South African charity, the Pebbles Project, made a beautiful short film, ‘Kindness’. In wonderful news, the film has gone on to win an award for International Impact!
London, United Kingdom (28 March 2025) — South African non-profit the Pebbles Project are relishing in a special moment thanks to the success of their short film, ‘Kindness’. The short has gone on to earn global recognition, recently winning the Bicester Collection Award for International Impact at the 2025 Smiley Charity Film Awards hosted in London!
The Smiley Charity Film Awards are the world’s largest cause-based film campaign, often referred to as the Oscars of charity film awards.
“We are deeply honoured to have been nominated alongside 27 remarkable international NPOs, including Habitat for Humanity Canada and Greenpeace. This global recognition means the world to us, and we are incredibly grateful for the opportunity to highlight the positive impact of our work,” shared Pebbles Project’s Liesl Ahlers.
The Pebbles Project is all about uplifting children and families from farming communities in the Western Cape. Through their short film, they turned the spotlight on the power of small actions and efforts.
‘Kindness’
A beautiful telling of how one pebble of kindness can cause a ripple effect of good, the short film takes us into the worlds of different people that the project has supported in real life. Spoiler alert: you will need tissues!
The Kindness film is a tear-jerker for all the right reasons. It scraps overwhelming statistics (good or bad) in exchange for a few stories of impact. This way, the stories become personal. Digestible. Easy to hold in our hands and really sit with. We get to see the impact that we’re always being told is possible.
The Pebbles Project could’ve boasted big numbers. They have supported thousands of children and families in their time. Instead, they picked a few as a representative of the many.
Through the film, we get to meet a myriad of people who have all been impacted by Pebbles for the better. There’s founder Sophia Wagner, who, 20 years ago, had a dream to positively support farm children in rural South African communities and, along with her sister, decided to go for it. This dream would change the life of Erenestine, a mother who Pebbles helped achieve a bursary and find a job to provide for her family. We also get to see Ernestine’s children, who, thanks to Pebbles’ support of their mom, have happy lives.
There’s also Perchwin, another Project beneficiary who found peace and purpose through art after Pebbles put him in touch with a social worker. And Robin, the budding seamstress, who is developing her skills largely thanks to Pebbles.
All of these lives, all of this impact from one dream centred around kindness—one pebble.
The impact film also won ‘Best Documentary’ from the Kleinkaap Short Film Festival earlier this year before hopping onto the international film festival circuit. In celebration of The Pebbles Project’s 20th birthday, ‘Kindness’ was revealed to the public, which shared a series of important messages.
You can watch the short film below!
Support the Pebbles Project
You can support the future of Pebbles and celebrate their win with a donation via these details.
Sources: Email Submission; GTG
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