THE NEW DIRECTORS' SHOWCASE 2013 BY SAATCHI & SAATCHI
An evolutionary biologist meets web-themed psychedelia. This year's New Directors' Showcase at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity celebrated the internet meme.
Doors opened early for entry into Saatchi & Saatchi's New Directors' Showcase. The queue to get into the Grand Audi at Cannes Lions was winding back on itself, and it is no surprise as the reel of carefully-selected new directing talent has become a highlight of the annual festival.
This year’s theme "Just for Hits" was a visual and oral psychedelic extravaganza featuring the world-renowned British evolutionary biologist, Professor Richard Dawkins.
Saatchi & Saatchi described it as a show that connects the world of science and academia, with the world of film and the Internet".
Dawkins introduced the show with a scientific reading on evolution, genetics and memetics, describing how his word "meme" has been hijacked by the internet.
And indeed the hijacking continued, this time of his speech. Owls shooting lasers out of their eyes at a projection of Dawkins' head before his brain coming out featured in the psychedelic animation (as well as an auto-tuned sample of his voice on a track) which was an ode to the power of the internet and its influence on popular culture.
Professor Dawkins, who came up with the word "meme" in his million-copy bestseller The Selfish Gene, then reappeared on stage playing the EWI, and electric clarenit.
"Just for Hits aims to illustrate Professor Dawkins’ theory of memes and sets out to present the internet as an "incubator of creativity", which affects the way we create and share ideas.
"It is a thought-provoking and witty scene that addresses the question ‘why do people partake in memes?’ - Just For Hits."
Banner image courtesy of @hewhosayshmm
Childline "It Follows Me Around" by NSPCC In-house. Directed by Ben Liam Jones and Andy Hunter
Han Kjobenhavn directed by Casper Balslev
