Amani aims to shine a light on the next generation of cyclists and to show how Meta’s vision for shared, immersive experiences in the metaverse has the potential to enable everyone to participate in new ways.

This film follows Team Amani, a group of cyclists from Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya, trying to make their mark on the world of cycling despite facing nearly insurmountable barriers. Amani tells the story of these young cyclists to date, and imagines a future in which the metaverse helps them level the playing field in real life. We learn how the team used Meta platforms like WhatsApp and Instagram to connect and come together, and how remote racing platforms allowed them to compete and connect to the broader cycling world. What follows is a future vision of the metaverse, in which Team Amani is able to transcend the boundaries of geography, and realize their greatest ambition.

In crafting the film (which was shot entirely in East Africa) we wanted to capture cycling in a way that hasn’t been seen before, but also fully immerse the viewer in the unique lives and stories of these athletes today and in their imagined future. All footage was captured using multiple cameras, everything from an Alexa to a drone, Super 8 and even a Fisher-Price and FlipCam Video Recorder. We also worked with the legendary Tony Hill to design bespoke rigs to play off the circular motion of a bike wheel, which becomes a visual leitmotif throughout the film. Even the CGI sections, portraying the metaverse, include “camera movements” that match the immersive, kinetic language of real-life cycling and reflect the technological possibilities of where AR, VR and mixed reality can take us.