorly understood and under-researched, and yet most can be identified and managed with early screening and an awareness of the symptoms. They’re particularly prevalent in and dangerous for black women. They impact fertility, the likelihood of having to undergo major procedures, and they drive up the costs associated with maintaining health.

    That’s why on International Women’s Day 2024, Evoca Foundation is launching its partnership with Youterus Health, a social impact organisation advancing African women’s care. Together, we want to start a conversation that equips women and girls the world over with the resources they need to support their uterine health and protect their quality of life. Together, we’re starting a conversation that equips women and girls the world over with resources they need to support their uterine health and protect their quality of life. Understand more about uterine conditions, find out why you need to know about them and learn what you can do to protect your health here.

  • Creative and Production:
    Evoca Pictures

    Partner:
    Youterus Health

    Art and Animation:
    Shanley Mitchell

Echoes of Freedom

  • As Human Rights Day marks the end of 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, we invite you to pause and reflect with us.


    Watch our latest visual poem and join us in this movement. 


    ”In the whispers of the wind, in the ocean's mighty roar, Our voices rise, impossible to ignore. Speaking of freedom, vivid and bright, Illuminating the dark, guiding us through the night. We find the rhythm of resistance, deep and true, In every heartbeat, in me, in you. In every act of defiance and grace, We're drafting history, claiming our space. For the daughters, the sisters yet to come, We pave a path, beating to a different drum. We are dreamers at dawn, with visions bright, For a world where wrongs turn into right. Our voices, echo of tomorrow's song, In our actions, hope soars along. We're building a legacy, just and fair, A world where every woman breathes freedom's air. Passing the torch, from the old to the young, In every tongue, our story is sung. With each step, we trace our ancestors' path, Fueled by love, undeterred by wrath. So let us rise, let us bring the light, In resistance, our spirits take flight. “Woman, life, freedom” our enduring song, Together, unbroken, we are forever strong.”

  • Creative and Production:
    Evoca Pictures

    Director:
    Yassa Khan

    Editor:
    Fabio Meirelles

    Music:
    Charlie Smith

    Voice Over:
    Fatou Wurie

    Poetry:
    Shanley Mitchell

Do You See Me Now?

  • For 2023’s 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, Evoca Foundation presents ‘Do You See Me Now?’: 16 ‘portraits’ of women from all over the world who have experienced, witnessed and survived gender-based violence (GBV).

    Through our international partners and collaborators, eight women and girls from all over the world have shared anonymous accounts. They are from different backgrounds and have different ages, ethnicities, and nationalities, but each has a story to tell about their experience of GBV. Evoca’s resident artist Shanley Mitchell has worked with artificial intelligence (AI) to create images that depict each woman and evoke her narrative. In this series, women and their stories find refuge in a space that is at once safe and visible; protected but audible.

Untie the Knot

  • Evoca Foundation and Equality Now have come together to mark International Day of the Girl Child 2023, observed every year on October 11.

    Our visual campaign ‘Untie the Knot’ helps us understand how and why climate change compounds child marriage and creates a vision of a world in which every girl’s right to freedom is upheld. This short film, produced by Evoca Pictures in partnership with Equality Now, calls attention to the complex connection between climate change and the prevalence of child marriage.

    As climate disasters become more frequent and extreme, families resort to desperate coping mechanisms, and girls all over the world lose the right to forge their own horizons: to go to school, to build careers, to choose if, when or who they marry. On International Day of the Girl Child 2023, “Let’s grant our girls the dreams they’ve sought – brighter futures, as they untie the knot.”

    To participate in this campaign, we encourage you to Watch, Share, and Explore!

  • Creative and Production:
    Evoca Pictures

    Animation: Amy Tibbles

    Music: Charlie Smith

    Words: Evoca Pictures

    Impact Partner: Equality Now

RISE بپاخیز

  • ‘RISE’ بپاخیز captures the #WomanLifeFreedom movement through the story of a teenage girl who resists the patriarchal ‘morality police’. Presented by Evoca Pictures and Executive Produced by Naza Alakija, Rise pays tribute to the movement, celebrating and honouring the fierce women of Iran along with women and girls across the globe. Featuring Dr Maya Angelou’s seminal feminist poem ‘Still I Rise’ and the music of Kurdish artist Hani Mojtahedy and Iranian rapper Gdaal, Rise was created by an anonymous female Director ‘SHIRZAN’ along with a team of production partners who remain anonymous due to the risk of retribution by the Iranian authorities.

    Raise your voice: like and share ‘Rise.’

    Amplify women's voices and share Iranian stories.

    Rise Up for #WomanLifeFreedom.

Earth Day

  • On Earth Day this year, through animated illustrations from Kiana Naghshineh, Evoca told the story of Omid, the male Siberian Crane whose name means ‘hope’ in Farsi. We highlighted cranes’ status as endangered and aimed to engage and inspire audiences to ‘Invest in Our Planet’ in line with the 2023 Earth Day theme.

    As most cranes do, being a monogamous species, Omid established a solid bond when he met his female partner Arezoo (meaning ‘wish’). In 2007, Omid and Arezoo made their first journey together. They chose Iran as their wintering ground, and traveled from Siberia to spend four months in the richly biodiverse Fereydunkenar wetland on the Caspian Sea in northern Iran. The following year in 2008, the bird watchers and nature-lovers of Iran prepared to welcome Omid and Arezoo once more. But they never arrived. Arezoo had disappeared, suspected to have been shot down by poachers. In her absence, Omid, now the only remaining Siberian white Crane of the Western population, disappeared too, and did not make the journey to Iran. But the following year, Omid appeared once more, and from then onwards returned annually, making the 6000km journey alone from Siberia to settle among the animals and vegetation by the Capsian Sea every winter. It has been more than fourteen years since Omid first embarked on his journey alone: he has become a symbol of hope, lost love, and reminiscence for Iranian people and the many international birdwatchers who follow his story closely. This year, Iran’s Department of Environment introduced Omid to Roya (meaning ‘dream’). Roya is a young female Siberian crane from the Cracid & Crane Breeding and Conservation Centre (CBCC) in Belgium. Environmental experts hope Omid and Roya will establish themselves as mates, and return to Iran together next winter.

    By fostering a shared sense of connection with Omid’s emotive story, and by capturing the beauty and sadness of Omid’s loss and loyalty, we sought to awaken curiosity and commitment in viewers, encouraging them to explore how they themselves can protect the health of our planet.

Overheated

  • Overheated is our most ambitious, large-scale production to date, which came together through an extraordinary network of collaborators & partners across the world. Created by Evoca Foundation in partnership with Support and Feed and The Soliman Foundation, the film is a breathtaking commentary on the climate crisis. It’s a 38 minute kaleidoscopic journey which propels us through the minds of some of the world’s most prominent figures in Music, Fashion and Climate Activism. Directed by Yassa Khan and Executive Produced by Naza Alakija, and featuring appearances from Billie Eilish, Maggie Baird, Vivienne Westwood, Yungblud and Vanessa Nakate, the film displays a vulnerability and openness as they confront their hopes, struggles and fears in the face of a critically overheating planet.

    Central to the film are the voices who represent the frontlines of climate change: Daniella Ingabire from Burundi, and the Waorani tribe from the Amazon rainforest & the Sámi people of Sápmi, who speak of the startling loss of indigenous knowledge and habitats. The narrative is centered around one overwhelming question, asked by Billie Eilish herself: ‘Are we doing enough?’ The answer is one which plays on everyone’s minds, but this film instills us with a sense of hope that inspires change. 

    Overheated is now a platform and continuing collaboration with our partners Support + Feed, with the backing of Maggie Baird.

Just a Girl

  • There are an estimated 22 million child brides living in Nigeria according to UNICEF, and the numbers show no sign of slowing. For Women’s History Month, Evoca chose to create a short film and campaign, Just A Girl, to shed light on the epidemic of child marriage. The emotive film shares the voices and stories of three young girls whose childhoods were stolen when they became child brides and mothers. Evoca Foundation also collaborated closely with the grassroots organisations It’s Never Your Fault and Bella Foundation in their remarkable work on the ground supporting girls, and also to change legislation which currently allows the practice of child marriage to continue lawfully. The film’s audience have petitioned to rewrite this law for good.

Hope Dies Last

  • In order to protect and sustain our environment, we must look to the people who understand nature better than anyone else. Indigenous peoples are instinctive custodians of the natural world. Their wisdom is passed down through generations and learned through an extraordinary union with the environment. Although indigenous populations make up less than 5% of the world’s, 80% of Earth’s remaining biodiversity lies within their territories. . However, Indigenous habitats and ways of life are increasingly under threat. Soon, we will be at risk of losing the crucial truths they could share with our world, helping to protect the planet and save our ecosystems.

    The Huni Kuin tribe of the Amazon are on the frontlines of the impacts of climate change, and they are just one of many groups facing existential challenges. Evoca Foundation supports them in strengthening their culture and providing resources for their women and leaders. Their voices deserve to be heard, and so we set out to amplify them. They have a message for the world: “Nature is not for sale”. As hypercapitalism destroys their precious habitat, they urge the world to take action before it’s too late. In the film Hope Dies Last, produced by Naza and directed by Yassa Khan, their message urges leaders and decision-makers to make the right choices.

PRESS

The Drum

Everything but a Girl

  • Women’s History Month in 2021 felt particularly pertinent, as the future of millions of girls teetered in the balance. In times of crisis, girls across the world are more vulnerable to child marriage. Evoca launched its first campaign shedding light on the issue that threatens the potential of 12 million young women every year, depriving them of an education that could help change the course of their lives and end the cycle of poverty.

    Naza worked with a creative team to develop the powerful film Everything But A Girl, lending her platform to share the alarming truth and to demand that girls stay free and educated. UNICEF came on board to develop a fundraising page for the girls of Yemen, a country ravaged by war and home to 1.4 million child brides under the age of 15. Naza is proud to support UNICEF’s work to empower, educate and protect young women and their families.