Cannes Lions 2018: Goafest connection at global ad show

Early Man Films has three shortlisted entries in film craft for 'Story of Kaveri', which dwells on the issue of water scarcity

The Goafest, India’s Oscars of advertising, awarded in April its only Grand Prix to Early Man Films for the latter's work for Reforest India, a non-governmental organisation working towards reforestation. The ad film titled 'Story of Kaveri' had bagged three golds at the festival, helping the Mumbai-based production house win the all-important award.

Wednesday brought the spotlight back on the production house and its work as awards for film craft, digital craft, industry craft, entertainment and brand activation, among others, will be declared at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity. Early Man has three shortlisted entries in film craft for 'Story of Kaveri', which dwells on the issue of water scarcity.

"Indian agencies and production houses have traditionally been strong when it comes to the craft of advertising. Early Man's (shortlisted) work is technically brilliant and does have a strong chance of winning at Cannes," says K V Sridhar, founder and chief creative officer, HyperCollective. “It also communicates an important message,” he says.

A black and white film, ‘Story of Kaveri’ focuses on the state of the river Cauvery, which runs through Karnataka and Tamil Nadu and has been at the centre of a storm over water-sharing between the two states. Released online in February, the ad film skillfully keeps the frame on the issue of drought and how the lack of trees can lead to a dry river.

Some other contenders for metals, industry parlance for awards, include work for Mercedes Benz by Creativeland Asia. The agency has four shortlisted entries, two each titled ‘Madhubani’ and ‘Pattachitra’, for the auto brand in industry craft, a new category introduced at the Cannes Lions this year.

Work that makes the cut in industry craft, say experts, are judged for their level of expertise in areas such as typography, illustration, art direction, copywriting and photography. And Creativeland Asia’s ads could tip the scales for India, they say.

Early Man and Creativeland Asia together have seven entries of the 18 shortlisted pieces of work that will be in the race for metals on Wednesday, improving India’s prospects mid-way through the festival. So far, India has one gold, two silver and four bronze metals.

While India has a Grand Prix for Good in health care, the second time in a row it has bagged the trophy, there is still much work to be done if it wishes to return home with a respectable tally this year.

Last year, India had crossed the 20-metal mark half way into the Cannes Lions, which had put it in a strong position to take home its highest-ever tally of 40 Lions.

Consensus is now building that India may not be able to come close to its 2017 tally of metals this year. Instead, a more realistic assessment of the situation is that the Indian contingent may fly back with 15-20 metals in its kitty across a wider base of winning agencies. That trend is already beginning to show with agencies such as TBWA, McCann, Grey, DDB Mudra and Creativeland Asia bagging metals at this year’s edition.  On Tuesday, traditional advertising categories print and outdoor, areas where Indian agencies have extensive experience, delivered metals, with McCann, Creativeland Asia and Grey India walking home with three bronze Lions. In addition, Indian agencies have 16 new shortlists in categories such as product design, PR, direct marketing and media, results of which will be declared later.