Elias Jewelers was unveiling Heart of the Ocean, a centrepiece of tanzanite set in diamonds. The film had to be made in Zanzibar, where the house began, and it had to carry the weight of a stone found in only one place on earth.
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Elias Jewellers: The Heart of the Ocean
One film, built around a single idea: the stone and the ocean at first light. We chased sunrise over the Indian Ocean two mornings running. The first, we missed it. The second gave us everything. Even the tides worked against logic that week, running high in the small hours, so we read the water and shot with it rather than against it.
Before we shot a frame, we were shown a short film on tanzanite: where it comes from, and what it means to Tanzanians. That changed everything. This wasn’t a product to light well. It was a national stone, and the film had to feel like it belonged to the sea and the light of the place it came from.
After the screening, the founder told us this was the standard of work he had been looking for.
Client: Elias Jewelers Location: Zanzibar, Tanzania Year: 2025 Role: Lead cinematographer Credits: Produced by Akatsuki Studios, with Akira Digital
Brand film · Luxury
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Questions
Before we talk
Film and story for brands where the feeling is the product.
What do you actually make?
Brand films, short documentaries and stills, and the story underneath them. Every project starts with one question: what should people feel before they’ve ever walked through your door? The film is how we answer it.
Do you only work with camps and lodges?
No. We’ve made films for a jeweller in Zanzibar, a car dealership in Nairobi and a safari camp in the Maasai Mara. The subject changes. The work doesn’t: we make films for things people buy with their hearts first.
How are projects priced?
By the story, not by the minute of footage. After a first conversation, we send a clear proposal covering what we’ll make, how and when, with one fee and no surprises.
Do you travel?
Yes. We’re based between Nairobi and the Maasai Mara, and we’ve shot across East Africa. Travel is planned into the proposal from the start.
Why only three clients at a time?
Because good stories take attention. Working with three clients means we know each brand well enough to tell its story honestly, and each one gets our full focus rather than a slot in a queue.
Do you manage social media?
Only alongside a production engagement, never on its own. Our work is the story and the film. Social media is one of the places it lives.