Cannes Lions announces winners

The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity has announced the following Lions in the second Awards Show of the week.

In the Entertainment Track: the Entertainment Lions, Entertainment Lions for Gaming, Entertainment Lions for Music and Entertainment Lions for Sport were honoured, and in Craft: the Design, Digital Craft, Film Craft, and Industry Craft Lions were awarded. The Cannes Lions Entertainment Person of the Year Award was presented to Entertainer, Entrepreneur and Founder & Chairman of Hartbeat, Kevin Hart, live on stage.

Philip Thomas, Chairman, LIONS, comments, “It’s been an incredible start for the inaugural Entertainment Lions for Gaming. Lion-winners come from every corner of the globe, and the Festival congratulates Mexico and Japan for a monumental achievement that raises the creative bar on the global stage once again.”

In the new Entertainment Lions for Gaming, celebrating creative work that connects people to brands through gameplay, 609 entries were received and 26 Lions were awarded by the Jury: 3 Gold, 6 Silver, and 16 Bronze. The Grand Prix went to ‘Clash from The Past’, for Clash of Clans, by Wieden+Kennedy Portland, USA. The work rewrote the history of the most successful mobile game of all time, in a documentary celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Clash universe.

Entertainment Lions for Gaming Jury President, Francine Li, Global Head of Marketing, Riot Games, said, “Our inaugural Gaming for Entertainment jury wanted to recognise brave work that respects the nuances of gaming culture and creatively adds value to the player experience. The Grand Prix winner does this in spades. It taps into a universal truth in games: players don’t just love games, they love the whole universe around them.”

In the Design Lions, honouring visual craftsmanship, 985 entries were received and 34 Lions were awarded by the Jury: 5 Gold, 10 Silver, and 18 Bronze. The Grand Prix went to ‘ADLaM – an Alphabet to Preserve a Culture’ for Microsoft, by McCann New York, which made the ADLaM Display, an evolution of the West African Pulaar alphabet, available on Microsoft 365 suite, desktop, and mobile platforms; preserving an ancient culture.

The Film Craft Lions, celebrating onscreen artistry, received 1736 entries and 55 Lions were awarded: 8 Gold, 17 Silver, and 29 Bronze, and the Grand Prix was awarded to ‘We Cry Together – A Short Film’, for pgLANG, Los Angeles, USA, a compelling music video for Kendrick Lamar and Taylour Paige shot in one captivating take.

Film Craft Lions Jury President, Kim Gehrig, Director, Somesuch, comments, “The Grand Prix winner is a trailblazing piece that uses film craft in all its strengths to create a work that is seminal and genre defining. There are so many creative choices in the direction and execution of this film where craft is what fuels its evocative power. From the choice of the camera choreography, the lighting, the framing, the language, the drama and the truly extraordinary performances. All these craft decisions culminate to make the brave piece of work that effectively challenges us to question ourselves. I am personally inspired by this piece of work as were the entire Jury.”

From 618 entries received in the Digital Craft Lions, which celebrate technological artistry, 20 Lions were awarded by the Jury: 3 Gold, 7 Silver and 9 Bronze. The Grand Prix was presented to ‘Never Done Evolving Feat Serena’ for Nike, by AKQA, Sao Paulo / AKQA, Portland / AKQA, Melbourne. Through advanced AI and machine learning, this piece of work displays the evolution of Serena Williams’ game in a highly original format.

The Industry Craft Lions, celebrating the creative artistry, talent and skill required to bring a creative idea to life, received 965 entries and 28 Lions were awarded: 6 Gold, 8 Silver, and 13 Bronze Lions and the Grand Prix went to ‘My Japan Railway’, for JR GROUP, for the Japan Railway 150th Anniversary Campaign, by Dentsu Inc. Tokyo.

In the Entertainment Lions, 774 entries were received and 28 Lions awarded by the Jury: 5 Gold, 12 Silver and 10 Bronze. A second Grands Prix went to ‘Clash From The Past’, for Clash of Clans, by Wieden+Kennedy, Portland, USA.

From 437 entries received in the Entertainment Lions for Music, honouring creative musical collaborations and branded music content, 18 Lions were awarded: 3 Gold, 5 Silver and 8 Bronze. And two Grands Prix were awarded to ‘Beautiful Life’, for Michael Kiwanuka, by SMUGGLER, London /Michael Kiwanuka, Los Angeles. A second Grand Prix was awarded to Apple, Cupertino for their work ‘The Greatest’.

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 607 entries and 20 Lions were awarded by the Jury: 3 Gold, 7 Silver and 9 Bronze. The Grand Prix went to ‘Dreamcaster’, for Michelob ULTRA, by FCB New York. By inventing a new technology, the work empowers blind sports fans to feel a live game, rather than just hear the audio to transform the live sports experience.

Entertainment Lions for Sport Jury President, Rob Doubal, Co-President of McCann London and Joint Chief Creative Officer of McCann UK, McCann London, said, “This year’s winning Grand Prix leveraged emerging tech, strong partnership and had intrinsic inclusivity at its core to engage fans with one of the best and most innovative live broadcasts of the year. It showed strong impact on the brand and its approach, execution and provision of new technology is sure to provide a legacy for all those who come after.”

Cannes Lions takes place from 19-23 June 2023. Further information can be found at canneslions.com.