In Search Of Yang feels like a conspiracy theory you want to believe — funny, feral and weirdly heartfelt. Sharif, please talk us through how the narrative came together, what sparked the idea, and where you wanted it to land emotionally? It’s so joyfully unhinged but I’m not sure I’m decoding it right.
This video started as a conversation with the band about the track and spiraled into this conspiracy led story. There’s a sample in the intro that talks about a secret theory, which really sets the tone for everything. The song has no lipsync, so we leaned fully into the filmmaking and asked: what if we just follow a conspiracy neurotic? A guy who falls out of the sky, respawning (or at least he thinks he is) over and over until he completes his mission on earth: finding his light, his counterpart. Someone who speaks the same visual language. In the end it’s about an outsider who finds his soulmate. From the start I pitched it as Fight Club meets Napoleon Dynamite. Chaotic, absurd, unhinged, and kind of heartfelt in its own strange way.
Actor Sam Spruell was great to work with and completely made the character his own. We had a lot of fun. We shot the whole thing in Kosovo in one day because the budget was tight, which was honestly insaneee, but we were determined to make it happen, and somehow we pulled it off.
BTS: Sharif Abdel Mawla
