ANOTR build a surrealist fever dream party for Like It
The new promo was directed by Alice Kong and
produced by Partizan.
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For their new single Like It, ANOTR invite us into an increasingly unhinged party populated by runaway brides, bodybuilders, American football players, double-denim lovers and a man slowly learning how to dance in a new film directed by Alice Kong and produced by Partizan in Lithuania with Con-Artists.
Built around a simple idea, that music and dance have the ability to bring people together,the film follows a slightly awkward partygoer, played by Eivinas Dziena, who arrives seemingly unable to find his rhythm. One by one, a procession of increasingly surreal characters takes him under their wing, each teaching him a new way to move until, by the film’s climax, the student has become the wildest dancer in the room.
What begins as an unfamiliar social gathering becomes an eerie, fantastical fever dream: a woman bodybuilder appears; two American football players stalk the room in enormous pink and blue uniforms; a runaway bride joins proceedings; a sofa unexpectedly splits open; and one unfortunate guest disappears beneath an extraordinary quantity of foam.
At the centre of Kong’s approach is a collision between fashion imagery, in-camera surrealism and character comedy. Working with longtime collaborator and stylist Agathe Auriffeille, Kong and the team designed and handmade much of the film’s wardrobe specifically for its cast of strange partygoers.
Among them is an affectionate recreation of Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake’s infamous matching denim looks from the 2001 American Music Awards.
“I love fashion references that are instantly recognisable but become slightly ridiculous when you remove them from their original context,” says Kong. “The Britney and Justin double denim felt perfect. Then you have these enormous American football players representing this very clichéd version of masculinity, immediately contrasted with this incredible female bodybuilder. I’m always attracted to characters that can communicate an entire little story just by walking into a room.”
Another familiar figure from Kong’s visual world also makes an appearance: the runaway bride.
“I’m completely obsessed with runaway brides. I’ve already put one in another music video. I have a portrait of one hanging above my bed and at one point I even had a runaway bride as my phone wallpaper. At this point I think I just have to accept they’re going to keep turning up in my work.”
Credits
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- Production Company Partizan/London
- Director Alice Kong
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Credits
View on- Production Company Partizan/London
- Director Alice Kong
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Credits
powered by- Production Company Partizan/London
- Director Alice Kong
Despite the scale of the idea, Like It was shot in a single day. “The biggest challenge was that we had one day to shoot each music video, which was frankly a little insane,” says Kong. “But so am I, so we made it work.”
The production required extensive preparation, with the team designing costumes, dressing the space, developing practical effects and creating choreography that could evolve rapidly between takes.
Cinematographer Joel Hördegård transformed an intentionally bare location into the film’s strange nocturnal playground, using lighting and camera movement to push the room further away from reality as the party escalates.
“The space was extremely bare bones, and Joel somehow turned it into this eerie, fantastical world,” says Kong. “He was annoyingly good. It’s a problem now because I don’t really want to work with anyone else.”
The film’s practical effects team were responsible for some of its most memorable moments, from engineering a sofa that could split apart to determine exactly how much foam was required to completely bury a human being.
“Every part was fun, dressing the room, making costumes, inventing choreography basically on the fly but the special effects were probably my favourite,” Kong says. “There aren’t many jobs where you get to seriously discuss the correct quantity of foam required to bury a man.”On working with Alice, ANOTR had these glowing words to say “Alice Kong is really talented and had a clear vision for the whole thing, while still giving us space to bring our own ideas into it. We’re really happy with how it all came together and with the final result.”
Produced by Partizan, Like it extends ANOTR’s visual universe into something playful, strange and resolutely physical, a celebration of dancing badly, dressing outrageously and eventually surrendering completely to the party.
