Douglas Bernardt finds beauty amid devastation in this poignant and emotive video for the Sao Paulo-based Loïc Koutana.

This piece, for Koutana's L'Homme Statue focusses on the aftermath of a tragedy: in February this year, Koutana and his partner Raphael Lobato's apartment caught fire, and they lost everything they had in a matter of seconds. In the video they return to the apartment - this was shot in the six hours they had to find what was left inside the apartment, before it was taken over by authorities. 

Instead of focusing exclusively on the damage and wreckage, Bernardt - who's groundbreaking video Bluesman was nominated at the UKMVAs this year, and won at Cannes Lions - focusses upon the small things. When we see Koutana and Lobato embrace in their bedroom, surrounded by black, charred surfaces, the sense of loss of a beloved home is overwhelming. But it's also a celebration of the resilience of the human spirit, and the love around them - friends and family have helped to get them on their feet again.

Hailing from the Côte d’Ivoire, but based in Brazil for the last five years, Loïc Koutana has already become a significant figure in the fight for free expression in the LGBTQ+ community. Douglas Bernardt does a great service to the artist by focussing upon the brave response to his and his partner's personal disaster in such a poetic fashion - and cements his own reputation as a formidable image-maker.