Disturbingly the Syrian conflict has now been raging for ten years with more than 600,000 people killed or missing and over 13.7 million now living in internal camps or as refugees abroad.  Director Paul Nevison's  experiences of visiting a such a camp in Lebanon have haunted him ever since and are behind his latest film which captures the resilience and resourcefulness of Syrians trying to protect their families from the horrors of war and displacement.   

Born in Toronto, Canada but ‘made’ in South Africa, director Marc Sidelsky has established his comedy credentials with a slew of subversively funny films. From commercial spots for VW and KFC to a literal coming-of-age music video for Dearly Beloved’s ‘Close Encounters’, his work taps into seemingly infinite shades of humour reflecting his ecletic, genre-agnostic filmic influences. A detail-orientated director, Sidelsky’s meticulous eye for set design, casting and framing finds its ultimate expression in his 1.4 Award-winning spot for Shelflife: Stussy x Nike, a refreshing new twist on fashion advertising. He tells 1.4 why the biggest hurdle is winning his own approval.

More music and film to make the world spin

The world is a beautiful place when it's filled with sublime music and film

We at 1.4 think Women’s International Day should run throughout the year, particularly when there’re spirited spots waving the flag and raising the consciousness. But we’re not completely biased of course. We love great car ads and films that highlight the value of sport on mental health too.

A cinematographer by trade, Farhad Ghaderi has only made a handful of forays into directing but his deeply personal touch, lyrical storytelling and ability to coax authentic performances from his cast have already marked him out as a rare talent. Drawing on the ‘beautifully chaotic’ cultures of his Mexican-Iranian heritage as well as plundering his own memories, his films have family at their core: be it the love-hate bond between brothers, or intergenerational trauma seen through the prism of a mother-daughter relationship. He talks to 1.4 about the appeal of bittersweet narratives, balancing the creative demands of cinematography and directing, and removing the ‘artifice of filmmaking’.

Less is most definitely more in the craft of animator Rosa Fisher, who can conjure up an entire narrative in her trademark scribble, deftly conveying deep emotions and complex characters in a couple of pen strokes. A rebel at heart, she’s interested in challenging established norms and breaking out of the boxes that society tries to confine us in, using colour as metaphor and inventive sound design to celebrate individuality and question conformity – from the damaging tradition of boarding school to PE lessons. She talks to 1.4 about learning the power of simplicity and the delights of working with her father on her award-winning short film.

A stormy night. A ship at sea, tossed on towering waves. Below decks, the passengers are confined to their cabins, the babble of increasingly bad news from the radio their only link to the outside world. A rising sense of panic as the boat pitches and rolls, buffeted by the storm. And then, glimpsed through the porthole, a literal ray of light: the circling beam of a lighthouse, the promise of safe harbour. As a visual allegory for the events of the last year, Through The Storm – a new short film for Vogue Italia – is perfect, with Swiss directing duo Kim and Florine Nüesch deftly capturing the sense of dread, isolation and finally hope. Anchored by their trademark styling and detailed production design, it’s that rare beast: a fashion film with substance as well as style. The sisters tell 1.4 about working together as siblings, the realities of shooting in a pandemic and how coming from a long line of Swiss architects has shaped their detail-orientated approach.

As a young Muslim growing up in post 9-11 America, Bilal S. Haider was deluged by negative media portrayals and prejudiced narratives – a legacy that has now led him, in his filmmaking career, to focus his lens on the dehumanising impact of social stigma on individuals. Driven by a simple ideology to create, his intensely personal approach finds heartbreaking expression in The Prisoner’s Song, a chiascuro portrait of a prisoner’s attempt to reintegrate into society, and the barriers which linger long after physical shackles have been removed. He tells 1.4 how the visual intimacy of Islam influences his craft, and the importance of making films that speak to our shared humanity.

Argentina’s capital Buenos Aires, birthplace of Lucrecia Taormina, translates as ‘fair winds’ – an appropriate description of the talented photographer-director, whose bold, unapologetic approach is a real breath of fresh air in the world of music videos. Having stumbled into directing on a whim, she’s tackled such weighty themes as rampant consumerism and female empowerment, carving out a niche in dark narratives where body parts get traded for designer goodies and bloody revenge is meted out on useless boyfriends. Fresh from the release of a new promo for Steven Wilson, she talks to 1.4 about the importance of meticulous planning and why her subconscious always steers her to the dark side.

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