Cannes Lions ended on a high note, with the surprise appearance of President Macron addressing Cannes Lions via video to accept Cannes Lions Creative Country of the Year this year award on behalf of France.
All I can say is thank Christ they didn’t give the award to America. Cannes week can be a challenge at the best of times. A victory lap from Donald Trump would have turned it into the seventh circle of hell.
In his speech, President Macron summed up the country’s cultural and creative ‘je ne said quoi’ thus: “French creativity is our ability to combine formal, regal, and poetic, even irreverent, perspective.”
Macron highlighted the financial impact of the country’s “creative attractiveness”, saying “from Cannes to Dunkirk, France attracts industries and capital.”
It’s good to see the vast economic contribution of the creative sector highlighted, especially at a time when it under appreciated globally. In the UK it is still one of the great unsung heroes of the economy, contributing an estimated £145 billion in GVA and accounting for 5.5% of the UK economy’s total output.
France, which is behind cultural juggernauts, from Canal+ “The Bear” to Evian “Babies”, has won 1603 Lions and 40 Grand Prix in the festival’s history (AXA France’s Creative Effectiveness Grand Prix this year for “Three Words” among them), and regularly ranks among the top five most awarded countries.
In a press interview this week, Jean-Francois Sacco, co-founder and creative director of Rosa Paris, defined ‘the French touch’ as “characterised by a finesse, a charm, an elegance that appeals internationally.”
On a personal note, few countries have inspired me more than the birthplace of Nouvelle Vague and Galoise. My ambition for Cannes week has always been to skip around the place channelling Jane Birkin or Jean Seberg, and being the epitome of a cool, disaffected French girl. Sadly, the reality is more Marcel Proust, splitting my time between having an existential crisis and writing in bed.
Jane Austin is the founder and owner of Persuasion Communications.
