While standing backstage once with Juan Senor, charming multilingual master of ceremonies at Cannes Lions every year, I commented to him that he has what can arguably be termed as the most recognisable voice in the industry that has brought the most amount of happiness to thousands of people, including me and my team. It is the voice that announces the big wins on award nights, the voice that announces a new future for the many that follow its prompt, the voice that has every bit of human story-making at the heart of it. Juan, if you’re reading this, you should float your voice out on AI so thousands of creatives can use it as a lullaby or something equally soothing on a daily basis.

There’s been a lot of comment on what Cannes Lions is really about. The work? The talks? The ever-sprawling tech giant booths? The awards? The rosé quips? Maybe a little bit about all of that, but overwhelmingly it’s about the stories that are found here. The romance of it all, the joy, the tragic disappointments, the connections between people. You can find an equal measure of greed and charity here, a fine balance between celebration and critique, a healthy mix of those with multiple wrist bands and those without. This is the same festival where a team will be disqualified for the human act of dishonesty, and a couple will be photographed on the red carpet in the middle of the night for the human act of making love.

In short, it’s mostly about the human stories that are made and told here.

Many years ago, one of my favourite Cannes Lions stories was told by Robert Redford on stage, who mentioned that while hitchhiking through south of France, he was dropped in Cannes and ended up spending the night under the Carlton pier on the beach. While freezing there, he could hear above him the sound of champagne glasses and rich people partying. Many years later, he had forgotten about this story, until he was back with his film in the Cannes festival and staying at the Carlton, and spotted the same pier below - he was now above the pier. Redford mentioned this saga to emphasiSe what the Sundance film festival was about: human storytelling.

This story strangely mirrored my own, without the night spent on the beach. That was a year when we had won nothing – not even a shortlist, only to come back and win multiple Golds, and eventually a Grand Prix. We celebrated at the Carlton, now finding ourselves above the pier.

For all the talk about technology and AI being a tool, the real value of Cannes Lions is found in all the humanity that surrounds it at a scale bigger than any tent on a beach has. Oprah Winfrey spoke to the audience this year with a profound proclamation: “My heart is my brand.” Susan Credle, while receiving her Lion of St Mark award, commented: “What did you make besides money?” Leandro Barreto, the global CMO of Unilever, asked “Who carries the fire?” They all touched upon the one question that every Cannes Lions festival brings with it: What human story will you find here?

The author is Ali Rez, regional chief creative officer, Impact BBDO Group of Companies. 

This article first appeared in the July issue of Manifest, alongside its in-depth coverage from the festival. To buy the print issue, click here.