A powerful minimalist short examining gun violence in Chicago by director Andre Muir. “4 Corners” consists of five visual stanzas, each loosely based on gang killings committed around a four-block radius in the East-Rogers Park neighbourhood. Featuring all non-actors, each vignette is presented without context, identification, or any discernible dialogue to allow the issue to be absorbed at face value without picking sides or trivializing the causes behind the violence. In this way the film also mirrors how many people come to see and hear about these events — the sheer prevalence creating a troubling sense of monotony. As Muir explains:

“Chicago’s violence is so prevalent that it’s not even news anymore. Sure, we feel bad, but what do we do about it? We’ve become so numb that we treat each occurrence as just another news story, similar to the way we treat a viral dance video or trendy diet; we give it a second of our time and then move on. I wanted to treat the violent scenarios in 4 Corners in the same fashion in which we treat them in our everyday lives. Oftentimes in violent films, protagonists and antagonists are pitted against each other. This dichotomy can be problematic however, because in reality there are no protagonists and antagonists — only losers…. Throughout the film, the audience is exposed to repetitive acts of violence to the point of annoyance. If not for budgetary reasons, I would have wanted to add even more vignettes. I wanted to really draw out the tension and draw out the repetitiveness until my audience could no longer stomach it, to then ask the question ‘if you can’t stomach it on-screen why can you in real life?'”

Watch “4 Corners” above and check out some behind-the-scenes images below!

Directed by Andre Muir
Written by Jake Hutton & Andre Muir
Story by Andre Muir
Executive Producers: Mario DiPaolo & Cory Proctor
Producers: Ciara Medina, Mia Reggi, Zachary Moore, Cory Proctor
Cinematographer: Nathan Salter
Associate Producer: Emanuel Caston
Production Designer: Emily Schexnayder
Editor: Nathan Rodgers
Post Sound Producer: Adam Wiebe
Sound Design: Beto Santoyo
Composer: Colin Sipos
1st Assistant Director: Arturas Kerelis
2nd Assistant Director : Marcus Aubin
Color Producers: Dan Butler, Laurie Adrianopoli
Colorist: Mikey Pehanich
Casting Director: Jake Bloom
Casting Assistant: Anna McFarlin
Steadicam Operator: Blaine Baker
1st Assistant Camera: Brendan Babinski
2nd Assistant Camera: Juan Garcia
Quintero Location Sound: Andrew Henke
Costume Design: Nadya Laska
Art Assistant: Andrew Melzer
Art Assistant: Oriane Playner
Art Assistant: Anna McFarlin
Production Assistant: Brad Martin Production
Assistant: Gus Murray Production
Assistant: Rebekah Wilson Production Assistant: Kerri Walsh
Production Assistant: Brad Martin
Production Assistant: Justin Hill
Production Assistant: Nick Sansone
Gaffer: Danny Valdez
Best Boy Electric: Jake Joiner
Electrician Max Skelton
Grip: Jake Joiner
Grip: Ryan Zeller
Grip: Johnathon Blazewski
DIT: Sam Kelly

Andre Muir’s Website

Andre Muir on Instagram

An unnerving video for Lemium written and directed by Gennady Agadzhanyan. “Acute Delirium” tells the story of a young man (Alexey Volkov) who struggles to find happiness in his own carefully constructed world.

A refreshing tone to this short piece for Zusammenleben Willkommen — a German flatshare resource, geared toward finding accommodations for refugees. Produced by Easydoesit, “Teile Dein Zuhause!” (share your home) presents a lovely collage of feelings told from the perspective of a refugee’s impressions of his new homeland. Disinterested in “the promise of the ideal world” and leaning more toward “the difficulties and beauty of it,” the spot purposefully avoids clichéd imagery and narrative patterns:

“Coming home is a feeling. A rendezvous with your surroundings. It is much more than a room made up of four walls. It is a construct of language, smells, faces, habits, food, friends, family, a street, a place, experiences and hopes. But for many, this home exists only in spirit. Refugees live in mass shelters with little contact with the population. But to achieve integration and solidarity it takes more than just shelter.”

An EASYdoesit Production
Director: Aleko Gotscheff & Konstantin Nerger
Director of Photography: Daniel Obradovic
Executive Producer: Sebastian von Gumpert
Producers: Christopher Kane & Marie Zeller
Set Manager: Louis Lorenzen
Production Assistant: Noa Schmidt
1. AC: Philipp Hartinger, Daniel Merget
2. AC: Leon Hörtrich
Steadycam: Axel Zschernitz
DIT: David Krätschmer
Gaffer: Benjamin Erdenberger
Electricians: Hannes Adam, Oliver Schorch, Toni Schultz
Sound: Paul Glodek
Art Department: Geraldine Arnold
Runner: Paula Albrecht
Editor: Aleko Gotscheff
Color Grading: Nico Hauter, Arri Berlin Mitte
Sound Design: Studio 25
Musik: Studio 25 und Max Dusen
Übersetzung: Maya El-Auwad, Suleman Taufiq

Cast:
Hares Al-Raad, Bahar, Kaygusuz, Bastian Wienecke, Duygu Dolunay, Gisela Günther-Zeller, Hüysein Nacaroglu, Jamela Adam-Beyala, Jona Hansen, Julia Zill, Larissa Wehr, Levi Geißler, Lisa Reisner, Lisa Richter, Mario Clement, Michelle Petersdorf, Mirijam Jeremic, Ninja Pristin, Noemi Dabrowski, Santiago Esteban Zabalo, Sylvain Mabe, Tabea Bethke, Tsellot Melesse, Paula Arnold, Paula Esteban Zill, Uli Zeller, Vadim Lawrowski

Special Thanks:
Birgit Unterweger, Caspar Unterweger, Cinegate, Fangfrisch Berlin, G wie Goulasch, Gärten der Welt, Jeppe Hein, Karoline Köber, Manuel Harder, Medias Reiseservice, Molinari & Ko, NAW Berlin, SEE YOU RENT, Zusammenleben Willkommen: Salma Arzouni, Claude Beier, Duygu Dolunay, Mareike Geiling, Mira Hellmich, Jonas Kakoschke, Julian Staiger, Saam Tabakhtory-Fard

We love branded content when it’s engaging, funny, innovative, beautiful or anything in between. Consider participating here if you have a project you’d like us to check out!

Nice energy to this documentary-style video for DMA’S by director W.A.M. Bleakley (previously featured here). “Life Is A Game Of Changing”‘ was shot in Bangkok and Pattaya by cinematographer Joey Knox and Lucy Knox.

Director: W.A.M. Bleakley
Producer: Lucy Knox, Chap Telan
1ST AD: Pon Saropala
DOP: Joey Knox
2nd Unit DOP: Lucy Knox
Editor: Stewart Arnott
Colourist: Jacob McKee
Starring: Weerapong, Max, Rik, Arm, Chap, Mess, Cedric
Video Commissioner: Johann Pohhiah
Production Company: Swag Film, Rove Pictures
Post Production: Forager, Curious Film

This video was submitted by W.A.M. Bleakley and selected by our team. Consider participating here if you have a project you’d like us to check out!

A beautifully shot short film and music video for Ladytron’s track, “Tower of Glass,” written and directed by Manuel Nogueira (previously featured here). Shot on location in Lajedo de Pai Mateus, a remote area of Cabaceiras in the Brazilian state of Paraíba, Nogueira’s film explores the tensions and contradictions of what it means to be alive today. The inspiration for the visuals emerged through conversations with the band’s own Daniel Hunt about the lyrics and music — the fragility of memory and time, and the sense of our culture cancelling itself out. While describing the film as a “commitment to what is not rational,” Nogueira offers this explanation:

“Time is compressed between our resistance to change and the urgency of the future. We lost the meaning of past and future. There is no time here, not any more. That absence of time gives us no pause. No time for negative values, for inherent happiness, for grief, for what is human and for what is divine. No time for love. Everything is in our hands at the same time. This lack of contrast, the super positivity, cancels itself in a loop of empty results. The only possible redemption is to accept the beauty of this fragile truth and learn to live and love the moment.”

Check out the short film above and the music video below, along with some stunning photos from the shoot!

Starring Larissa Porto & Saulo Rocha
Written, Directed & Edited by Manuel Nogueira
Executive Producers: Luciana Mattar, Gustavo Baldoni
Director of Photography: Juliano Lopes
Production Designer, Costume & Makeup Stylist: Alma Negrot
Original Song by Ladytron
Executive Production Coordinator: Maria Claudia Reis
Production Coordinator Assistant: Débora Lemes

Paraíba Unit Production:
Location Manager: Pablo Leite Buritti
Guide & Production Assistant: Gerson Lima
1st Camera Assistant: Hellen Braga
2nd Camera Assistant: Juliana Borghi
Electrician: Miltão
Assistant Electric: Luciano “Índio”
Color Correction: Sérgio Pasqualino at Bleach
Sound Designers: Manuel Nogueira, Daniel Hunt

In-House Production:
Executive Production Coordinator: Tathiana Pires
Production Coordinator Assistants: Grayce Félix, Lúcio Sulzbach, Ana Paula Araújo
Production Manager: Guilherme Valiengo
Production Assistant: Sérgio Somenek
Financial Controller: Bruno Teixeira
Payroll Accountant: Manuela Vianna
Post-Production Coordinators: André Serra, Natalia Herrera
Post-Production Supervisors: Rafael Bozzi, Marília Ramos
Post-Production Assistants: Danilo Ferreira, Henrique Freitas
Art Composing: Cadu Cipolla Luca, Francinaldo Lemos
Motion Designer: Raphael Santos
Drivers: Alessandro Araújo Mendes, Rogério Vicente de Souza
Camera – Filmes do Bem
Grip and Electric – Cabra Quente
Production Supplies – Águia Locações e Eco Limpeza

Support:
Secretaria de Turismo de Cabaceiras – PE
Monstercam
22 Locações

Song: “Tower of Glass”
Written by Daniel Hunt
Performed by Ladytron
Produced by Ladytron
Additional Production: Edd Hartwell & Jim Abbiss
Courtesy of Ladytron Music & !K7

Manuel Nogueira’s Website

Manuel Nogueira on Instagram

Ladytron’s Website

Ladytron on Instagram

A young actress is challenged by a Hollywood acting coach in this haunting short by writer-director Armand de Saint-Salvy.

Starring Zoe Terakes & Helen Thomson
Writer & Director: Armand de Saint-Salvy
Producer: Benjamin O’Donnell
Cinematographer: Dale Alexander Bremner
Production Designer: Jonathan Hindmarsh
Editor: Joseph Morris
Music by: Uncanny Valley
Casting: Toni Higginbotham
Executive Producers: Charity Downing & Roy De Giorgio
Production Company: //Thirteen & co

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

Lots of dynamic visuals in this video for Vicente Navarro by Madrid-based director Guillermo Guerrero. Taking on the cultural symbol of toxic masculinity, “Toro” (Bull) depicts a man fighting between the masculine and feminine sides of himself.

Starring Esteban Garrido & Laura M. Fernández
A La Costa production
Directed by Guillermo Guerrero
Producer: Jesús Choya Zatarín
Production Assistant: Javier Estruch, Patricia Benito
Director of Photography: Enrique Millán
1St AC: Anastasia Arlazarova
Gaffer: Héctor Sánchez-Miguel, Jesús Morales
Art Director: Agoney González
Edit: Guillermo Guerrero
Color Grading: Enrique Millán

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

Great use of practical and visual effects in this uplifting video for Gregory Porter by director Douglas Bernardt of Stink Films. Set in the context of the 1992 Los Angeles riots, “Revival” tells the story of a boy who gains inner strength and confidence through dance.

Starring Gregory Porter & Jemoni Powe
Director: Douglas Bernardt
Production Company: Stink Films
Executive Producer: Ryland Burns
Line Producer: Jeff Kopchia
Cinematographer: Christopher Ripley
Choreographer: Amy Gardner
Production Designer: Tyler Evans
Art Director: Angus Bernsen
Editor: Danilo Abraham
VFX Company: NASH
VFX Supervisor: Cirilo Bonazzi
VFX Artist: Felipe Passareli
VFX Producer: Flavia Gannam
Colorist: Osmar Junior
Agency: H5
Label: Universal

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

Great look and offbeat tone to this video for Los Angeles-based duo Capyac by director David Cole. Filmed at The Pink House in Northridge, “Dirty” explores the secret lives of two playboy musicians and their risqué plant fetishes.

Directed by David Cole
Produced by Dustin St. Wright
Cinematography: Misael Audelo
Assistant Director/ Plant Daddy: Olivia Pepper
Art Director: Remac
First AC Swing: Arther Samuel Castellano III, James Suter
Color: Richie Trimble
Wardrobe: Sloane Lenz & Felix Lenz
Hair & Makeup: Christiana Laine, Annie Ritschel
Production Manager: Samosa Jones
Set Builder: Zack Guiler
Onset Photographer: Tod Seelie
BTS Photo/Video: Alex Wilcox
Artist Manager: Anthony Erickson

Cast: P. Sugz, Potion, Facit Tarin,
Celest Kamppila, Robbie Kirkhuff, Kai Lillie,
Caroline Zorthian, Annie Ristschel, Annie Ritschel,
Greg Thomas

Dancers: Mackenzie Palmer, Iris Murphy, Paddy Baigrie,
Joaquin Barlow, Cindy Lin, Alex Wilcox, Gabi Shereer,
Sloane Lenz, Felix Lenz, Robbie Kirkhuff

Special Thanks: Catherine Lenz, Steve Carver, Jamie Nelson,
Little Kowloon, Hal Bergman, Alexis Branger, Miles Robinson, Trystero Coffee

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

A nice homage to classic 90s hip hop in this first video for Ovrkast’s new album, Try Again. Directed by Skyler Vander Molen and shot on 16mm by cinematographer Joshua Pausanos, “Outro” takes us into Ovrkast’s inner world as he daydreams on a street corner in downtown Oakland.

Directed by Skyler Vander Molen
Produced by From Below
Director of Photography Joshua Pausanos
1st AC/Key Grip: Nima Khazaei
2nd AC/Stills Photographer: Leo Maco
Special thanks to Little Giant Lighting & Grip and Videofax.

This video was submitted by Skyler Vander Molen and selected by our team. Consider participating here if you have a project you’d like us to check out!

A poetic short by director Ubair Shaheen and cinematographer Antonia Ramirez. Told from the perspective of a woman living in a country different than the one she was born and raised, “Yellow Flame Tree” explores her struggles to remember her life back home and deal with her fear of growing old without her family.

“When the disarray of the night fades, she calls home, desperate to hear a familiar voice on the other side of the world.”

Starring Shar Yeoh
Director: Ubair Shaheen
Cinematographer: Antonia Ramirez
Assistant Director: Maria Dontsova
Gaffing: Matthew Koropatwa
First AC: Peter Lee
Second AC: Finka Lai
Sound Mixer: Max Gross
Boom: Max Gross
Editor: Antonia Ramirez
Colorists: Antonia Ramirez & Matthew Koropatwa
Sound Design: Ubair Shaheen
Production Design: Katrina Magumé
Locations Manager: Amber Nordstrand
Casting Director: Maria Dontsova
Title Card by Garnet Tyler

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

Lots of fantastical elements in this video for Céu by director Rodrigo Saavedra (previously featured here). Set in a dystopian world where nature no longer exists, “Corpocontinente” follows a man as he searches the underworld for the ultimate drug.

Starring Antonio Miano & Edgar
Director: Rodrigo Saavedra
Executive Producer & Partner: Adrian D’Amario & Rodrigo Saavedra
Managing Director: Carolina Dantas, Sebastian Hall
Creative Assistant: Clara Behrmann
Production Manager: Camilla Bastos
Producer: Gisele Castilho
Director Of Photography: Diego Robaldo
1st Assistant Camera: Eduardo Duque (Pimenta)
2nd Assistant Camera: Caio Freitas de Oliveira
Location Manager: Tati Setton
Casting: Cintia Capellano
Key Grip: Weber Cunha (Cabelo)
Logger: Fabio Peracoli
Gaffer: Hugo Nyerges
Electrician: Rodolfo Melo (Baby)
1st Assistant Director: Camila Andreoni
2nd Assistant Director: Adriana Foureaux
Production Designer: Rodrigo Saraiva
Céu Stylist: Tica Bertani, Mauricio Ianes
Céu Make Up: Lau Neves
Cast Stylist: Allan Fernandes
Cast Make Up: Mari Kato
Editor: Nathalia Kamura
Colourist: Fernando Lui @ Marla Colour Grading
Post Production: Mosh Post Production
Audio: Antfood

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