A strange ceremony leaves guests at the edge of their seat in this delightfully absurd short musical film by Brooklyn-based director John Connor Hammond. Featuring comedian Dekunle, who also did the music, watch “Hunnybuns” above and check out some behind-the-scenes images from the shoot below!

Directed by John Connor Hammond
Music by & Starring Dekunle
Cinematography: Henry Zaballos
Edit: Mike Shugarman, John Connor Hammond
Graphics: Benjamin Portas
BTS: Cassandra Angelini-Vazquez

John Connor Hammond’s Website

John Connor Hammond on Vimeo

John Connor Hammond on Instagram

A moving portrait of Sydney-based musician Ziggy Ramo by filmmaker Mel Branson. Ziggy released his album Black Thoughts (after five years in the making) on the day of the Sydney BLM protests. Here Branson follows him as he performs to an empty Hamer Hall in Melbourne with an urgent message for all Australians.

Directed & Edited by Mel Branson
Filmed by Sean Finney
Audio & Post Production by Duane Orriss
Music by Musicbed
Photography by Daniel Njegich
8mm by Bottlebrush Films
Artwork by Kevin Wilson

‘Blackthoughts’ and ‘Empire’ written & produced by Ziggy Ramo & JCAL
Ziggy Ramo appears courtesy of MTM

This video was submitted by Mel Branson and selected by our team. Click here if you have a project you’d like us to check out!

A man uses his phone to distract himself from being alone in this great one-shot video for Collin Black’s track “Daydreaming at Night.” Self-directed with a small crew of four, Black used the phone as the primary lighting source with colours flashing to the beat of the song.

Director: Collin Black
Producer: Joey Caldwell
Director of Photography: Will Connolly
1st AC: Hayden Johnson
Editor: Collin Black

This video was submitted by Collin Black and selected by our team. Click here if you have a project you’d like us to check out!

A poetic meditation on the loss of touch and physical connection during lockdown by London-based filmmaking duo Sundae in collaboration with ie studio. The project consists of a series of analogue photographs and short film capturing subjects from all areas of the globe through Zoom and Facetime.

Directed by Sundae
Concept: Elena Cremona
Creative Director: ie studio
Words & Narration: Frankie Wade
Music: MTMBO

This video was submitted by Sundae and selected by our team. Click here if you have a project you’d like us to check out!

Y2K-era aesthetics meets a post-Covid world in this kinetic rap video for One Acen by London-based director Shan Phearon. Offering a modern take on the ‘Trojan-horse’ motif, “Nigeria” attempts to disrupt conventions of genre, technique and style with an inventive crime opera allegory.

Director: Shan Phearon
Executive Producer: Kareem Adeshina
Producer: Gil Kolirin
Director of Photography: Courtney Bennett (Vision Artists)
Art Director: Sheena Brobbey
Wardrobe Director: Kashmir Wickham
MUA: Simi Virdee
Motion Specialist / Operator: Steve Santa Cruz
Grip: Tom Solt
Gaffer: Isaac Whittingham
PA: David Amoah
Transit: Kez Kaiser
Editor / VFX: Shan Phearon
Colourist: Alex Gregory (The Mill)
Additional VFX: Jae Hwang / Brandon Wallwork
Talent: One Acen, Rehab Nyangima
Comissioner: Nicola Sheppard
Label: Atlantic Records
Production Company: Greatcoat Films

This video was submitted by Shan Phearon and selected by our team. Click here if you have a project you’d like us to check out!

Director and cinematographer Dillon M. Banda follows globetrotter Natacha Maboma as she shares her experience travelling away from home as a young woman — and specifically, a black woman. At the time of filming Maboma had been living abroad in Asia for 3 years. “Ashima” was filmed across the Hong Kong islands before the COVID-19 pandemic and also before the pro-democracy protests. As Banda states:

“In this moment where we are being called to bear witness to a weekly, almost daily assault on blackness and black bodies, I feel fortunate — as a black man myself — to be able to contribute to the collective black imagery with a story that is hopeful, positive and aspirational. In the face of overwhelming oppression, hopefulness, positivity and aspiration take on the air of defiance. These things, and more, are what Natacha and her continuing journey represent. And in a moment where the entire world has been brought to its knees by a global pandemic, I hope that in its own small way, ‘Ashima’ can represent “hope” for its audience. “Hope” for a time when we can all travel freely again. “Hope” for a time when we can all dream again.”

Directed by Dillon M. Banda
Cinematography: Dillon M. Banda
Narration: Natacha Maboma
Edit: Sean Cunningham
Sound Design: IYO
Score: Hotel Neon
Production Assistance: Van Ngoc Dang
Produced: SoundChips + Dillon & Co

Dillon M. Banda’s Website

Dillon M. Banda on Vimeo

Dillon M. Banda on Instagram

A lovely dance video by Canadian filmmaker and musician AMAARA aka Kaelen Ohm (previously featured here). Exploring the layered stages of heartache, “Desert Storm” is a celebration of the resilience of the Human Spirit through movement. The video was shot in California by an all-female crew and features beautiful choreography by Tatiana Parker.

Director, Producer, Editor, Colorist: Kaelen Ohm
DP: Leslie Satterfield
Styling: Bryn Carter
Choreography: Tatiana Parker

Dancers:
Denzel Chisolm
Alekz Samone
Sohey Siguhara
Sarah Francis Jones
Lauren ‘Lolo’ Harris
DK Archer
Tatiana Parker
Randi Frietas

This video was submitted by Kaelen Ohm and selected by our team. Click here if you have a project you’d like us to check out!

Fun anime-inspired video by Los Angeles-based director Nicholas Lam (previously featured here). Created remotely across 3 different countries/timezones during lockdown, the track itself is a four-way collaboration between DJ duo Snakehips, UK vocalist Jess Glynne, American rapper A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, and Nigerian singer Davido. While Lam’s portfolio has only ever been live-action, “Lie For You” is Lam’s love letter to the animation style he’s been drawn to since childhood:

“I absolutely have to hand it to the folks at Point Five Creations for truly going above and beyond what everyone else told me could not be done on the budget and timeline. I’m particularly proud of working with them not only because they’re all Chinese animation artists, bringing their own style to the traditionally Japanese anime genre, but because I spent seven years growing up in Hong Kong myself, and so this just feels like the perfect amalgamation of influences from past and present.”

Writer & Director: Nicholas Lam
Production Company: Hound
Executive Producer: Missy Galanida, Isaac Rice
Producer: Isaac Rice
Animation Studio: Point Five Creations
Animation Director: Tommy Kai Chung Ng
Storyboard Artist: Knifeson Yu Ka Hei
Animators: Hilary Tang, Bee Chiu, Knifeson Yu Ka Hei, Tommy Kai Chung Ng
Concept Art | Backgrounds: Otto Tse, Step C.
3D Artists: Hoop Kwok Ka Sing, Otto Tse, Chan Kong KZ Chan
Poster: Yin Zhen Chu
Teaser: Nicholas Dobkin
Director Rep: Andy Roberts
Jess Glynne Management: Sam Eldridge @ UROK Management
Jess Glynne Creative Director: Jo’lene Henry
Audience Development Manager: Andrew Bunton
Senior Marketing Manager: Joel Quartey
Marketing: Denys Wilcox
Commissioner: Daniel Millar

This video was submitted by Nicholas Lam and selected by our team. Click here if you have a project you’d like us to check out!

Lots of great elements in this video for about not taking love for granted by ChocQuibTown and Sec. Directed by Salomon Simhon (previously featured here), check it out above as well as some behind-the-scenes images taken by Simhon’s wife, Andrea Vargas, below!

Directed by Salomon Simhon
Produced by Wildhouse Pictures
Executive Producer: Maricel Chachita Anato, Ana P Martinez Campo
DP: Nano Moreno
Art: Diego Lopez
Wardrobe: Catalina Giangrande
1AD: Ana Vargas
Make Up: Drag Horus
Choreo: Mancho Osorio
Edit: Jhon Casas, Diego Benavides
Color: Asa Fox
Steady: Peter
BTS: Andrea Vargas

Salomon Simhon on Vimeo

Salomon Simhon on Instagram

A touching love letter to friends and family by directors Pham (previously featured here) and Mitch deQuilettes (previously featured here). Made up of a series of phone interviews and snapshots taken of loved ones from a distance, “Everything’s Cancelled” offers a time capsule of their time spent in quarantine. The project also acted as a kind of therapy — a way of tuning out anxiety and staying connected through a sense of collective uncertainty — as Pham and Mitch deQuilettes state:

“Social distancing boundaries helped us form a visual theme and allowed us to capture natural moments. We’d set up a shot outside a window and roll for 15 minutes, knowing we’d only use 5 seconds of it. We’d do a scene or two a day around golden hour with one of us having to motivate the other because we were either too lazy or too high. After two months of shooting 40 plus people, we came up with this piece, an exploration of our “qua-routine” in Los Angeles and how each of us cope to find a silver lining to this fucked up, once in a lifetime experience.”

A Film by Pham and Mitch deQuilettes
Production: Swiss Coffee & Florence
Executive Producer: Jerad Anderson
Original Music: Michael Lee
Post Sound: Michael O’Connor
Titles: Mordukhay

Phone Interviews:
Chantel Le, Mishka Kornai, Cat DeEulio,
Gordon Yould, Haley Baltimore, Sarah Prinz,
Mimi Cave, Adio Marchant, Dan Flemming,
Gordon Yould, Mo Faulk, Sophia Stephens

In Order Of Appearance:
Kamilia Eliezer, Geffen Shichor, Sydney Schafer,
Jasper Winn, Raul Sanchez, Erin Randol,
Jeanie Mordukhay, Nick D’Amico, Ian Franzino,
Liza Owen, Cat DeEulio, Dan Flemming,
Sophia Stephens, Bobby Moser, Haley Baltimore,
Evan Rosenberg, Victoria Fayad, The Yasman Family,
The Pham Family, Alexia Sitton, Amanda Ugwu,
Cole Garrity, Andrew Jackson, Mimi Cave,
Chantel Le, Lanier Oakley, Luke Orlando,
Erin Shore, Neil Coeprick, Javier,
Gordon Yould, Leah Yould, Alex Shiplett,
Adio Marchant, Alys Crawford, Oivia Captain,
Sarah Prinz, Mo Faulk, Ariel Fisher,
Chris and Kelly Arnett, Alegra Batista, Mani Yarosh,
Yarik Svyrydenko, Jackson Stone, Natalie Saint Martin,
DJ Brawner, Brixton Brawner, Alexis Rommel

This is just one of the many wonderful submissions we’ve received in the past week. Consider participating here if you have a project you’d like us to check out!

Great energy to this video for Albo Inaczej and Kamp! by director Piotrek Matejkowski (previously featured here). “Wiedziałem, że tak będzie” is about the emotions we experience when listening to music.

Production House: Papaya Films
Executive Producer: Kacper Sawicki, Paweł Bondarowicz
Director: Piotrek Matejkowski
DoP: Mikołaj Syguda
Editor: Kuba Tomaszewicz
1AD: Piotr Starzyk
Movement Director: Michał Gerlach
Dancers: Wioletta Fiuk, Gosia Czyżkowska, Weronika Bartold
Costumes: Maciej Dąbroś
Make-up & Hair: Aleksandra Przyłuska
Props: Janina Łączyńska
Focus Puller: Karol Piechocki
1AC: Piotr Twardowski
Gaffer: Michał Obłoza
Spark: Maciek Obłoza
Stage Hand: Jarek Burkacki i Wiktor Palimaka
Set Manager: Kosma Walicki
Producer: Sebastian Jurczek i Magda Wolszczak-Protas
Production Manager: Weronika Orłow
Production coordinator: Judyta Staniszewska, Julia Guz
Postproduction House: Lunapark I Magdalena Miszczak i Kaja Juszczakiewicz
Grading: Szymon Kraszewski
Postptoduction Online: Bartek Woltański
3D Artist: Filip Popik @rybskie
Set Security: Czacha
Medic: Mariusz Fornalski
Support: Panavision, Grip 7, Delta Trans, Baron Film, Yellowóz, Grip Kolektyw

This video was submitted by Piotrek Matejkowski and selected by our team. Click here if you have a project you’d like us to check out!

A beautiful portrait of marine biologist Sandra Bessudo by New York City-based director Victoria Rivera (previously featured here). Founder of the Malpelo Foundation in Colombia, Bessudo reflects on her first expedition to Malpelo Island and what has kept her coming back for over 30 years..

Director: Victoria Rivera
Director of Photography: Soren Nielsen
Original Score: Martin Velez
Editing: Esteban Pedraza

This video was submitted by Victoria Rivera and selected by our team. Click here if you have a project you’d like us to check out!