Cannes 2012: Bacardi gets first nomination for India in Brand Content; Google's Tanjore & I am Mumbai get nominated in Film Craft

I am Mumbai film for Mumbai Mirror has also been nominated in the Film Lions category.

It's always special to win or even be shortlisted in a new category at Cannes. It's tough because there is no precedence of what kind of work can make it to the winners list. If you make it to the list, it says you have been working on the same thoughts as the rest of the world.

In the Brand Content and Entertainment category, which has been introduced for the first time at the International Festival of Creativity, Cannes, India has got one among the 53 shortlisted entries from across the world.

A piece of work on Bacardi India's Dewar's Scotch, entered by Babble Fish Production, has been shortlisted in the category - 'Best non-fiction programme, series or film where a client has successfully created a reality'.

The Dewarists - a blended scotch brand from Bacardi - got different genres of musicians to team up and create a new song. This was backed by a 10-part television series on STAR World, which featured the life stories of the musicians as well.

Besides, India has got two more nominations in Film Craft - one of the prestigious categories at Cannes. The two nominated entries are well deserved creations - BBH - Tanjore Painting Film for Google Chrome. The film is a part of Google's global campaign, 'The web is what you make of it'.

The Google Chrome film narrates the real life story of Tamil Nadu-based artist G Rajendran. It shows the story of the South India-based artist, who specialises in the dying art of Tanjore painting. This particular art dates back to about 1600 AD and is known for its use of vivid colours and compact composition. The themes of most of these paintings are Hindu gods and goddesses, as well as saints.

The TVC shows how the artist sets up an online shop for his painting, and with the help of Google Adwords, is able to find buyers, reviving an art form which was gradually losing its place in the world.

The other film is Mumbai Mirror's 'I am Mumbai' film by Taproot India. In fact, the film has also been nominated in the Film Lions category.

The specialty of the film is that it was shot in the streets of Mumbai, with a cast which had never faced the camera before. Even the cast did not know about the placement of camera. The crowd around the cast comprised normal people who were caught unawares, so their expressions were real, too. What's interesting is that the cast was only made to attend a two-day workshop to discuss certain problems in order to bring out the angst on camera.

The thought behind the campaign is that in a city where the ordinary man can feel rather helpless and is at the receiving end of an insensitive system, the paper empowers the reader and gives him/her a voice. Besides, The Times of India�s campaign, A day in the life of India, has been nominated in the prestigious Titanium & Integrated.