FASHION & FANTASY | PART 29

This month I curated a set of colorful and vibrant short films and campaigns focused on sport and movement. I find that sport is a field that has been explored through video extensively in the past few years with the rise of sportswear, with a great deal of outstanding content being released online. It’s something that tends to be more accessible than what we consider to be fashion and that a wider audience can relate to. 

The five videos below were shot for different purposes, but all excel in their creative approach. With the boundaries between narrative-driven short films, advertising and more abstract fashion films becoming gradually more thin, the one thing that still stands unmoved is how directors are able to bring their visions to life.
 

Z Zegna. Directed by Giacomo Boeri

In Z Zegna we see tennis champion Alexander Zverev take on a tennis-playing machine on the courts. The machine comes to life—shaking with exertion, releasing smoke like sweat and making metallic sounds like breathing. The result is an epic, ironic and surreal match as Zverev, ranked fourth worldwide, faces down the ultimate partner.
 

Tam Tam - Outside the Lines. Directed by Greg Hackett

Tam Tam tells the story of an Italian basketball team fighting for the right to compete in the regional leagues. The film is set in Castel Volturno, a communue of about 25,000 inhabitants of which 20% are registered migrants. However, the Italian Basketball Federation states that only two players per team can be migrants—something that has led to a wider conversation about Italian citizenship and integration, as well as questioning what it means to be Italian.
 

Hong Kong Ballet “Never Standing Still.” Directed by Dean Alexander

Breaking old stereotypes, “Never Standing Still” celebrates ballet as a contemporary art form for  the 40th anniversary of the Hong Kong Ballet. The campaign aims at positioning classical ballet dancers as current, illustrated by having them throw bold and graphic shapes against Hong Kong’s vibrant architecture. It combines Revel’s Bolero with subtle layers of pop beats, highlighting Hong Kong Ballet’s Chinese roots through a modern angle in line with the title of the campaign: Never Standing Still.
 

Elephant Polo The King’s Cup. Directed by Stefan Heinrichs

Filmed in black and white, Heinrich’s work reveals the characters behind the extraordinary sport of Elephant Polo. Held in the royal town of Hua Hin, Thailand, the event has a rather surreal air to it bringing together international sports stars and European royals with Buddhist monks and transgender beauty queens. With this piece Heinrich is able to capture some of the more quieter events through a sequence of moving portraits—a technique that he has used on several projects for brands such as Moncler and Mykita. 
 

Shot Put! Directed by Jaroslav Moravec

In this comedic exploration of the world of Shot Put, director Jaroslav Moravec tells us about Miloš—a not so popular kid dedicated to this sport. Endlessly practicing in order to finally being able to excel at something, the heavy metal ball he keeps on throwing is but a metaphor for the bad luck that seems to harass him since he was a kid.