The future of filmmaking through the eyes of emerging director talent

One of the most inspiring events that I had the pleasure to attend in Cannes was the Saatchi & Saatchi’s New Directors’ Showcase. It is one of the festival’s most sought after events and the presentation this year confirms why this is the case. The variety of formats was large: movie trailers, movie title sequences, ads, music videos, short films, animated shorts, etc. You were exposed to some of the most talented filmmakers and as such got a glimpse into the styles and themes of filmmaking that we will see more of in the coming year.

A few trends were notable. First, there is an absolute hunger to slow things down and appreciate the details. This doesn’t surprise me in the slightest given that the downside to technology and globalization is that everything is moving at lightening speed and we don’t appreciate what is right in front of our eyes. Second, emotion-based storytelling is the name of the game. By really leaning into the details these filmmakers were able to reach deep into a core human emotion and bring it to life with huge power. This allows the viewer to really be immersed in the story. Third, craft is being celebrated more than ever. This is a theme that I noticed throughout the work at Cannes this year. Creators are really working hard to showcase their craft so that execution matches and amplifies great ideas.

One of the biggest surprises was the opening light show. It was like being at a Pink Floyd concert. The mixture of light, music, and voice made it such a demonstration in excellence in how to use lighting to draw in an audience. Apparently it was created by a number of artists led by Jonathan Santana and Xander Smith of Saatchi London with the production by Juliette Larthe. Some photos are below followed by the individual videos. If you want to see the whole show in one sitting look at it in this link – http://www.canneslions.com/saatchinewdirectors/