Micha Akchoti directs a stirring promo for Timothée Joly, filming the French artist at locations in Europe associated with authoritarian regimes in the 20th century.

The video for Oxygène Pur explores freedom in the context of people's own lives, jobs and relationships, visualised through breathtaking environments and creative cinematography. 

The monochromatic aesthetic, paired with the quick-cut edit and riotous track create an alluring yet disruptive energy which perfectly reflects the theme of the lyrics. 

"At a time where fascism and authoritarian tendencies are strongly rising again in Europe and everywhere in the world, a lot of people feel the need of freedom and space in a wider sense," says Akchoti. "Therefore, we use this song as an hymn to freedom and express the metaphor politically by shooting the artist only in front of buildings which were made under Italian fascism in Rome, or the Communist occupation in East Berlin.

"The contrast of the artist stuck and contrived in the frames under the weight of this architecture and past with this black and white propaganda aesthetic, singing about his need to free himself and breathe pure oxygen, says a lot about the current state of the world in my point of view."