A Johnson & Johnson-commissioned documentary about heroic nurses in the early days of AIDS has won the Entertainment Lions Grand Prix at Cannes.

“5B” is the story of a group of nurses at San Francisco General Hospital in the 1980s who established a ward to care for AIDS patients. Made by UM Studios New York, Highway 61 Films and production company Saville, it’s based on resurfaced records of people who were nursed in one ward, 5B, at the dawn of the AIDS epidemic before much was known about the disease, and connects J&J’s brand focus on “care” and “touch” with how nurses cared for the patients.

Jury president Scott Donaton, global chief creative and content officer at Digitas, described the 94-minute film, which opened June 14 across selected U.S. movie theaters, as “a brave idea, beautifully told and brilliantly executed. It gives you chills and it wouldn’t have been told without the bravery and commitment of the brand in telling the story.”

“It won because we need more stories in the world like this,” he added. “For brands going forward in entertainment, having values and expressing values is going to be the best way to connect with people.”

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