Bear Meets Eagle On Fire wins Film Craft Grand Prix

BEAR MEETS Eagle On Fire, from Australia, has taken the prestigious Film Craft Grand Prix at Cannes Lions 2025. The Sydney-based company won for ‘Better On A Better Network’, a humorous series of campaign films on behalf of client Telstra.

It also travels home from Cannes with a Gold Lion for the same campaign, and a share of a Gold Lion for ‘Donkey’. The latter was also for Telstra and was en- tered by Bear Meets Eagle On Fire, Revolver Sydney and +61 Sydney. Revolver and +61 also participated in the Grand Prix winner, but are not cited as the entrants. ‘Better On A Better Network’ was designed to showcase Telstra’s status as the larg- est and most reliable telco in Australia.

Jury President Ali Ali

The highly-nuanced campaign consists of 26 stop-motion films, rooted in specific locations around Australia and the distinctive characters who live there. Echoing historic campaigns like ‘Creature Comforts’, each film stars animated characters that live in different remote parts of Australia. All of them are voiced by locals and extol the virtues of belonging to a “better network”.

Film Craft Jury President Ali Ali, co-founder and film director, Good People Films, Egypt said: “Great work creeps up on you during the jury process. By the final day of judging, there’s usually no question about the likely Grand Prix winner.”

Ali said the jury loved the Telstra campaign’s “measured humour. The writing is carefully considered and there is real love in the craft. The authentic voices and animal characters are a breath of fresh air. The campaign is fun, simple and deeply human.”