A story of courage.

Hamlin Fistula UK exists to restore the health, confidence and independence of women with childbirth injuries. For the women whose injuries can't be fully cured, they go further and provide lifelong care, supplies and support, free of charge.

We post-produced this fundraising film for Hamlin Fistula UK, bringing together interview footage and b-roll shot in Addis Ababa to tell the story of Iman, a woman who found her way back to herself through courage and the unwavering care of a remarkable organisation.

We worked with the Hamlin team to ensure the narrative was structured strategically to maximise donor engagement, making sure the emotional arc of Iman's story connected directly to the appeal's ask. The film anchored Hamlin's most successful matched giving appeal to date, raising £45,000 in total.

Key outcomes:

£45,000 raised through the matched giving appeal, Hamlin Fistula UK's most successful to date
1,600+ views across YouTube, Facebook and Instagram
Social cutdowns became Hamlin's top-performing content of the month
Film used across email, social media, direct mail and a dedicated campaign landing page
Evergreen version retained for ongoing donor engagement beyond the appeal

Challenge and approach

Challenge
Hamlin Fistula UK needed a fundraising film that could speak to warm supporters about a sensitive subject: women whose fistula injuries couldn't be fully cured, and who would depend on the organisation for the rest of their lives. The film needed to hold that difficulty honestly without making Iman a symbol of suffering, and to connect individual viewers to a long-term promise. All footage had already been shot in Ethiopia so our brief was post-production to a tight budget and a fixed deadline.

Approach
We began with a close reading of the timecoded transcripts, shaping the narrative from the material itself. We built the film around Iman's shift from fear to readiness and her relationship with Sister Tigist. This became the emotional engine of the film and we stayed close to that relationship throughout, letting the footage breathe rather than over-producing it.

Watch the film

Impact

The film launched in May 2026 as the centrepiece of Hamlin's matched giving appeal, timed to International Day to End Obstetric Fistula. It was distributed across direct mail, a three-email campaign series, organic and paid social, and a dedicated landing page with all channels directing supporters to the film. Alongside the hero film, we produced short social cutdowns built around a distinct angle which ran throughout the appeal period across Meta and organic social channels and were Hamlin’s top performing content of the month.

The appeal exceeded its £20,000 matched giving target, with £29,000 raised from individual supporters and £45,000 in total including matched funds.

But perhaps the most important measure of impact is this, from Iman herself: "To all the people who support the hospital, I want to say thank you. The kind of treatment we receive here would be very expensive. I am very grateful that you are treating me and all of us for free."

For us, this is exactly why we do this work. Iman's story is one of extraordinary courage and a reminder of what it means for an organisation to truly stand by the women it serves, for life. We're proud that Hamlin trusted us with it.

Lucy Scanlon / Head of Fundraising

"“From the first introduction call I had with Fat Rat Films, I knew they were the team I wanted to work with on this project. Their response to the brief, the questions they asked and the thought and care put into their initial idea generation made them stand out. Working with the Fat Rat team was a real pleasure, it felt like a true collaboration. Fred was very patient, gave great guidance where needed and shaped what we had into the best film it could be. It was easy to give feedback throughout the process and our input was listened to and acted on. We're really pleased with the final film, it conveys the emotion of Iman's story so powerfully. The brief for this film was to play a significant role in a fundraising campaign, and I'm delighted to say that we exceeded the original target and raised over £45,000 in total - the most we've ever raised through a fundraising appeal. The film has been viewed over 1,600 times so far across YouTube, Facebook and Instagram and the short clips Fat Rat created for social media have been our top-performing content this month.”"