BOUHA KAZMI has directed ‘Satisfaction’ from Zayn’s sophomore album Icarus Falls.
Touching upon elements of spirituality that we feel and don’t voice, the richly cinematic narrative expresses the mercurial beauty of a relationship set against the backdrop of an ongoing war. Underscored by Zayn’s lyrics about struggle and finding fulfilment, Kazmi depicts a metaphysical journey depicting love, loss and rebirth. The film takes a surrealist turn at the end as it captures the transcendental power of love, whilst bringing home the tragedy of war.
It was evident from the start that this video needed to be shot out in Brazil. The track itself features a big Brazilian star Ludmilla, female US Rapper Bia and of course Maejor whose song it is. Maejor has a strong personal connection with the country following the huge success of “Vai Malandra” (310 million views and counting) and Rio seemed like the perfect place to shoot his next video.
I love the track because it manages to be both intensely personal and honest but still uplifting and celebratory. It feels contemporary, unique to Ray but also kind of classic.
Informed by a line in the chorus - ‘My dons going straight to the topfloor', the video for Jelani Blackman’s ‘Lockjaw’ sees camera moving up a staircase at an undisclosed location, constantly finding Jelani on each flight in a fake one-shot. It’s a technique based concept presented in a very rugged manner. Camera moves hand-held at all times and without a clear sense of horizon at moments, creating a somewhat disorientating and claustrophobic feel as we keep moving up but never really go anywhere. - Joao
‘Everybody Loves You’ follows Soak as she navigates through a world of temptation. A world of caterpillars in baggies around necks of pink tracksuits worn by cultish cliques, before eventually succumbing and accepting the chaos and love into her life.
Shot in rural Portugal in the Leiria District over a manic 48 hours door to door from my flat in Brixton. Whilst the employing a Cinema Verite approach (been waiting 10 years to use that term) and captures the locals and environment as organically as possible, we set out to collide this with a conventional pop performance element.
A fun game of "spot that reference" with homages to various music videos, including Britney Spears "...Baby One More Time," 'Nsync's "Bye Bye Bye" and Jay-Z's "99 Problems".
