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Project Detail

Joy of Joys

Children playing in Gaza.

Synopsis

JOY OF JOYS is a short documentary about the recording sessions for War Child Records' HELP(2) at Abbey Road Studios, directed by Jonathan Glazer and devised by Mica Levi and Glazer. Children in London film themselves and the musicians, including Olivia Rodrigo, Arctic Monkeys, Damon Albarn, Cameron Winter, Fontaines DC and Pulp. While children in Gaza Ukraine, Sudan and Yemen film themselves and their surroundings. The documentary interweaves these layers across continents and backgrounds to show a universal innocence and the joy of childhood itself. Glazer and Levi describe the film as being “by children, for children”.
Official Selection BFI London Film Festival 2026

Details

Year
2026
Type of project
Shorts
Running time
38 min 16 sec
Director
Jonathan Glazer
Producer
Medb Riordan, Stephen Overs
Executive Producer
Ian MCcAndrew, Emma Greengrass, Scott Wright, Richard Clarke, Simon Cooper, James Wilson
Editor
Sam Jones
Screenwriter
Devised by Mica Levi and Jonathan Glazer
Director of Photography
Robbie Ryan
Sound
Anthony Moore, Tarn Willers
Principal cast
Olivia Rodrigo, Graham Coxon, Pulp, Damon Albarn, Fontaines D.C., Cameron Winter, The Last Dinner Party, Beabadoobee, Black Country New Road, Arctic Monkeys, Kae Tempest, Ezra Collective, English Teacher, Young Fathers, Foals, Greentea Peng, Children from UK, Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan and Yemen.
Co-Director (ABBEY ROAD)
John Angus Stewart
Assistant Editor
Kathryn Bessant
Made With The Support Of
Abbey Road Studios, The Quarry, Dirty Looks & Factory Studios.

Genre

Music War

Categories

Documentary

Production Status

Complete

Production Company

Academy Films

Stephen Overs
16 West Central St, London WC1A 1JJ

Sales Company

Academy Films

Medb Riordan
16 West Central St, London WC1A 1JJ

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