Craft Takes the Floor: Our Insights from CICLOPE Festival 2026
Each year, CICLOPE Festival 2026 brings together some of the industry’s most creative minds to celebrate excellence in craft, production and innovation. This year’s edition in Berlin continued the tradition while also highlighting how the definition of craft is evolving. As new technologies, formats and creative approaches reshape the industry, the conversation is no longer just about execution, but about the relationship between craft, ideas and innovation.
Our VP Create, Hélène Daubert, attended the event and came back full of insights after reflecting on the themes shaping the future of creativity. So we sat down to uncover her key takeaways from Berlin.
Craft is expanding its territory
One of Hélène’s strongest observations from this year’s festival was that craft is no longer being viewed as a standalone discipline. While CICLOPE remains a benchmark for creative excellence in execution, the industry’s focus is broadening to encompass three interconnected territories: craft, ideas and innovation.
For Hélène, the most compelling work succeeded because these elements worked together. Craft provided the mastery and expertise to bring ideas to life. Strong concepts delivered meaning and impact. Innovation introduced new tools, formats and possibilities. The result is a new creative language where execution is no longer simply supporting an idea but helping ideas emerge in entirely new ways.
CICLOPE has always been about celebrating craft. In an industry increasingly focused on speed and scale, why do you think craftsmanship still matters?
Craft still matters because it surprises us. What’s the point of an image that triggers no reaction, evokes no emotion and leaves no trace? Craft is what elevates an idea beyond the obvious. It’s not just about how beautifully something is made, but about finding the unexpected detail, gesture or execution that makes it impossible to forget. Great craft doesn’t just serve an idea – it makes the idea matter.
“Great craft doesn’t just serve an idea. It makes the idea matter.”
Was there a particular piece of work, talk or conversation that challenged your own perspective on creativity or the creative process? What made it stand out?
Michel Gondry’s talk really stood out to me. I loved the way he talked about creation through execution, with such simplicity, humour and an almost metaphysical dimension. He makes something incredibly complex feel simple, reminding us that creativity is ultimately a unique way of thinking and making.
“Accident as method. Constraint as engine. Experimentation as reflex.”
The festival’s shortlisted and awarded projects always come from a diverse range of markets. What did you notice about how different cultures are approaching creativity? Are there any lessons global brands should take from that?
What struck me at CICLOPE 2026 was the diversity of cultural approaches: some favour emotion and storytelling, others humour, absurdity or visual virtuosity. But one common thread among the most spectacular films was format. These are films that go beyond two minutes, taking the time to build a world and push an idea into the unexpected. We’ve seen it with Le Petit Loup at Cannes, and again with Nike and Spike Jonze’s film for On.
Technology, from AI to VFX, is expanding the possibilities. For global brands, the challenge is to embrace local cultural identities and give ideas the time they need to unfold.
Six films. Six ways in.
Grand Prix: Craft at the service of the idea.
- Direction | COINBASE — Your Way Out
- Post-Production | NIKE – Rip The Script
- Sound & Music | ON – Shape Of Dreams
- Production | BBC – Trails Will Blaze
- Animation | FUCK CANCER – Beat Cancer Off
- Music Video | A$AP ROCKY – Helicopter
2 MIN+: The running time of the most spectacular films: time to build a world.
After attending this edition of CICLOPE, what’s one insight or creative principle you’ll be bringing back to your teams at POP?
We’re coming back from CICLOPE fired up by audacity, originality and the stories of directors and crews who turn even the most painful or chaotic experiences into singular work. That’s what I want to bring back from Berlin to Paris: curiosity and boldness, especially in an industry going through profound transformation.
The possibilities of execution are expanding, but we need singular visions and strong points of view more than ever. AI shouldn’t be a photocopier for existing references, but a tool to bring truly original visions to life.
“Production is a creative discipline. Casting. Light. Sound. Locations. Crews. Constraints don’t just frame the idea: they transform it.”
Festivals like Ciclope always tend to set a direction for the future of the industry. Where do you think this future is heading, and what role do you think POP plays in contributing to it?
The future is about innovation and originality — bringing a truly singular point of view to a brand, a subject or a cultural phenomenon. These new forms of storytelling should do more than capture our attention; they should make us think.
POP is part of this transformation, and our role is to help lead the way, at our own scale, by pushing creative boundaries and championing work that doesn’t just reflect the world but offers a new way of seeing it.
“The future doesn’t belong to those who produce the most images. It belongs to those who have something to say.”
Looking ahead
If there was a single message emerging from CICLOPE Festival 2026, it was that craft remains essential, but its role is changing. Today’s most exciting creative work happens when extraordinary execution, bold ideas and meaningful innovation come together.
For POP, that’s an encouraging reminder that production is more than a delivery function. It’s a creative force capable of shaping ideas, challenging conventions and creating work that audiences genuinely remember.
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