Radar Awards is a new initiative based out of London that acknowledges upcoming artists and music video directors. Contestants sent in their music videos from over the past year, totalling over 700 entires. The Radar team then selected the top 15 videos for each category. EARMILK along with many other music platforms and specialists goes through the process of watching and ranking the proposed best. The winners receive special publicity through VEVO, aid from leading production companies, and new equipment and software for future projects.
The winner for the Indie category is Susanne Sundfør and her flashy video for “Accelerate”. The director is Stian Andersen, a Norwegian film maker and photographer. Susanne is originally from Iceland, which perhaps has influenced the cooler touch of a black and white colour scheme. The psychedelic lighting is contrasted with various darker attempts to silence the singer. The melody itself is catchy and Susanne's voice pierces through on the chorus.
The winner for the Dance section is Fakear with a elaborately told story called "Animal". Antoine Besse is the director behind the video, a French director with experience in music videos, short films, and commercials. Fakear and his song "Animal" also won best artist, which is highly credible among the hundreds of nominees for each category.
The music video itself sparks a range of emotions, as one can't help but re-watch the intriguing timeline set in Myanmar. There is a clear story that unfolds following a small child in search of balloons of all kinds. The music is relatively simple and soothing, yet the child's attitude matches the upbeat tempo. While he finally finds what he is looking for, the beginning narration makes one ponder on the child's fate.
The Radar Awards could not have been made possible without the ambitious attitudes of the director Caroline Bottomley, promotions manager Lizzie Cooley, and the other amazing staff who were behind the idea. Caroline adds,
"Radar Awards is all about finding and connecting up & coming talent – bringing exciting new video directors worldwide to the attention of artists and labels, and celebrating the artists and labels who commission those directors. We're already big in this space, but the sector could do with a lot more diversity and our ambitions include helping make this happen."
The overall support Radar Awards received from judges and media channels, which agreed in showcasing new music videos, is a positive sign of the event growing. In future years, hopefully other artists from an international media sphere will submit alternative and interesting video projects. You can watch a short recap of the award ceremony below.
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