The world was a different place in 1991. But aside from the breakup of the Soviet Union, the end of Apartheid in South Africa, the assassination of Gandhi and Operation Desert Storm, 1991 also marked the inaugural Saatchi & Saatchi New Directors’ Showcase at the Cannes Lions Festival and a golden age for filmmaking. In its opening year, the NDS was curated by the late, legendary Saatchi & Saatchi ECD Paul Arden, and featured the likes of Daniel Kleinman, Jake Scott, David Cronenberg and Tarsem.
The New Directors' Showcase is ready to celebrate its silver anniversary as one of Cannes Lions’ most anticipated events
25 years later and the NDS is ready to celebrate its silver anniversary as one of Cannes Lions’ most anticipated events. In addition to its showcase of new directorial talent, the event has become equally renowned for its innovative pre-show spectacles. Previous years have seen such sights as flying robots, Professor Richard Dawkins morphing into a meme, Tony Kaye emerging from a coffin, and David la Chappelle choreographing a team of street dancers. Most recently, they turned the audience into lab rats by fitting them with wearable tech that measured emotional reactions to the films as they played.
This year however, the NDS team at Saatchi & Saatchi has decided to steer clear of spectacle, putting the emphasis firmly on the talents of the directors. 25 directors from the NDS alumni have been invited to participate in an experiment in film, which will be premiered in Cannes prior to the 2015 reel. In the MTV era of the ‘90s, NDS showreels were heavy on commercials and pop promos, as the pre-YouTube generation hotly anticipated new music videos and ads for youth brands such as Levi’s and Nike. More recent showcases have seen a ramp up in animation, VFX, CGI, computer game promos and Internet famous directors.
Saatchi & Saatchi are ramping up the excitement for the “25 x 25” film with a daily reveal and celebration of a director that’s set to be involved this year
Andy Gulliman, Curator of the NDS and Saatchi & Saatchi’s Worldwide Director of Film and Content, said: "For the past decade I’ve been part of the team of Saatchi & Saatchi’s creative leaders. This group selects the annual NDS Showreel, and I have curated the Showreel for the past two years. Reflecting upon the wealth of directing talent in an archive that goes back to 1991, it’s an amazing visual library with contributions from directors such as Spike Jonze, Michel Gondry, Dawn Shadforth, Jake Scott, Daniel Wolfe and Ivan Zacharias, who now are firmly enlisted in the directing hall of fame. Their directorial styles were an influence then, and continue to be an influence now. With the NDS 25 year anniversary, we would like to celebrate the rich archive and say a big thank you to all the directors who helped to make the event a must on the Cannes Lions calendar.”
The Saatchi & Saatchi New Directors’ Showcase will take place at 10am on Thursday June 25 at le Palais des Festivals in Cannes during Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. In the meantime, be sure to check out the Saatchi & Saatchi website as they ramp up the excitement for the “25 x 25” film with a daily reveal and celebration of a director that’s set to be involved this year every day on the Saatchi website in a unique, advent calendar-style countdown.
The Saatchi & Saatchi New Director's Showcase 2014 REEL
