IT has been a remarkable experience to be back in Cannes, this time serving as a member of the prestigious Film Jury at the 2026 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity 22-26 June. Having served every year since 2018 on the international jury of jury of both the Oscars and the Emmys, I arrived to the Lions with a reasonable understanding of what excellence in screen storytelling looks like. Yet the Cannes Lions experience offered something uniquely valuable: a front-row seat to how global brands, filmmakers, technologists, and storytellers are collectively redefining the future of narrative.
The Cannes Lions remains one of the most significant gatherings of creative minds anywhere in the world. It is a place where ideas are tested, assumptions challenged, and where the global creative community comes together to examine how stories continue to shape culture and influence human behaviour. Being invited to serve on the Film Jury, one of the festival’s most respected and competitive judging panels, was both an honour and a privilege.
I certainly must commend the jury experience. The deliberations were thoughtful, rigorous, and deeply respectful of the craft. There were robust debates, differing perspectives, and passionate arguments, but throughout the process there was a collective commitment to fairness and excellence. The room honoured not only the work before us but also the responsibility entrusted to us as jurors. In an era where opinions can often become polarised, it was refreshing to witness meaningful disagreement conducted with professionalism, humility, and mutual respect.
Several themes emerged strongly from the body of work we evaluated. The first was a focus on the fundamentals of cinematic storytelling. Many of the most compelling entries embraced the full possibilities of the medium, demonstrating exceptional attention to character, context, and conflict. The strongest films understood that emotional connection cannot be manufactured through messaging alone. Instead, they earned audience engagement through authentic human stories. The craft was impressive, but what distinguished the best work was that every creative choice served a larger emotional truth.
The was the growing role of artificial intelligence as a creative partner was also evident. AI featured prominently in several high-profile campaigns, but what impressed me was not the technology itself. Rather, it was how effectively creative teams integrated it into the storytelling process. The most successful examples treated AI as a tool in service of an idea, not as the idea itself. That distinction is important, especially for Nollywood producers experimenting with AI. The future will undoubtedly bring more sophisticated technologies, but the work that resonates most deeply will continue to be driven by human insight, empathy, and imagination.
Perhaps the most significant observation for me was the shift from consumer insight to human truth. The films that stayed with us were not simply responding to what consumers buy; they were responding to what people believe, hope for, fear, and dream about. Beneath the marketing objectives were profound reflections on life, love, family, identity, belonging, community, and our shared search for meaning. Many challenged assumptions about culture and difference while encouraging audiences to see “the other” not as someone separate from us, but as an extension of our common humanity. There was also a recurring theme that became something of a running joke in the jury room. At times, we wondered whether the global creative community was collectively trying to send us a message about ageing. A remarkable number of films centred on caring for elderly parents and loved ones, particularly those living with Alzheimer’s disease and other memory-loss conditions. The trend was especially noticeable in several memorable entries from Asia. The humour, however, quickly gave way to reflection. These stories revealed how concerns about care, dignity, memory, and intergenerational responsibility are becoming universal. As populations age around the world, creatives appear increasingly interested in exploring what it means to preserve human connection when memory itself begins to fade.
Perhaps the most fulfilling part of my experience in international jury was the opportunity to once again encounter stories from a wide range of cultures and markets. Films from countries as diverse as United States, Norway, Sweden, Columbia, Kenya, Thailand, and China brought distinctive perspectives, local textures, and storytelling traditions into the global conversation. What was particularly striking was how these deeply rooted cultural narratives managed to resonate far beyond their places of origin. They offered fascinating insights into different societies while simultaneously reminding us of how much we share.
Indeed, we live in a beautifully multicultural world. The stories came from different countries, languages, histories, and traditions, yet they revealed remarkably similar aspirations. Across continents and cultures, people want to be seen, to belong, to live with dignity, and to experience peace, purpose, and love. For me, this is, and has always been, the enduring power of storytelling. Technology will continue to evolve. Platforms will change. Audience habits will shift. New creative tools will emerge. But the stories that truly matter will remain those rooted in timeless human truths. That, more than anything else, is the message I carry home from Cannes.
And it is a message that should encourage every filmmaker, creative entrepreneur, and storyteller across Nigeria and Africa. Our competitive advantage will never be technology or scale. It is our ability to tell deeply human stories that reflect who we are while connecting us to the wider world. The future of creativity may be increasingly powered by innovation, but it will always be guided by our humanity.
