‘Creative Directions’ is a series organised by Ana Nicolaescu exploring the origins and contemporary contours of creative direction—that amorphously aspirational vocation that now dominates an era of cultural production in which the rapacious logics of the fashion cycle have bled into all adjacent disciplines.
The second event in the Creative Directions series welcomes Akinola Davies Jr. to speak about his multi-disciplined practice from its origins to the ways it takes shape today. Working across narrative filmmaking through to fashion films and music videos, his moving image work tests the strengths of storytelling to communicate aspects of community, race and identity in both artistic and commercial contexts. Weaving in and around three short films, he will speak about filmmaking techniques, his approach to directing and how he navigates the creative industry today.
AKINOLA DAVIES JR. is a BAFTA-nominated and Sundance award-winning filmmaker and visual artist. His work spans nations to explore themes of community, race, spirituality, identity and gender, telling stories that bridge the gap between traditional and millennial communities. Akinola’s narrative short film ‘Lizard’ premiered at Sundance where it won the Grand Jury Prize and went on to win the Blackstar Film Festival Short Film Award. The short was also nominated for the BAFTA for Best British Short Film in 2021. He was named one of Screen Daily’s ‘Stars of Tomorrow’ in 2020 and was selected for the Berlinale Talents 2020.
Akinola has become a go-to creative in the fashion industry working with brands such as Gucci, Acne Studios, COS, Moncler, Kenzo, Mulberry, Louis Vuitton and the like on multiple creative projects, in front of and behind the camera. Alongside his work in narrative film and fashion, Akinola has directed music videos for the likes of Neneh Cherry, Kae Tempest and Blood Orange.
Image: KENZO Gidi Gidi Bu Ugwu Eze (Unity is Strength), a film by Akinola Davies Jr & Ruth Ossai, 2017
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