Dawit N.M’s earlier photographic work focused on countering the mainstream narrative of Ethiopians in America - mainly portrayed through the lens of the western eye. Recently-signed to Eleanor Films in the States, we catch up with the new director about transitioning his stills artwork to music videos and commercials

Greatcoat director Shan Phearon wows us with a stylised sensory overload in Puppy Pound from London-based artist Jazmin Bean. 1.4 catches up with the filmmaker about working with animals, chaos theory and constructing the world’s first UV Blacklight drone.

Director and all-round visual stimulator Oliver Payne’s latest short film, A Brief History of Slime, is a riveting deep dive into the historical evolution of Slime - a multi-grillon money making bi-product of plastic waste. The film then leads us via circuitous detours to the extraordinary deals made between Pepsi Cola and the then USSR - all told in Oliver's distinctive doc-style under the guise of a Pepsi educational film. We also look at the artist-filmmaker’s work for brands such as the streetwear label Cav Empt where he is simply handed the collection to interpret in his own singular and completely free way.

How we love advertising when it's as good as this...

Molly O'Shea asks Molly some questions about Molly

Paris-based filmmaker Aube Perrie stormed onto our screens last year with his screamingly good music videos for Megan Thee Stallion, MK and L’Imperatrice. Paris-based filmmaker Aube Perrie stormed onto our screens last year with his screamingly good music videos for Megan Thee Stallion, MK and L’Imperatrice. We talked with the director, who is co-repped by Pulse Films (UK/US) and Wanda (Europe), just before the release of his latest film for Angèle, a story about empowerment, swirling penises and travelling to the moon through MYND.

Spinning around the world

Tapping machine learning specialist Xander Steenbrugge for his latest music video, electronic producer Max Cooper has delivered a mesmerizing AI generated promo for his track Exotic Contents. Expanding on the ‘Unspoken Words’ theme of Cooper’s latest album, Steenbrugge turned to the work of philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein to explore the concept of visually depicting the inexpressible. Building on his experimental music project WZARD.AI, Steenbrugge used generative machine learning to… Well, it’s complicated. So, here’s an intro to creating music-driven art using artificial intelligence.

Nike Juku brings together what director Mackenzie Sheppard is really good at - surreal stories with a good mix of crazy in-camera effects and live action. He lets fly this time with a W+K specially written track, Woo Go, for Japanese girl group Atarashii Gakkou

It comes as no surprise that Super16 directing graduate Kristian Håskjold has picked up yet another Vimeo Staff Pick for his graduation film YOUNG, after gaining recognition internationally for his remarkable depictions of the realities and cruelties of adolescence in his work. 1.4 caught up with Kristian about the joys of creative collaboration, infusing his work with his own experiences, and the lessons he’s learnt so far in his career.

Raise funds, raise voices and raise spirits

Paul Ward’s short film for Mami Wata beautifully reflects the surf brand’s ethos of using African artists inspired by local culture. It also captures the essence of the name Mami Wata, Water Spirit. We talk with the South-African, Berlin-based director about shooting the curl in Senegal

in brilliant fashion films

Prepare yourself to rollercoast an emotional ride from hard-hitting brutality to soft love and longing

Prague-born director and photographer Jara Moravec has been recognised for his quirky style and surrealist tendencies, earning him 1.4 Award nominations and Vimeo Staff Picks for his work. We caught up with Jara about his new comic-book inspired commercial, his video Santé for Belgian artist Stromae, and the experience of filming the music video in Ukraine last year.

Viewing Hector Dockrill’s films takes you from laugh out loud amusement to heart-lurching darkness. His characters drive his stories, crafting multi layers of visceral intrigue whether it’s music videos or documentaries. We talk with the Pulse director about his approach to writing, directing and experimenting and creating a collaborative environment where no idea is a dumb idea

Crowns & Owls, the independent trio of filmmakers, creative directors and photographers, have fused Nemahsis’ powerful lyrics and voice into these mesmerising one-take films and stills expressing the beauty and pain of being hijabi

Rafa Damy excels at crafting social films that make you sit up and take notice. Now the Brazilian director, recently signed to Birth, has shot his first spot, Not For Profit, for the European audience.

Donations have been pouring in from our film industry to support the displaced Ukrainian production community - many who are now in Poland. And in spite of the unspeakable horrors of the Russian invasion, there have been successful productions transferred from Kyiv to Warsaw over the past couple of weeks. But the scripts are slowing down. We talk with 24/7 and Radioaktive partner, Ivo van Vollenhoven about the need to convince brands that producing in Poland and other eastern European countries is a top safe option.

Take your mind to another place for 20 minutes

All shot by brilliant directors who just happen to be women.

In 1994, Michael Thompson was sentenced to 60 years in prison for selling weed. 25 years later, as the legalisation of cannabis sweeps across the United States, director Kyle Thrash’s upcoming short documentary explores the story of the longest serving non-violent offender in Michigan’s history. 1.4 catches up with Thrash, now represented globally by Knucklehead, about the challenges of the project and his widely recognised directing talent in the music video format.

Europe-wide production facilities company 24/7 has announced that it plans to donate all profits generated in Poland to supporting war-torn Ukraine. One way to do that is by shooting in Poland with 24/7's local partner, Radioaktive. Meanwhile, Somesuch co-founder Tim Nash, always brilliant with words, has kindly allowed us to reprint an article he's written on their relationship with Radioaktive. Over the years the companies have established a business and personal partnership that began with shooting Daniel Wolfe’s short film Iron Sky for Paolo Nutini. It includes a clip from Charlie Chaplin's The Great Dictator: 'To those who can hear me, I say do not despair ... The hate of men will pass, and dictators die. And the power they took from the people will return to the people.' So heartbreakingly relevant today.

We’ve always associated directing collective Pantera with heart-melting narrative short films and music videos, but now they’ve released these surreal, wonderfully whacky series for French musician Jacques. Increasingly working out of Paris, the Argentinian directors - aka Francisco Canton and Pato Martnez - talk to us about the art of idiosyncrasy and irreverence and the importance of casting the right worm

Wrapping up our selection of the Big Game's commercials

Non-stop commercials uninterrupted by the football.

The game is over but the commercials are still running. Here's our first pick of the top scorers

Perpetually spinning music and motion

While we were researching the latest fashion films for last week’s collection (ok, one was last season) this latest rendition of Jamiroquai’s much parodied music video, Virtual Insanity, stood out. What better way than to introduce lead singerJay Kay’s fashion collaboration with Comme Des Garçons than this slick choreographed film by Masashi Muto? 1.4 asked the Japanese director how his process differed from Jonathan Glazer’s original created 26 years ago.

Haute couture gets a filmic makeover

Director Oliver Goodrum and writer Alexander Craig revisit the true story behind their acclaimed 2012 short This is Vanity to bring us a second installment from a very different point of view - the life of the aggressor ten years on. 1.4 talks to the director about the challenges of making Iniquity and the allure of darker stories.