We all have to grow up eventually. Some sooner, others later. But what does our own change in lifestyle actually mean for our friendships? Is it normal to lose touch with long-standing childhood friends over the decades? Or what does it signify when youth friends vanish from our lives?

These are the questions addressed by up-and-coming commercial director Alexander Kühn from the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg in a touching and intelligently staged spec-spot. The two-and-a-half-minute film tells the story of Josh and Jacob. The two protagonists are what is commonly known as "childhood friends."

They have known each other since early childhood, attended school together, and experienced puberty and first love side-by-side. Besides their friendship, however, the two are also united by a sense of competition. They have constantly measured and compared themselves against one another, until this very aspect becomes a problem one day—specifically when one of them moves to another city for university. Does this inevitably mean the end of the friendship?

Josh & Jacob

With this spec-spot for the instant messaging service Telegram, director Alexander Kühn impressively manages to tell the story of a friendship over the years using moving, authentic imagery, conveying how vital this connection is for the protagonists.

In the process, a playful childhood race between the two becomes a metaphor for life itself. The central question: By what rules does friendship function?