As you’ll have no doubt been made aware by our elite social media team - we got to attend the Cannes Corporate Media & TV Awards a couple of weeks back, where we were awarded the prestigious White Dolphin. Somewhat embarrassingly, because of a busy few days ahead of the event we hadn’t actually had a chance to watch many of the films nominated alongside our own, something we’ve been busy remedying back at Nowadays HQ.

And since we’ve been so impressed with the overall standard of work (and let’s be honest, that’s not always the case in the corporate film world), we thought we’d pull out a few highlights we thought deserve an additional round of virtual applause.

Twisted Paradise | Stereoscreen GmbH for Schaeffler Technologies AG

Anyone who has tried surfing for an hour knows how knackering paddling out and getting on a board can be, even in the piddliest of piddly waves. That’s what makes this epic film about big wave surfer Sebastian Steudtner so bloody impressive. This is how you do branded content right - make fascinating or impressive subject matter the hero and don’t overtly impose the product or slather on heavy handed messaging.

History of Tech | Plastic Pictures for HSBC

Absolutely bustling with personality with hardly a human in sight. Have we seen this sort of highly stylised, Wes Anderson inspired nostalgia-thon, two or three hundred times already? Sure. But when it’s done this well, with such well curated art direction, witty visual storytelling and deft sound design, it still makes for a very entertaining three and a bit minutes of corporate film. No surprise it took home Gold in the inspiringly titled Informational Films and Explanatory Videos category.

Shaping the Future of Teaching Together | Seed Audio-Visual Communication AG for University of Zurich

This picked up Silver for Best Internal Communication and though understated compared to a lot of the mega productions, we think this is a really effective film. What’s impressive is that what begins as a slightly underwhelming visual device - person + chair + white-out studio - manages to keep evolving and finding new ways to get key points across in entertaining fashion.

Don't be sad | STUIQ AG for Swiss Youth Hostels

Somehow, even though you know very early on where this advert is going, it doesn’t stop being an enjoyable watch. Partly this is down to some great casting, but there’s a lot of filmmaking craft at play too. The key here is simplicity - find that one thing you want to say, stick to your guns and don’t get distracted, and have fun with it.

Floating Hospital | Orca & Aura Films

This film competed with us (and won Silver) in the Fundraising & Non-Profit category and it’s an absolute stunner - one of our favourites from the show. From the first few seconds to the last, the atmosphere created by the cinematography is so beautifully balanced - contrasting almost surreal levels of isolation with moments of palpable human connection.

That’s probably more than enough for you to be getting on with. But believe us, this is very much the tip of the iceberg. If you do want to go browsing through all of the other brilliant film entries, you can do that on the Cannes Corporate Media & TV website.