Pair of Entertainment Lions Grand Prix honors bestowed--one to 72andSunny for Match Group’s "Swipe Night," the other making history as Taiwan’s first Cannes Grand Prix win
Cannes Lions continued today (6/23) with the third of its Awards Shows streaming from Cannes. Winners of the Craft Track and Entertainment Track have been announced, and Taiwan is awarded its first Grand Prix.
The Film Craft Lions, celebrating onscreen artistry, received 1,994 entries. The jury chose to award 65 Lions, 9 Gold, 24 Silver and 31 Bronze. The Grand Prix was presented to Chelsea Pictures, L.A. and NY/AMV BBDO, London, for “#wombstories,” the campaign for Libresse that gave a voice to the unseen, unspoken and unknown truths about the physical experiences of women everywhere. The “#wombstories” centerpiece film was directed by Nisha Ganatra of Chelsea and earned her earlier this year a DGA Award nomination.
In the Entertainment Lions, creativity that turns content into culture is honored. 856 entries were received, and the jury awarded 36 Lions: 5 Gold, 11 Silver and 18 Bronze. Two Grands Prix were awarded: “In love we trust,” from dentsumcgarrybowen, Taipei City, Taiwan, whose film for Sinyi Reality encouraged young people to overcome their fear of commitment and seek lasting love, was awarded Taiwan’s first Grand Prix. Jury president Jae Goodman, CEO, Observatory (A Stagwell and CAA Company), praised it for taking the “long view,” saying, “This is about shifting culture in a direction that ultimately helps the brand and business. It is really hard not to reward and award something that does all of those things at the same time and does them so beautifully and powerfully.”
The second Grand Prix in Entertainment went to 72andSunny Los Angeles, for Match Group’s “Swipe Night,” an interactive experience within the Tinder app.
The Digital Craft Lions which award technological artistry received 703 entries and awarded 25 Lions: 5 Gold, 8 Silver and 11 Bronze. The jury gave the Grand Prix to Epic Games, Inc., Cary, North Carolina, for "Astronomical," a one of a kind musical journey that featured Travis Scott and the world premiere of a brand new track, built from the ground up in Fortnite.
Celebrating the creative artistry, talent and skill required to bring a creative idea to life, the Industry Craft Lions received 1,164 entries. A total of 26 Lions were presented: 4 Gold, 7 Silver and 14 Bronze and Ogilvy London, UK/Ogilvy Toronto, Canada took the Grand Prix for their work for Dove’s “Patricia,” “Amanda,” “Patrick”; part of the “Courage is Beautiful” campaign that celebrates the strength and determination of frontline workers amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Celebrating creativity that taps into fan culture and leverages the power of sports and eSports in connecting people to brands, The Entertainment Lions for Sport received 552 entries and the jury awarded 24 Lions: 3 Gold, 8 Silver and 11 Bronze. Two Grands Prix were awarded: Edelman, London, for Asics’ “Eternal Run,” the world’s first race without a finish line. The second Grand Prix went to Africa DDB, São Paulo, Brazil, for House of Lapland’s “Salla 2032,” the campaign launched by the town of Salla in Lapland to host the 2032 Olympics.
The Entertainment Lions for Music, celebrating creative musical collaborations and original music content, received 407 entries and 18 Lions were awarded: 3 Gold, 5 Silver and 8 Bronze. The jury chose to award two Grands Prix: PRETTYBIRD, Culver City/Columbia Records, New York, for Columbia’s music video sensation “Lil Nas X–Old Town Road (official movie) FT. Billy Ray Cyrus.” The second Grand Prix went to Gut Agency, São Paulo, for “Feed Parade” for Mercado Livre, the activation that turned Brazil’s biggest pride parade into an instagram feed and saw Gloria Groove–a legendary LGBTQIA+ singer and activist–release a music video featuring the Instagram handle of every single person involved. Jury president Wyclef Jean, president and chief strategy officer, Sodo Mood Lab, said the jury chose this as a Grand Prix because of “the idea of engagement, the idea of courage and the idea that we will never stand down,” adding, “we have to send these kind of signals around the world.”
Review: Malcolm Washington Makes His Feature Directing Debut With “The Piano Lesson”
An heirloom piano takes on immense significance for one family in 1936 Pittsburgh in August Wilson's "The Piano Lesson." Generational ties also permeate the film adaptation, in which Malcolm Washington follows in his father Denzel Washington's footsteps in helping to bring the entirety of The Pittsburgh Cycle — a series of 10 plays — to the screen.
Malcolm Washington did not start from scratch in his accomplished feature filmmaking debut. He enlisted much of the cast from the recent Broadway revival with Samuel L. Jackson (Doaker Charles), his brother, John David Washington (Boy Willie), Ray Fisher (Lymon) and Michael Potts (Whining Boy). Berniece, played by Danielle Brooks in the play, is now beautifully portrayed by Danielle Deadwyler. With such rich material and a cast for whom it's second nature, it would be hard, one imagines, to go wrong. Jackson's own history with the play goes back to its original run in 1987 when he was Boy Willie.
It's not the simplest thing to make a play feel cinematic, but Malcolm Washington was up to the task. His film opens up the world of the Charles family beyond the living room. In fact, this adaptation, which Washington co-wrote with "Mudbound" screenwriter Virgil Williams, goes beyond Wilson's text and shows us the past and the origins of the intricately engraved piano that's central to all the fuss. It even opens on a big, action-filled set piece in 1911, during which the piano is stolen from a white family's home. Another fleshes out Doaker's monologue in which he explains to the uninitiated, Fisher's Lymon, and the audience, the tortured history of the thing. While it might have been nice to keep the camera on Jackson, such a great, grounding presence throughout, the good news is that he really makes... Read More