Watch all 10 cinematic tributes to the albums shortlisted for the 2020 Polaris Music Prize
CBC Music | CBC Music | Posted: October 20, 2020 1:30 AM | Last Updated: October 20, 2020
This year, the Polaris Music Prize celebration was like nothing you've seen before. Instead of a gala with live music, attended by artists and music fans, it became a special cinematic tribute to the 10 musical acts on the 2020 short list.
The Polaris Music Prize invited 10 Canadian filmmakers to each create a film inspired by one of the shortlisted albums. Watch them in full below.
Backxwash, God Has Nothing to do With This Leave Him Out of It
Directed by Ashanti Mutinta and Chachi Revah.
Ashanti and Chachi are longtime collaborators, with Chachi serving as Backxwash's creative director. Their film is an open letter to Ashanti's father as told through a nightmarish fever dream.
Caribou, Suddenly
Directed by Isabella Salas and Mark Ó Fearghaíl.
Suddenly's mesmerizing visuals were created by training a data set of 64,000 overlapping images of exotic flowers, coral reefs and graphic patterns to react to the pitch and rhythm of Caribou's music. The result is both unearthly and deeply organic.
Junia-T, Studio Monk
Directed by Yassin 'Narcy' Alsalman.
The Monk is the name of Narcy's Junia-T inspired film, a meditation on a world after police abolishment, where the rhythm of progress is not always a steady beat.
The Monk is the name of Narcy's Junia-T inspired film, a meditation on a world after police abolishment, where the rhythm of progress is not always a steady beat.
Kaytranada, Bubba
Directed by Scott McPherson.
McPherson's work is a modern affair disguised as a fashion film. The dreamlike sets are real locations, like the Château de Rambouillet in northern France, interpreted through a surrealist lens.
Néhiyawak, nipiy
Directed by Conor McNally.
One of the first things Néhiyawak ever recorded as a group was the score for McNally's film, ôtênaw. Their new collaboration features an interview with Reuben Quinn, an instructor of Nehiyaw language and philosophy for 16 years.
Pantayo, Pantayo
Directed by Tricia Hagoriles.
Led by an all-Filipinx creative team, this film is a mix of cyberpunk and folklore, telling a story of sisterhood and resistance.
Lido Pimienta, Miss Colombia
Directed by Andres Landau and Lido Pimienta.
This film combines a quinceañera party-themed live performance with documentary footage that was shot while Pimienta recorded her album in Colombia in 2018 and '19.
Jessie Reyez, Before Love Came to Kill us
Directed by Alicia K. Harris.
Fresh off winning best live action short drama at the Canadian Screen Awards, Alicia K. Harris updates the classic story of Love on the Run with a supernatural spin. For the Reyez superfans, keep an eye out for the Easter egg references to her lyrics throughout.
U.S. Girls, Heavy Light
Directed by Meg Remy, Norah Sadava and Colin Medley.
Inspired by the work and movement of Blondell Cummings, this film, called Woodstock '99, invites you to remember where you were when the infamous music festival went off the rails.
Witch Prophet, DNA Activation
Directed by Witch Prophet and Frocasso.
This is an Afro-futurist dream, following Witch Prophet on a spirit-guided mission to open and strengthen her connection to her ancestors. It's also a family affair, starring Witch Prophet's mother, sister and two cousins.