Joy Crookes' throws herself into a relationship, for better and for worse, in an impressive step into a full-blown narrative video by directing duo Ethan & Tom.In the video for Painkiller, Ethan & Tom put an engagingly fresh spin on the story of a faltering love affair. That is partly down to the structure, but mainly due to how good Joy Crookes is in the role, and her chemistry with her leading man.Shot across Chicago, the film follows Joy through the city as the scales tip - from a happy start through to her waning confidence in the relationship, incorporating performance with the fastmoving narrative and then including Denzel Curry's rap on a karaoke screen. [imgtoken data:1]Joy's brief for the video was specific: the relationship should read as good at the start, and the illusion should come apart as the song does, so by the end the audience has watched a man's charm curdle. Ethan & Tom hold to that arc while keeping the tone light. The song has a tongue-in-cheek quality about someone who keeps being forgiven despite themselves, and the video carries that – it is a sad song shot with a sense of irreverence, fun, and abandon.Part of the success of the video is the casting of Joy's leading man. After a conventional search failed to produce worthy leading-man candidates, Partizan producer Danny Herman street-cast Matt Whipps at The Wormhole Coffee Shop in Chicago shortly before the shoot. His unrehearsed naturalism against Joy's performance lets the relationship's slow collapse register as observed rather than acted.Ultimately this is a confident step-up by Ethan & Tom into narrative territory. It moves between two textures – the immediacy of Chicago and the degraded warmth of tape – without losing its thread. With an excellent cut by editor Liv Ay, it reads as a breakup told in glimpses; funny where it needs to be, and honest about how long it takes to see what was in front of you.

Global award-winning creative production company freenjoy is partnering with the UK Music Video Awards for the first time, sponsoring the prestigious Best Director award at this year's UKMVAs.freenjoy is an internationally recognized creative studio and production company creating work across music, film, fashion, advertising and contemporary art. Built around a 'for artists, by artists' point of view, the company philosophy is that no project is created alone.Rather than operating with a traditional roster, freenjoy - founded by Nathan Scherrer in 2014 - works through a global community of independent directors, photographers and filmmakers. Much of the company’s vitality comes from building long-term relationships with both established and emerging talent, supporting artists and creating the space for them to develop their own fingerprint.[imgtoken data:1]“As a platinum sponsor of Best Director, we’re so honoured to support the category, the directors and crews whose work continues to challenge the industry, and the UKMVAs’ longstanding commitment to creating space for the best and boldest work,” says Tara Sheree, Creative Partner and Executive Producer at freenjoy. “Having been born and raised in London, it's particularly meaningful and exciting to be building a freenjoy presence here.”“2026 also marks the launch of freenjoy in the UK, making this year’s partnership with the UKMVAs especially significant,” adds Nathan Scherrer, founder and Executive Producer at freenjoy. “For us, this isn’t about expansion for expansion’s sake. It’s about becoming more connected to a creative community we’ve admired and worked alongside for many years. We’re excited to continue to support more and more artists here moving forward."The news of freenjoy's partnership with the UK Music Video Awards arrives as members of the MVAs Jury are judging videos in nearly 40 categories, including Best Director. In the Best Video by Music Genre and Technical Achievement categories, the second round of judging has now begun, with panels meeting to make their final choices, and will run until later this month. Judging in the Individual and Company categories continues on the judging platform.The nominations for this year's UK Music Video Awards will be announced at a Nominations Party on Thursday, October 1st - more details about that coming soon. The UKMVAs 2026 awards show takes place on Wednesday, November 4th, when the UKMVAs will return to The Roundhouse in north London. Details on booking tickets for the event coming soon.• More information at ukmva.com[imgtoken data:2]

Romain Chassaing directs an amazing comedy action thriller for Dizzee Rascal, to rank with his previous videos for the grime icon.In fact, Chassaing's video for Foxtrot Oscar is probably the most Bonkers of the lot. A four minute live action cartoon, that takes the current Dizzee persona to the absolute max. In a stylised London, burglars interrupt Dizzee's late-night reading to steal his own portrait. Unfazed, he draws his gun: every bullet births a miniature flying Dizzee, and the chase is on, through alleyways, pubs and museums, until his image floods every corner of the city.This is a jawdropping spectacle, made possible by a combination of techniques, including what is described as 'ethical generative AI' used by a new Paris VFX studio, Ready.Most importantly it does have the distinctive feel of a Romain Chassaing video for Dizzee Rascal - a fine successor to their previous collabs in 2017 and 18, the brilliant Bop N Keep It Dippin and Money Right, both commissioned by the late John Moule.[imgtoken data:1] [imgtoken data:2][imgtoken data:3][imgtoken data:4]

Pink Siifu becomes the devil on the shoulder of an evangelical preacher in Ludovic Gontrand's spectacular and thought-provoking video for the American rapper's collaboration with his wife SS. Slyver.Stemming from the hypnotic nature of the track, Gontrand's video for Devil's Advocate presents the preacher's meeting to a fervent congregation of true believers. The video blurs the line between belief, manipulation, performance and possession - and the director's references include the tale of Faust. As we suspect the preacher has sold his own soul to the Faustian Pink Siifu. The video also subverts some of the clichés of evangelism, through its cinematic textures. Filmed at a big converted cinema turned evangelist church in North London, it's an impressively large scale production, with a cast of 100 fervent church-goers. And the investment in having this large cast of extras as the congregation really pays off. They provide a sea of faces - many older, experienced faces - who provide the emotional depth of the piece - the element of honesty and goodness - while Siifu and the preacher move through them.With the constantly moving camera and a pulsating edit, this big chaotic show - a hybrid of a concert, a sermon, a scam, and a possession - is disorientating and breathless, with an element of the surreal. And it's fascinating, as Ludovic Gontrand puts a new spin on the ruthless business of religion.