On My Radar: Jake Mavity

What the most creative advertising idea you’ve seen recently?

It’s so easy to get lost in the long grass of advertising and forget that great films are all about making you feel big emotions. The world is still waiting for a more euphoric ad than adam&eveDDB’s Avanti spot. A tortoise on skates flying around to Algerian disco, stunningly executed with a bucketload of charm. Love it.

What website(s) do you use most regularly?

I love digging for obscure records that could be the soundtrack to something. Great music is often a big part of my work, and Radiooooo is on another level for finding under-the-radar sounds. A map of the world and a century of music to choose from... amazing. Then I move swiftly over to Discogs to buy whatever I’ve found, before weeping softly to myself because of my uncontrollable vinyl addiction.

What’s the most recent piece of tech that you’ve bought?

Some sort of camera. Probably the Insta360 Go 2 [below] (look, I don’t make up the names), which is unbelievably tiny and brilliant for grabbing dynamic action shots. It’s perfect for strapping to my snowboard, bike or cat.

What product could you not live without?

My vintage De Rosa bike is probably the most uncomfortable bike I’ve ever ridden, but it’s beautiful and takes me home whenever I ask nicely.

What’s the best film you’ve seen over the last year?

I like a good coming-of-age story, and Paolo Sorrentino’s autobiographical The Hand of God really brings 80s Naples to life. We see the world through the wide-eyes of its adolescent hero and the juxtaposition between farce and tragedy has really stayed with me. And Clio Barnard’s unconventional and tender love story Ali & Ava is smashing too.

What film do you think everyone should have seen?

Ciro Guerra’s Embrace of the Serpent is a masterpiece. It tackles colonialism, western exceptionalism and the fetishisation of indigenous cultures, all stunningly shot on black and white film. It’s a bit Heart of Darkness, but mainly it is its own thing - a totally stand-out meditation on Colombian Amazonian identity. I’ve made it sound off-puttingly worthy, but ignore my first year film studies write up and just watch it.

What’s your preferred social media platform?

When TikTok is good, it’s properly ace and reminds me of Vine in its pomp, with loads of young, creative peeps making stuff with not very much. All idea, none of the gear. Creativity is often at its best when it is totally pared back and answering to no-one. But, that said, there is still a hell of a lot of filler on the platform, and lived experiences are incredibly important to my creative process. So, I try to watch a little and do a lot.

What’s your favourite TV show?

I love a British comedy and King Gary’s [below] been on heavy rotation recently. It’s a gentle piss-take of a well-to-do working class family and is brimming full of affectionate observations of suburban life. But all time fav? Peep Show has survived multiple rewatches and The Armando Iannucci show’s blend of comedic melancholia is pretty perfect too.

What’s your favourite podcast?

I don’t really listen to podcasts as it’s just time I could be spent listening to music. But From the Ouasthouse, by Alan Partridge, is a stuck-in-traffic-on-a-long-car-journey classic.

What show/exhibition has most inspired you recently?

I live in Tottenham, and the Bernie Arts Centre puts on amazing talks. We even had our own Tottenham Literary Festival, which was brilliant and very inspiring. [Author] Bernardine Evaristo discussed her creative process, and it was both motivating and extremely humbling. A true heavyweight talent.

If you could only listen to one music artist from now on, who would it be?

I first came across Fatoumata Diawara [below] when I watched Sissako’s Timbuktu. I was spellbound by her voice and charisma, so when my wife and I tied the knot, her music became the de facto soundtrack to our wedding. Although part of me would be left hankering for some garage or jungle...