Café Joyeux sets sail for New York

Titled 47, this gorgeously handcrafted stop-motion short was created for Café Joyeaux by Klick Health and directed by Paulo Garcia and Natalie Gouvea through Zombie Studio. 

Co-created with the Down Syndrome Community, it is based on the real story of a Café Joyeux employee with Down syndrome who did not get his first job until he was 47. The café chain is committed to employing people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and just launched a site in midtown Manhattan.

The film uses a nautical metaphor as it follows the personal odyssey of Robert, a boy with Down syndrome. Guided by his mother’s love, which is symbolised by a yellow scarf, he journeys along choppy seas of rejection and prejudice, until he finally reaches safe harbor at Café Joyeux, where his extraordinary abilities are embraced. 

It was co-created by people with — or connected to — IDD. Sujeet Desai, a US pianist with Down syndrome plays the film’s soundtrack Carry On, alongside Grammy-winning rock band FUN’s lead singer Nate Ruess. José Omar Davila, a Venezuelan orchestra conductor with Down syndrome, created the film’s sound effects and sound design. Zombie Studios art director Bruno Jacob and his daughter Luna, who has Down syndrome, designed the film’s main character, Robert.

47 won the Silver Film Lion and three other awards at Cannes this year. The credit sequence follows touching real-life stories and takes a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the film’s painstaking creation.