British Arrows Awards returns to Walker for 38th year after creating cult following

NINA MOINI: Video advertisements put together by the British Arrow Awards will return to the Walker Art Center for a 38th year tomorrow evening through January 4th. Audiences in Minneapolis can see the most creative, star-studded, human and humorous advertisements in the UK put out this year. It's an unusual partnership with the Arrow Awards that's garnered a remarkable cult-like following here in Minnesota. Let's listen to one of the advertisements in the program. This is actress Olivia Colman-- love her-- in an ad for Make My Money Matter, a climate advocacy organization.

OLIVIA COLMAN: Hello, my name is Olivia Colman. And on behalf of the fossil fuel industries, I would like to say a huge thank you for all your support this bumper year. People like you have pumped billions of your hard-earned pounds into our gas and oil businesses. The cash from your pensions has helped us dig, drill, and destroy more of the planet than ever before.

We've even managed to build few little wind turbines to keep Greta and her chums happy. Cute. You see, every little drop from your precious nest egg adds up. So while the global temperature may go up a teensy weensy degree or two, our profits are literally soaring. And that's all thanks to you.

NINA MOINI: Interesting. Here with me now to explain this quirky holiday tradition is the director and curator of Moving Image at the Walker, Pablo de Ocampo. Thanks for being here, Pablo.

PABLO DE OCAMPO: Thanks so much for having me.

NINA MOINI: And we're also very lucky to be joined by Simon Cooper, all the way from England this week as chair of the British Arrow Awards. Simon, thank you for being here.

SIMON COOPER: Yeah, it's my pleasure. Thank you for having me on.

NINA MOINI: So just listening to that, I already can get a sense for how these commercials really stand out. And there's big names and these really artistic sort of advertisements from Robert De Niro to Salma Hayek, obviously, Olivia Colman there. But advertisements, like commercials, have a reputation, at least here in the States, as really being a nuisance. And we can even pay to avoid them sometimes with different streaming services. So tell me a little bit, if you don't mind, Pablo, I'll start with you, about why this is so special and why people come to see these special screenings.

PABLO DE OCAMPO: Yeah, I mean, it's a holiday tradition at the Walker that in some ways nobody quite knows how it developed into what it is. It started, as you say, 38 years ago. A Walker curator was at MoMA and saw this program in the MoMA film program and just had an idea like, I think that that would really work back in the Twin Cities. This is in the mid 1980s. Brought it back here. And fast forward almost four decades, it just snowballed over the years to become this thing that lasts all of December, has dozens of screenings throughout the month and brings in tens of thousands of people.

I think one of it-- and Simon can speak a little bit more to this-- is just advertising in the UK is a little bit different, and it takes different tones. Some of it's about British humor being different. Some of it's about the way that broadcasting is different in a different country, where the BBC as a national broadcaster is a little bit more robust. No offense to NPR as a state broadcaster--

NINA MOINI: None taken. That's OK.

PABLO DE OCAMPO: --but it's a different context. And so I think commercials function differently when you have a broadcasting system that's quite a bit different than what it looks like in the United States. And that's, I think, what breeds the other side of things that aren't necessarily British humor, but brings out these really kind of important public service announcements or commentary on social issues that are circulating amongst the program in the Arrows.

NINA MOINI: Yeah, Simon, that was almost like satirical or a sarcastic one that we heard from Olivia Colman. What do you think about what Pablo is talking about?

SIMON COOPER: I mean, I'm sort of as confounded by the sort of fascination with the British advertising here in Minneapolis as Pablo was unable to explain it. I mean, it's wonderful. I think there is-- we have a strong tradition in Britain of very narrative-based, story-based advertising that sort of works hard to give the audience a bit of respect and sort of treats them as a sophisticated viewing audience.

But we're really no different over there in terms of people try and avoid the advertising, if I'm honest. And we just work very hard to try and keep people's attention because there's an amazing work there that people will see in the show that is beautifully written, beautifully performed, amazing sort of production values. And as you say, the Olivia Colman piece there was a superbly written piece of work for a very serious subject that is much more likely to get inside people's heads than if they're just being hit over the head with some really ugly facts about fossil fuels.

So I think it's just sort of it's the way in really is by trying to surprise people and get people's attention that way.

NINA MOINI: And, Simon, you've worked, I understand, in the British advertisement industry for about 40 years. So you really know what you're talking about. How do you choose which ads go into the Arrow Awards program?

SIMON COOPER: Well, that's a jury. I mean, it's a traditional awards process. People enter. We have a different sets of juries that are judging different bits of craft and an Arrows jury that are judging the work on the basis of the advertising idea and the overall kind of success as a thing in advertising. And those are juries picked from people of stature in the industry and people of taste.

And the shortlists are created like that. And there's a lot of debate and discussion because no one agrees on these things. That's the beauty of good advertising is it has to be sort of surprising. And it can't be to everyone's taste because anything that's trying to cater to everyone is by definition going to be bland and middle of the road. So there's a lot of debate over what wins what.

And we only give out one gold award in each category. So they're hard to get. And this is the cream of the cream. We make a lot of crap as well.

NINA MOINI: Well, I think you want to make people feel something. It's about emotion and getting inside people's heads and hearts. Pablo, what do you hear from viewers who come maybe year after year or first-time people checking it out? What do they like about it? And what could someone expect if they wanted to come for the first time?

PABLO DE OCAMPO: Yeah, the oblivion coal mine is such a great, perfect example. Like, I feel like it's an ad that encapsulates all of what the Arrows is. And I think what we always foreground is that there's a little bit of something in it for everyone, and it is a bit of a roller coaster ride. You will watch ads that will have you in tears. You will watch ads that will have you rolling on the floor laughing.

And some of those tears are tears of like big, heavy ideas that are sort of being broached around suicide prevention or cancer treatment. And some of them are just emotionally manipulative ads. There was one a couple of years ago for Renault that I just like sobbed every time I watched it, and it was just like selling me a car.

And I think that that in a way is what people like. So it's a program that we run over the holidays. It's kind of like the Walker's version of The Nutcracker in a sense. But unlike The Nutcracker, it changes every year, even though it follows a bit of a formula. And there is something in it for everyone.

I've talked to longtime patrons who've been coming the entire time. And one of the things that they always comment about is they can bring the whole family because everyone's going to walk away liking something. It's like dad likes the ones that are really like funny. And his kid likes the ones that are really emotional. And his brother likes the ones that are like speaking to environmental issues or special social issue topics. So I think that cornucopia of different experiences is what really keeps bringing people back.

NINA MOINI: Yeah. And, Simon, I understand that you come here to be a part of this and to watch it. What is your sense for the Minnesota audience? Like, what are you thinking when you're watching this cult following?

SIMON COOPER: I mean, like I said, it's just absolutely fascinating to me. I'm so kind of appreciative of it. I mean, I love it. It's kind of my favorite event of the year, I've got to be honest. And it's immensely gratifying for us as a production community to see the appreciation. And it's lovely watching people watch the ads.

And as Pablo said, there's such a range of different things to feel in there. And they're straight after one after the other. And you can see people's reactions going from, as Pablo said, laughing and to crying to being shocked. And it's a real exciting mixed bag of stuff to watch. It's really good.

NINA MOINI: I'm so glad that both of you came on. I had never heard about this, and now, I'm eager to check it out, honestly.

SIMON COOPER: You have to come, obviously.

NINA MOINI: Yeah, Pablo and Simon, thank you very much. Best of luck with all the nights that you're doing the show.

PABLO DE OCAMPO: Thanks so much for having us.

SIMON COOPER: Thank you.

NINA MOINI: Thank you. Take care. That was Pablo de Ocampo, director and curator of Moving Images at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, and Simon Cooper, the chair of the British Arrow Awards. Again, the opening night of the British Arrow Awards screening at the Walker is tomorrow, Friday night. It's sold out, but there are dozens of more screenings of the program through January 4th. Check it out.

You can find anything you missed at mprnews.org. That's it for Minnesota Now this week. Want to give a quick thank you to our producers-- Ellen Finn, Alanna Elder, Aleesa Kuznetsov, and Alex Simpson, our sound tech today. Have a great weekend, everybody.

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