Wonderful work by New York City-based animator Lily Fang (previously featured here). Created for HarvardX’s course on the Opioid Crisis in America, “Susan’s Brain” offers a clear illustration how addiction develops in our bodies.

Gorgeous cinematography by our friend Ben Loeb (previously featured here). Teaming up with director Erika Calmeyer, the video for The White Birch captures a series of candid moments between lovers, friends and strangers. In order to capture a realistic tone they operated with a crew of 4-7 people, directing the actors very minimally through conversation. While the project could be described as being about love or the struggle for human connection, as Loeb further shared with us, much of the meaning is intentionally ambiguous:

“We wanted the film to be something that could play just as well in a gallery as it could to a viewer online. We shot it as a short film that could screen in any physical space where the audience would sit through longer scenes that fairly objectively observed people together in intimate settings… The beauty of this format is that whoever is watching the piece will interpret the frame, the people and the setting differently.”

Director/Editor: Erika Calmeyer
Writer: Erika Calmeyer and Benjamin Loeb
Cinematographer: Benjamin Loeb FNF
Producer: Nina Maria Barbosa Blad, Barbosa Film AS
Production Designer: Hedda Virik
Costume: Hedda Virik
Gaffer: Henning Høifødt
1st AC: Oskar Dahlsbakken and Thomas Almenning
Color grade: Julian Alary

#TheCreatorClass has produced a profile on photographer Zahra Saleki, and her project “This Storm is You” which explores her immigration story through dance.

#TheCreatorClass is a​ multi-platform channel dedicated to creator culture, powered by #canoncreatorlab, bringing together the stories, projects and insights from a global community of photographers, filmmakers and cultural leaders on YouTube​, ​Instagram​, ​Facebook,​ ​Twitter, and on their website.

Director Brook Linder’s double music video for Wolf Parade’s tracks “King of Piss and Paper” and “Artificial Life” off their new album Cry Cry Cry.

Directed by Brook Linder
Producer: Locke + Stache
Executive Producer: Evan Cohen
Director of Photography: Josh Pfaff
Editor: Ethan Marcus
Colorist: Andrew Sales
VFX: Hillary Huong Vu + Keith Kennedy
Additional Photography:
Frank Mobilio
Anthony Isaac
Ben Chappell

Cast:
Kaylinn Clotfelter
Bobby Hearn
Jeff Houghton
Ben Lindsay
Allison Jester
Max Rosen
Isaiah Satterfield

A graphic reminder of the brutal days before the invention of the Selfie Stick by Los Angeles-based director Evan Silver.

Starring:
Sr. Executive: Charley Rossman
Jr. Executive: Tian Wang

Written & Directed by Evan Silver
Producer: Ryan Ennis
Cinematographer: Julian Whatley
Editor: Plew
Original Score by Greg Kuehn (Peligro Music)

Key Makeup & Effects: Traci Barrett
Assistant Makeup & Effects: Toryn Reed
Production Angel: T.J. Freeman
Visual Effects: Chad Reddell (Sprout)
Sound Designer / Mixer: Ian Stynes (Great City)
Post House Edit: Union Editorial
Color: Julian Whatley

Thanks to:
Union Editorial
Great City Productions
Sheree Shu
Michael Raimondi
Houston Snyder
Liz Silver and the Plew
Kuehn
Ennis & Silver families

An experiment in long-form, improvised animation by artist and musician Chad VanGaalen (previously featured here). Originally conceived as the first in what VanGaalen planned to be a series of origin stories for different imaginary species, “Tarboz” offers a stream of consciousness journey through an alternate reality inspired by his own life and dreams.

A vibrant portrait of the Brazilian dance craze Passinho by London-based filmmakers Thomas Bryant and Gitanjali Patel. “Ashpalt” follows four dancers from Queimados, near Rio de Janeiro.

Lovely work by Bastien Dubois in this animated short about a World War II cargo cult in the South Pacific.

More fantastic work from New York-based director and photographer Patrick Golan (previously featured here). “Young Boy” follows snny and others soaking up the last bit of Summer in the city.

Label: Glassnote Records
Director: Patrick Golan
Producer: Luigi Rossi
DP: Patrick Golan and Mayer Chalom
PD: Hannah Sue
Steadicam: Brendan Poutier
1st AC: Sam Wood
2nd AC:
Gaffer: Clem Therin
Key Grip: Sebastiano Foresi

Editor: Matt Schaff
Colorist: Josh Bohosky @ The Mill
Color Producer: Evan Bauer
Sound Design: Raphael Ajuelos

Shot on Arri Amira and Kodak 16mm.

Thanks to:
The Mill
Lighthouse Films
Matt Cohen
Mayer Chalom
Anthony Carella
Starr St Studios

Great cinematography in this visual meditation on the beauty that emerges from the mundane. Rafa Zubiria’s “A gentle glow” is a nostalgic and meandering journey through Asia, accompanied by musical composition by Ryuichi Sakamoto and poem by Arseny Tarkovsky.

A visual exploration of the attractive (and destructive) chemistry between two forces by Amsterdam-based filmmaker Rogier van der Zwaag. Created for Binkbeats’ track, “In Dust / In Us” is the result of months-long tests and experiments involving rice paper, string, condensed milk, food colouring and a series of mirrors–all carefully choreographed inside a fish tank. You can also watch a short Making-Of video below!

This is one of the many unique projects we’ve received in the past week. Consider participating here if you have recent work you’d like us to check out!

Tove Lo seduces a Muppet talk show host, whisking him away on an impromptu road trip filled with less than vanilla activities, in this video by Swedish director Tim Erem. Cinematography by Sean Williams Price (Good Time).