Film Craft: Cannes 2023 Decoded

PGLang Los Angeles, the American entertainment company founded by Kendrick Lamar and Dave Free in 2020, picked up the Grand Prix in this year's Film Craft category.

'We Cry Together' is a song by Lamar and American actress Taylour Paige, taken from the former's fifth studio album, Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers, released in May 2022.

For the eighth track on the album, Lamar wrote the song alongside the Alchemist, Bekon, and J.Lbs. Florence Welch and Gary Peacock received additional songwriting credits.

The UK's only Gold went to 'Cash In Cash Out', a hip-hop video for Pharrell Williams featuring 21 Savage, and Tyler, the Creator, and created by the UK's Electric Theatre Collective and I Am Other Beverly Hills. 'Cash In Cash Out' was released as a single through Columbia Records in June 2022. Williams first teased the song on his TikTok account. The music features a zoetrope-inspired CG animation style.

Abbott Mead Vickers' 'Periodsomnia' spot for Libresse continued to impress the judges and picked up four Silver Lions. The brand coined the term ‘periodsomnia’ to put a name to the experience that millions of women go through at night with their periods.

Many believe they’re alone in this, so the hope is that by tackling the invisibility of the issue with beauty and empathy, the work will provide comfort and community.

Havas London also won Silver for 'Me, My Autism and I' for Reckitt Vanish and Ambitious About Autism. It aims to nurture a conversation to broaden public understanding of autism – particularly in girls, who are three times less likely to receive a diagnosis than boys.

The spot also picked up a Bronze Lion.

Ogilvy UK with Ogilvy Toronto also won a Silver Lion and a Bronze for 'The Cost of Beauty' for Unilever's Dove brand. The three minute film is the emotionally affecting story of a little girl whose mental health is impacted by social media and the images, trends and so-called advice she finds within it.

The UK independent agency Neverland won Silver for 'Rocky' for Ladbrokes. The spot celebrates one of cinema’s most iconic moments – Rocky’s running scene in 1979’s Rocky II. It uses large-scale digital replacement of the original crowd following Rocky using modern actors and athletes.

The final UK Silver went to Electric Theatre Collective alongside TBWA\MEDIA ARTS LAB, Los Angeles, for 'Apple - Quiet the Noise' for Apple. It highlights the advanced noise cancellation capabilities of AirPods Pro by capturing a woman’s journey through the city as she encounters increasingly loud noises, such as construction work, and traffic.

BBH London won a Bronze for 'Ode to Dads' for Prostate Cancer Charity. The spot is a candid video and photography show of real fathers getting up to typical dad behaviour; bad jokes, dad dancing, inept DIY and obsessive vinyl ordering.

In total, the UK won 14 of the 55 Lions awarded.