Sharing a deadpan sense of humour and a distinct visual style, comedy directing duo Jocelyn DeBoer and Dawn Luebbe have parlayed their ‘bossy’ natures and backgrounds in sketch and improvisation into a series of sharply comic short films and commercials. Skewering suburban ideals and social niceties with a satirical gaze, the Biscuit filmmakers delight in peeling back the layer of strangeness lurking just beneath the surface of their expertly constructed worlds. They tell 1.4 about the power of humour in PSAs and how national nostalgia for the good old days sparked the idea for their award-winning film, Greener Grass.

Growing up in the cultural melting-pot of Camden, with a heritage straddling three cultures – British, Jamaica and Ghanaian – has given talented director Lainey Richardson the enviable ability to see many different viewpoints at the same time, making for richly empathetic filmmaking. Committed to spotlighting subcultures and subverting stereotypes, her drive to amplify marginalised voices comes from a very personal place. Recently signed to Caviar, she tells 1.4 why, as a Black filmmaker, she wants the same opportunities as anyone else to tell different kinds of stories

Ever wondered how easy it would be to reinvent yourself as a quail? Or how to tackle the day-to-day challenges of a literal black hole in your apartment? Such are the whimsical notions which animator Grant Kolton turns into his absurdist short films – a delightful comment on the absurdity of life itself. He talks to 1.4 about his favourite cartoon inspirations, why he stuck with 2D when it fell out of fashion, and Donald Trump’s disgusting nipples.

Growing up between London and Texas with Nigerian parents, filmmaker and photographer Meji Alabi’s unique perspective on African culture – combining an objective gaze with insider knowledge – has made him much sought-after by artists including Burna Boy, Tiwa Savage, Chronixx and most recently Beyonce. From West Kingston to Soweto and Lagos, the self-taught director delights in juxtaposing gritty locations with sharp choreography and diverse sources of inspiration, to vibrant and dynamic effect. Nor has a year of lockdowns clipped his wings, as he’s managed to shoot a slew of music videos and commercials remotely. Having recently signed to RSA, he tells 1.4 about respectfully pushing boundaries and subconscious inspiration. 

Loved for his music videos, Vedran Rupic gets his hilarious ad break, while Jonathan Alric of The Blaze breaks our hearts with his compassionate portrayal of MacMillan nurses. There’s also levity from Down Under, magic for Chinese New Year and Ian Pon Jewell’s speedy game changer

We might be actively avoid touching anything (and anyone) in the outside world, but indoors it’s a different matter. Matt Lambert’s latest film, for SKYN, is a cheeky ode to exploration, freedom and pleasure at our fingertips – inspired by a classic song with a naughty twist

50% Swedish, 50% Brazilian by heritage, Joanna Nordahl is no less than 100% raw talent. Starting from theatrical roots, she was drawn to the more enduring nature of film, and now happily straddles the worlds of directing and live performance art. Red threads of escapism pervade her work - winged women take a fantasy flight in Four Tet’s Baby video, while her lockdown project, Admiring u, transports us back into the past, on an intensely personal trip down memory lane. A master at infusing emotion into film, she talks to 1.4 about the importance of creative cross-pollination and why ‘what moves you, makes you move’.

Fuelled by mince pies and mulled wine, our esteemed jury are currently glued to their screens viewing your entries – and already the feedback is that the calibre of work, much of which they’ve never seen before, is exceptional.

You don’t see many music videos in the opera genre – and even fewer that involve gimp suits, flash-mobs, pushy mums and techno underground parties. In 2013, director Daniel Moshel and singer August Schram raised more than a genteel eyebrow or two with their surprising take on Carmen’s ‘Habanera’ – the first film in their fantastically original ‘MeTube’ project paying homage to a burgeoning culture of YouTube wannabes. Following the release of 'Una furtiva lagrima' - the third installment in the ‘opera meets pulp fiction’ trilogy - Moshel chats to 1.4 about his growing appreciation for opera, green screen hell and Austrian attitudes to humour.

In the dreary depths of a second lockdown and a winter of discontent, director Lydia Garnett is here to cheer us all up with her brilliant, camp, retro-futuristic western-inspired promo for Trouble Wanted – in which she also appears as a band member. She tells 1.4 about wild drag costumes, fantasy bars and the importance of owning the queer narrative.

Creators of wildly witty and wicked visions, James Theseus Buck and Luke Brooks formed Rottingdean Bazaar in 2015 with a collection of conceptual fashion ready-to-wear, accessories and art objects. Now the artists famous for their creative direction, fashion styling, installations and fine art have directed their first music video – for South London band Dry Cleaning. 1.4 quizzes the duo about their work and life in their hometown of Rottingdean, East Sussex.

Fashion film director and photographer Monica Menez’s latest tongue-in-cheek mini-series for Willems eyewear brand

New director Patrick Taylor captures the joys and challenges of belonging to two or more cultures in his thought-provoking short documentary, Faces.

An ex-soldier struggling with civilian life. A paramedic decompressing after a long shift. A drifter haunted by a family tragedy. It’s at the fringes of society that the really interesting stories hide, according to directing duo Luke & Joseph, whose thought-provoking, award-winning work spans commercials, features, documentaries and art installations. Recently signed to Unit9, the directing duo talk to 1.4 about their ‘healthy obsession’ with characters and the melancholy of London by night.

Tired of narrow perspectives, inauthentic narratives and the absence, on screen, of people who looked like him, filmmaker Abdou Cissé decided to take control of his own story as a young black man from inner city London. Whether he’s interrogating modern masculinity in Serious Tingz, or taking aim at systemic racism and white accountability in his latest short for Channel 4, Damage Control, his work is by turns fresh, funny, raw and true; underpinned by the theme of ‘habits and contradictions’ – our acceptance of the status quo, even if it contradicts its purpose. He tells 1.4 about his love for short form film, and why black people are not a monolith.

An eye-bleeding concoction of retro video games, shot-on-iPhone, 3D animation and millennial meme culture, the madly creative music videos of Superorganism have arguably played as big a part as their earworm-y songs in propelling the eight-part indie-pop act to international stardom. Failed pro-guitarist and self-proclaimed ‘massive nerd’, Robert Strange, is the man behind the mash-ups, and he’s having a better 2020 than most: having traded the band house for a ‘pink retro dreamland’, he’s signed to Blinkink and branched out with spots for IKEA, adidas and a new promo for Tinie Tempah - complete with canine cameo. He tells 1.4 about copyright nightmares and why his next move might be writing post-prequel Star Wars fanfiction.

Hail Storms and Hail Marys for festive times, Megaforce's magical formula of larger than life grandeur grounded in the reality of human experience - in this case, friendship in the face of adversity - has Burberry singing in the rain. 

As a child, the horror and sci-fi aisles of his local Blockbuster were a place of pilgrimage for Australian director James Chappell – with the legacy of that filmic education reflected today in his brand of ‘shock and awe’ filmmaking. Under Chappell’s cinematic gaze, mundane spaces like supermarkets turn into temples of terror, and anti-heroes emerge like grotesque, charred phoenixes from flaming cars. Presenting a dystopian vision of future London in his video-game inspired promo, Legion, he talks to 1.4 about finding humour alongside the horror and his plans for a fishy feature.

Growing up in a family where books and art were more prevalent than tv, music videos weren’t a great influence on director Sing J. Lee. So it seems only natural that the LA-based director writes and creates multi-layered short-films to accompany entire albums. Following his earlier work, Sailor, for Indonesian artist Rich Brian, Sing’s latest meta-film for The Killers’ Imploding the Mirage blurs the lines between fictional life and reality. The director talks with1.4 about his creative processes for both mini-movies using the complete album as a soundtrack.

As a captive polar bear plunges into a pool, a hunter raises her gun and fires. Displayed as a diptych in Camille Summers-Valli’s latest project, Swim Hunt Run, the two scenes perfectly reflect the theme at the heart of the director’s work: our broken connection with the natural world. Growing up in Nepal, she witnessed first-hand the ‘rapid westernisation’ of a developing nation; later, she worked as a sheep-herder in Navajo Nation, Arizona, documenting the struggles of the Native Americans against resource extraction. An instinctive filmmaker, she tells 1.4 why she hasn’t followed in her father’s documentarian footsteps and how different geographic spaces generate different experiences.

The final deadline to submit your entries to the 1.4 Awards of Brilliant Filmmaking is almost here: this Friday, November 6th. You can beg and cry but there are no more extensions. We have to get your fabulous short films, music videos, animation, and commercials in front of our international jury made up of these leading commissioners of directing talent. Just take a look who will be viewing your work…and selecting the very best to go into our online 1.4 Awards Annual of the world’s hottest directors

Good morning Monday, yes the world is still here. The day before Terrifying Tuesday when the USA counts its election votes we bring you an ad that spells out the truth of the incumbent boss of America

Growing up with a Motown-loving mum and a dad who idolised Dylan, music was always central to Libby Burke Wilde’s life. So for this Lancashire lass, picking up a camera to document her favourite bands was a natural segue into the world of photography and directing. But lately, she’s found true north with a more narrative approach, training her lens on social injustices like period poverty and families living below the breadline. She tells 1.4 about the deep responsibility she feels as a filmmaker and what her sixteen-year-old self would make of it all.

And a few song and dances to kick off the week in these turbulent times

Being locked-in during lockdown has unleashed director Keith Schofield's unbounded creativity to new heights and new depths of interesting depravity. This animated trip with cameo appearances from the likes of Bruce Willis, Daniel Craig and Morgan Freeman is one most definitely not to watch with your kids around.

From tough beginnings in a down-at-heel Paris suburb, dreading the bailiff’s knock, childhood pals Kevin and Loïc – aka Original Kids – have risen to success in their native France with music videos for the likes of Therapie Taxi, Oxmo Puccino and Georgio. Happy to bend the rules in their quest to ‘take the viewer somewhere unexpected’, their diverse brand of storytelling ranges from a tenderly observed docu-short to kicking misogyny’s butt in an enjoyably schlocky promo. They tell 1.4 how strong women and shared values have shaped their approach  

There’s an out-of-town freshness to the work of Grandmas, a pair of Mancunian directors who find rich inspiration in the post-industrial towns of the northwest. Whether it’s a skinhead breaking into interpretative dance at a working men’s social club, or an all-female bodybuilding competition at a grotty seaside town, their music videos for Pearl City, Larkins and Hurts show how far the duo have come since their early days of ‘pissing about with cameras’, while their award-winning short, Norteños, is an exercise in finding black comedy in the bleakest of situations. They tell 1.4 about making a ‘dance piece’ that’s not a dance piece, and how they blew the budget on a bucking bronco

Director and photographer Paul Ward turned the trials of his covid-enforced break from commercials work into creating this no-budget, yet stunning music video for South African artist PHFAT. We talk with the Cape Town and sometimes Berlin-based director about the importance of introspection when the going gets tough and learning how to steer his own ship rather than being taken by the tides

It’s not that common for Chinese-Khmer to speak fluent French, but when Lo Xu-Ming Tong from Montreal and Parisian Alexandre Do met at London’s Central Saint Martins art school they discovered they also shared the same Teochew dialect from their Chinese ancestry. Now the duo have teamed up to explore their mutual Cambodian heritage in this short film about a young construction worker running away into the night with a mysterious suitcase that everyone covets

Directing isn’t always about being hands-on: sometimes, it’s having a lighter touch, letting the performers breathe and the story tell itself. Rising South African talent Emilie Badenhorst is a case in point: having won plaudits for her tender, delicate portrayal of a girl struggling to come to terms with her heritage in Lolo Zouai’s Desert Rose, she is now set to explore “the moments of intimacy and love” that grow between South Africa’s LGBTQIA+ communities and Afrikaner culture in a new short film, ekstasis. Following her signing to Couscous, she talks to 1.4 about her “inside-out, immersive and together” approach to filmmaking.    

Timed to launch around London’s annual Notting Hill Carnival, the Create Not Hate initiative led by Trevor Robinson OBE at Quiet Storm offers an inspiring and overdue route into the creative industries for diverse members of BAME communities. Partnering with a cohort of youth and educational organizations, Create Not Hate invited participants to develop messages aimed at tackling prejudice, stereotypes and bias, in the process giving access to mentorships and training around commercial production. We spoke to Trevor alongside 17 year old Camberwell student Emmanuel, who went through the mentoring program, to discuss the short films Heated Conversation and Stitches and the changes the industry needs to commit to.