Cannes Lions has named Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and executive director of UN Women, as the recipient of the 2019 Cannes LionHeart in recognition of her advocacy for women, human rights, and social justice throughout the world, and for her leadership of the industry-wide diversity initiative, The Unstereotype Alliance.
Throughout her career, Mlambo-Ngcuka has championed women’s rights through her involvement with projects and programs devoted to education, women’s empowerment and gender equality and in 2018 was named by Apolitical as one of the most influential people in gender policy around the world. Her work spans the private sector, civil society and government.
Her leadership of the Unstereotype Alliance recognizes the power of partnerships to accelerate progress and her involvement has been pivotal to creating a space where industry leaders can set aside competition and unite for a common cause. As the powerhouse behind the initiative, which launched in 2017, she unites leaders to tackle the widespread prevalence of stereotypes that are often perpetuated through media and advertising content.
Philip Thomas, chairman of Cannes Lions, said, “Phumzile’s passion and tireless work to improve the lives of women and children around the world and bring about social justice represents the true embodiment of the Cannes LionHeart Award. Through her work on the Unstereotype Alliance she has brought together leaders from business, technology and creative industries to consciously consider how individuals are in communications.”
Introduced in 2014, the Cannes LionHeart is an honorary Award presented to a person or organization that has harnessed their position to make a significant and positive difference to the world around us, with particular reference to those who work with brands and the advertising community.
As executive director of UN Women, Mlambo-Ngcuka is driving the role of women in leadership, engaging men as allies, and ending discrimination and violence against women and girls through coalition and movement building among global leaders in public and private sectors, and with civil society.
Speaking in response to the announcement, Mlambo-Ngcuka said, “It is an honor to be nominated for this Award on behalf of UN Women and The Unstereotype Alliance. I look forward to what we will do next through this partnership to change the way the world looks at itself and disrupt the social norms that are holding us back. We are thrilled to be working with the advertising community to bring about positive change by influencing the way that both women and men are represented.”
An industry-led initiative, The Unstereotype Alliance, convened by UN Women, is a collaboration between industry leaders who have been champions of addressing gender bias. Its members include global brands, advertising agencies and holding companies, associations and organizations dedicated to advancing representation. Since its launch in 2017, the initiative has worked with members to conduct international research projects providing applicable insights for creating progressive portrayals of men and women from around the world. In addition, Mlambo-Ngcuka and The Unstereotype Alliance collaborated with Cannes Lions to introduce updated jury guidelines for the judging process, urging jury members to consider whether the work perpetuates negative stereotypes and inequalities.
Mlambo-Ngcuka will be interviewed on the Debussy stage at 5pm on Friday, June 21, as the final session of the content program. She will accept the LionHeart Award at the final Awards Show closing out Cannes Lions 2019. The Cannes Lions Festival runs from June 17-21.
First-Time Feature Directors Make Major Splash At AFI Fest, Generate Oscar Buzz
Two first-time feature directors who are generating Oscar buzz this awards season were front and center this past weekend at AFI Fest in Hollywood. Rachel Morrison, who made history as the first woman nominated for a Best Cinematography Oscar---on the strength of Mudbound in 2018--brought her feature directorial debut, The Fire Inside (Amazon MGM Studios), to the festival on Sunday (10/27), and shared insights into the film during a conversation session immediately following the screening. This came a day after William Goldenberg, an Oscar-winning editor for Argo in 2013, had his initial foray into feature directing, Unstoppable (Amazon MGM Studios), showcased at the AFI proceedings. He too spoke after the screening during a panel discussion. The Fire Inside--which made its world premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival--tells the story of Claressa “T-Rex” Shields (portrayed by Ryan Destiny), a Black boxer from Flint, Mich., who trained to become the first woman in U.S. history to win an Olympic Gold Medal in the sport. She achieved this feat--with the help of coach Jason Crutchfield (Brian Tyree Henry)--only to find that her victory at the Summer Games came with relatively little fanfare and no endorsement deals. So much for the hope that the historic accomplishment would be a ticket out of socioeconomic purgatory for Shields and her family. It seemed like yet another setback in a cycle of adversity throughout Shields’ life but she persevered, going on to win her second Gold Medal at the next Olympics and becoming a champion for gender equality and equitable pay for women in sports. Shields has served as a source of inspiration for woman athletes worldwide--as well as to the community of... Read More