The film is a mash-up video, combining short fragments of speeches by current and recent dictators such as Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong-Un, Recep Erdogan, Bashar Al-Assad, Muammar Gaddafi, Saddam Hussein and more.

The video opens on a series of dictators entering the scene and preparing for an important speech. From then on, they “sing” Happy Birthday: short bursts of actual video footage are combined to recreate the iconic song.

Together, the dictators sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to Reporters Without Borders Belgium to mark their 20th anniversary. After all, they are the reason Reporters Without Borders exists: to fight for press freedom.

After the requisite ‘hip hip hooray’, the film closes on a simple super that brings the message home:

One day, we hope to stop celebrating our birthday.

One day, Reporters Without Borders hopes to stop existing altogether. In a world where dictators no longer rule, and censorship no longer exists.