Strange, but absolutely true: videos for British bands are now coming out of Guatemala. Yes, Guatamala, Central America.

After his wonderful video for The Wave Pictures, the follow-up by Guatemala City-based director Eduardo Benchoam is for the widely touted Nick Webber – aka Archangel. It’s another commission via Radar, and the video for How To Lose Your Best Friend has a whole new level of ambitious sophistication – it comes in two forms, for TV, and an interactive web version.

The ‘TV’ video has Nick Webber discovering some wild party action out in the woods. The interactive video loosely expands on story strands of different individuals at the party. Actually the interactive version – where the viewer can arrange the stories into any order they like – was conceived first.

“The internet rules! Free access to anything, anywhere is beautiful… but in regards to promos, it is changing the way we can experience information,” explains Eduardo. “I wanted to make a simple interactive video in which the viewer could participate in how the story unfolds. The concept would revolve around the track and a TV version would then be designed to compliment the web version.”

The ‘interactive’ story strands in particular are open-ended and enigmatic, encouraging the viewer to shift their order. “The entire process was a lot of fun for me,” continues Eduardo. “After its release, different people have been sharing their theories on what happens in the video – which is also quite cool. So I’m definitely looking forward to doing it again.”

Archangel
How To Lose Your Best Friend
Prod co: Colectiva
Director: Eduardo Benchoam
Producer: Stefan Benchoam
DoP: Ari Issler
Art direction: Ambush Studio
Commissioner: Archangel through Radar Music Videos
Watch: TV version
Watch: Web version