“Assume that I can” wins the Golden Lion at the Cannes International Festival of Creativity. A very important recognition for CoorDownwho made the film, delivered on stage to its protagonist, Madison Tevlin, a young actress with Down syndrome welcomed by a standing ovation from the entire Palais.
CoorDown’s record-breaking campaign
Madison Tevlin
The international campaign, created in collaboration with the SMALL creative agency of New York and Indiana Production on the occasion of World Down Syndrome Day on March 21, 2024, received 7 awards, including a Golden Lion, four silver and two bronze. Thanks to the extraordinary creative idea, the realization and the social virality, given the numbers obtained for the 2024 edition, never achieved before: almost 150 million views on TikTok, Instagram, X, Linkedin, Youtube and Facebook.
This is also thanks to the contribution of thousands and thousands of people around the world, actively involved in participation, thus overcoming the boundaries of disability itself. Girls and teenagers, adults and girls were able to talk about their experiences through video stereotypes that they had to and were able to overcome in their daily lives, touching on every diversity and involving anyone who felt undervalued and limited by the low expectations imposed on them by society.
The awards at Cannes
- Social & influencer lions section: Golden Lion for the Co-creation & user generated content category, 1 Silver Lion for Social film, 1 Silver Lion for Not-for-profit / charity / government
- Health & wellness lions section: 2 Silver Lions for Fundraising & advocacy
- Film craft lions section: 2 Bronze Lions direction.
The group photo after the awards ceremony at the Cannes Festival of Creativity
“No prize, among those received over the years, is worth it standing ovation last night at the awarding of the Golden Lion – declares Martina Fuga, president of CoorDown –. An incredible emotion to see the creativity and advertising industry gathered in Cannes, paying homage to our campaign and in particular Madison Tevlin and her performance in ‘Assume That I Can’. It was important to have Madison on stage together with the creatives and the production company – she added – to remember the importance of self-representationbut also the value and impact of communication in people’s lives and how cultural change can be concretely achieved through courageous and effective communication campaigns”.
So far at the Cannes International Festival of Creativity CoorDown had collected a total of 23 lions, of which 9 were gold. The 7 Lions of 2024, 10 years after the Golden Lions won for the “Dear Future Mom”, give credit to the commitment and innovative path undertaken by CoorDown together with the creatives of SMALL New York over 12 years ago and which led to revolutionizing the language of social communication, to transform the story and the representation of people with Down syndrome and more generally of intellectual disabilities.
