Canon will honour the craft of documentary storytelling during the festival’s Pro Week (31 August – 5 September 2026), held in Perpignan in the south of France, by awarding two independent project grants, bringing together industry experts to encourage meaningful discussions and providing recourses for the professional community at the Canon Lounge.

Canon to recognise outstanding contributions to photojournalism with two grants

For 26 years, Canon and Visa pour l’Image have awarded at times career-defining project grants to female photojournalists pursuing a long-term documentary project, alongside the opportunity to showcase their work on the acclaimed Visa pour l’Image stage.

This year, the international jury has awarded Finnish photojournalist and Canon Ambassador Meeri Koutaniemi, for her 14-year documentation of female genital mutilation (FGM) and the grassroots activists working to end the practice. Spanning 14 countries, the project explores both the impact of FGM and the efforts of survivors and communities driving change from within, culminating in a return to Kenya to examine how activism and education can transform future generations.

Canon and Visa pour l’Image are also presenting the seventh Canon Video Grant to German-Mexican filmmaker Axel Javier Sulzbacher for Antes de ser Niño – Before Being a Child. Set in Michoacán, Mexico, the film follows a youth militia where children receive military-style training amid cartel violence, exploring the tension between protection, militarisation, and childhood through long-term observational filmmaking.

“Photojournalism has the power to make visible the realities that too often remain unseen. For more than two decades, the Canon Female Photojournalist Grant has supported women whose dedication, courage and empathy bring these stories to light. Meeri Koutaniemi’s work exemplifies the profound role documentary storytellers play in bearing witness, amplifying underrepresented voices, and inspiring meaningful change.

Alongside photography, documentary filmmaking plays a vital role in helping us understand the world and the experiences of people whose stories might otherwise go untold. This year, the Canon Video Grant recognises the remarkable work of Axel Javier Sulzbacher, whose dedicated, long-term approach brings nuance and humanity to a complex and challenging subject,” says Ingrid Masachs, EMEA Marketing Director at Canon.

“We are proud to support photographers and videographers who devote years to telling stories that can shape understanding and help build a more informed and compassionate world.”

Canon to host a Photo Studio

As a special highlight this year, Canon will host a dedicated Photo Studio and offer visitors the opportunity to receive a professional headshot and live demonstration of Canon’s Authenticity Imaging System (https://apo-opa.co/4c8UlT2), which embeds secure, verifiable credentials into images in accordance with the C2PA standard.

Canon support at Visa pour l’Image

The Canon Lounge will showcase the strength of Canon’s complete professional imaging offering, bringing together industry-leading cameras, lenses, professional print technology and software solutions that help protect image authenticity, and the unrivalled expertise of Canon Professional Services (CPS).

Throughout the festival, accredited photographers can benefit from complimentary check-and-clean services, hands-on access to the latest equipment, one-to-one advice from Canon product specialists, and a fine art print of their work. As the only imaging brand offering this full suite of products, software and services support, Canon is uniquely positioned to help professional photographers create, protect, and share their work with confidence.

Available as @RadissonHotels in ChatGPT, the app enables travelers to search for Radisson Hotels properties across over 100 countries, and more than 1,000 hotels through natural conversation. Through starting a new ChatGPT conversation with @RadissonHotels at the start of the prompt, travelers can ask for advice to plan a family-friendly weekend stay in Amsterdam, or a hotel in Paris with a gym and spa near the Eiffel Tower. The app will respond with relevant Radisson Hotels properties with live inventory and rates, location context, amenities, hotel details, and interactive map-based results. When ready, travelers are directed to complete the reservation through the Radisson Hotels website.

The launch marks an important step in Radisson Hotel Group’s move toward agentic commerce (https://apo-opa.co/4w1xwbb): a shift from traditional, channel-based booking journeys to AI-led experiences where discovery, comparison, and decision-making happen through conversation. As travelers increasingly turn to AI to ask questions, narrow down options, and plan trips, hospitality brands need to be visible, accurate, and actionable at the moment of intent.

This shift is already underway. According to Accenture’s Consumer Pulse Research (https://apo-opa.co/4fqvOLv), 87% of travelers are open to collaborating with an AI-powered travel agent to find the best option, and 71% of travelers say that at least half of their spend for hotels or airlines will be influenced by AI over the next 12 months. Radisson Hotel Group is seeing the change firsthand, noting that organic and direct web traffic channels that have historically driven online bookings are giving way to new touchpoints like ChatGPT.

“AI is radically transforming how people search for and book hotel stays, and we are committed to being at the forefront of this shift,” said Gianni Di Fede, chief commercial officer, Radisson Hotel Group. “With Accenture, we are reimagining hotel discovery for the next generation of travelers—meeting guests in the planning moment with a branded experience that makes it easier to find, compare, and book Radisson Hotels properties.”

The collaboration began with Radisson Hotel Group using an MCP accelerator that is part of Accenture’s AI Merchant Center, an agentic readiness and intelligence platform. This helped structure, validate, and optimize how Radisson Hotels’ content, inventory, rate, and booking signals could be monitored for AI-led discovery. Accenture then worked with Radisson Hotel Group to design the app experience, shaping how travelers interact with it and how it works across devices. The app connects directly to Radisson Hotel Group’s existing systems, delivering real-time hotel information that helps travelers move from a broad idea to a relevant shortlist more quickly. Over time, the companies plan to expand this experience to include deeper personalization, loyalty recognition, in-chat booking, reservation management, trip modification, and AI concierge capabilities.

“Agentic commerce is fundamentally changing how people discover and choose brands. As journeys become more conversational and intent-driven, companies have to rethink how they show up — not just to be found, but to be chosen, and to deliver value in that moment,” said Ndidi Oteh, CEO of Accenture Song. “Radisson Hotel Group is taking a step in that direction, creating a more direct and meaningful way to connect with travelers when decisions are being made.”

The app is part of Radisson Hotel Group’s broader digital transformation and direct booking strategy. Accenture has supported the Group in modernizing its digital and data foundation (https://apo-opa.co/4pPQ78O), uniting its brands on a single global platform and enabling more personalized marketing across more than 1,000 hotels. With the Radisson Hotels app in ChatGPT extending that foundation into a new AI-native discovery channel, the Group will remain visible, relevant, and bookable as traveler behavior continues to evolve.

“With travel, planning is becoming easier for consumers, but more competitive for brands,” said Emily Weiss, senior managing director and global Travel lead, Accenture. “Travelers want to compare options quickly, narrow down choices and book with confidence, often in a single journey. That puts pressure on brands to show up with accurate, up-to-date, and easy-to-navigate information at every step. With Radisson Hotel Group, the focus was on making hotel content more accessible, so travelers can find what they need, explore options, and move to booking more seamlessly.”

This work builds on Accenture and ChatGPT’s parent company OpenAI’s broader partnership (https://apo-opa.co/4pOOVlZ) to help organizations use AI in more practical, decision-driven ways, unlocking new opportunities for growth, stronger customer connections, and more efficient operations. Accenture is an OpenAI Elite Partner and was recently named OpenAI’s AI Transformation Partner of the Year