Honorees from the Music Video pool are below, with provided commentary from the Jury, which consisted of Michelle An, Executive VP and Head of Visual Content, Interscope Records; Luiza Baffa, AKQA Sao Paulo; and Owen Brown, director and creative director, CTRL5.
“We were particularly moved by this story of an Asian father’s journey to action when faced with racist hecklers in front of his family. The video creates a brilliant stop Asian hate narrative that accomplishes the near impossible feat of evoking not just tears, but laughter – all in just a few minutes. It’s a rare music video imbued with the power to make viewers smile and weep while learning about racism in America.”
Special Jury Award: Residente - 'This is Not America ft. Ibeyi'
Director: Grégory Ohrel
“Our special jury winner is a striking, visceral and timely representation of the struggles people face in Latin America today. It’s a piece worthy of attention from US audiences, as well as Latin. We also felt it incorporates some of the most symbolically rich – and creative – shots we’ve seen recently in music videos.”
Audience Award Winner: Drew Ashby - 'HER'
Directors: Chris Scholar, Bevin Brown, Producer: Bevin Brown
Meghan Trainor interpolates Mr. Sandman with a tough message from a Mother in this retro song with a suitably old Hollywood musical video, complete with a cameo from pop culture's most famous mom, Kris Jenner.
A deceptively simple b/w stage performance video gets more complicated as it progresses, but the focus remains once again on a supremely confident and in-control Miley Cyrus.
