Sandro Rados: Hard truths and sensitive subjects

In November last year, director Sandro Rados arrived at shots’ 2024 EMEA Awards ceremony ready to do the usual rounds of drinks and industry chatter. Despite being nominated for New Director, he was happily resigned to enjoying the night rather than winning.

“I came in thinking Molly Manning-Walker would win, so I was completely relaxed and had no expectations. When my name was announced, I couldn’t believe it,” he laughs, as we catch up almost twelve months on from his unexpected accolade.

R.E.M., Soundgarden’s Black Hole Sun, Michael and Janet Jackson, Jamiroquai; they all mesmerised me. 

It wasn’t long after his shots EMEA win that things started to shift. Having already been in contact with RSA Films, he soon signed to their UK roster. “That was huge for me,” he says. “I then started getting contacted by production companies I’d looked up to for a long time, which was surreal and very encouraging.”

Above: Sandro Rados, photographed by Sara Finezzo. 

Yet, with this influx of attention came a reality check about the industry, especially when it came to the type of work clients were looking for. “I realised the kind of films I was making weren’t always what agencies were after, even though productions were keen to work with me,” he explains, describing how he’d often get pitched for big projects by companies who believed in his vision – a belief not always returned by agencies. Still, he views it as a blessing in disguise now, as time away from commercial work became valuable hours spent honing his independent films, which centre around themes of identity and social justice.

Everything I’d been interested in seemed to come together there – sound, visuals, storytelling – and people responded really well to what I made. 

Like many creatives, Rados’ love of storytelling began early with dreams of becoming an animation artist, inspired by a love of Disney’s Fantasia, “I watched that film so many times as a kid. I loved classical music and animations without a clear narrative structure. It’s interesting when people say I have a distinctive style; I don’t always see it myself. But I think a lot of it comes from those early influences.” Another formative inspiration was music videos, which he diligently watched on TV every morning before school, getting up early just to catch the new ones. “R.E.M., Soundgarden’s Black Hole Sun, Michael and Janet Jackson, Jamiroquai; they all mesmerised me. I think that love for rhythm and visual experimentation stayed with me.”

Above: Rados as a child. 

For a long time, Rados channelled his creative energy through music, which led him to a job as a radio and TV electrician. “It was interesting,” he continues, “because I got to see inside so many people’s homes and different life realities, but I knew it wasn’t really for me.” It wasn’t until he was accepted into the Film Academy Baden-Württemberg, where he could experiment across different media, that he discovered his true love: film. “Looking at his work and seeing the world through his different camera lenses as a kid was fascinating That gave me the confidence to keep pursuing it seriously.”

Filmmaking, it turns out, was also in Rados’ blood, as his grandfather was a documentary videographer and photographer who would always have his camcorder out when he came to visit. “Looking at his work and seeing the world through his different camera lenses as a kid was fascinating,” he recalls fondly.

Above: Rados and crew on set, shooting his Ecosia commercial. 

Rados took his first serious step into directing when a friend asked him to create content for a clothing brand. Together, they developed a concept and shot footage throughout the summer. After sharing it online, a Swiss production company reached out and asked him to make a commercial for an online magazine. A month later, he was in Barcelona, on set with a 20-person crew. “It was my first proper ad,” he explains, “and it all came from those improvised DSLR projects I’d done with friends.”

My parents are from Bosnia, and the country was at war when I was a child. Seeing life there had a big impact on me. 

In 2020, while studying in Baden-Württemberg, Rados created a bold and playful spec film for environmentally friendly search engine Ecosia, titled Weird Search Requests, in which curious internet-searchers leave a trail of trees behind them. Selected as a Vimeo Staff Pick, it went on to earn him a Young Director Award in Cannes, among others.

Other standout projects include a gritty promo for alt-rock duo Apple Shaker’s 2024 track Brick by Brick – a lo-fi, home-movie-style experiment shot on a 2002 Olympus Camedia digicam – and a powerful monochrome campaign for the United Nations, titled Secondo, which explored racial discrimination. “All my recent commercials, especially for Ecosia and the United Nations, were very creatively satisfying,” he adds. “Each had a simple core idea, and the fun part was figuring out how to make it visually engaging and emotionally resonant.”

Even though being white in one of the richest countries in the world is a huge privilege, I’m still aware of injustice and difference.

But it was his bold spot for Nike Seoul, Ajumma Energy, which scooped him the shots New Director award in 2024, along with Ciclope Berlin’s New Generation prize. The film centres around a young baseball player whose attention is caught by an energetic group of older Korean women (Ajummas), inspiring her to follow them and uncover the secret of their vitality. With Rados’ sensitivity and subtle humour, the vibrant, stylised spot flips negative stereotypes about Ajummas on their head.

Growing up in Switzerland, in a working-class environment that seemed to value economic efficiency above all else, Rados often felt his creative dreams were out of reach as a child. However, that same environment shaped the grounded, socially aware voice that defines his filmmaking today. “My parents are from Bosnia, and the country was at war when I was a child. Seeing life there had a big impact on me. Even though being white in one of the richest countries in the world is a huge privilege, I’m still aware of injustice and difference.” 

 I just focus on making each experience as strong and meaningful as it can be for the audience.

Rados feels strongly that any influence he has as a filmmaker should be used to give visibility to those whose voices often go unheard. “It’s not about being altruistic,” he says. “It’s just something I’ve felt strongly about since I was young: standing up for others who don’t have the same opportunities.”

His 2022 short film Dignity Keeper touches on themes that hit particularly close to home. Told with emotional insight, it follows Esma, a migrant mobile nurse navigating an especially challenging day. “It’s inspired by my mother’s story,” he says. “That was a deeply fulfilling project because I felt uniquely positioned to tell it. It was a world I knew so well. That felt very special.”

Above: Rados on set of his upcoming film, Transfer. 

This past year, he’s been writing, developing, and is currently shooting, his second narrative film, Transfer, which follows 28-year-old physiotherapist Nathalie’s struggle with the loss of a sibling. “It’s about a young woman who loses her brother but refuses to face her grief,” explains Rados. “She tries to control her environment instead of processing what’s happened. Eventually, she’s forced to accept it. It’s quite dark and emotional – very different from my commercial work.” He’s planning to release the film sometime in 2026.

If you’re too harsh or unforgiving with yourself, that inner creative child – the playful, curious part of you – hides away.

For Rados, there’s no hard line between his commercial and personal work; both are deeply rooted in storytelling, using the same skills to shape a narrative finely tuned to the needs of the audience and the sensitivity of his subject. “The industry tends to separate them, but for me, it’s all about storytelling length,” he says. “Some stories need a minute; others need eight or more. It’s about knowing who you’re speaking to. A commercial might aim for clarity and emotional punch within seconds, while a short film allows you to explore something deeper. I just focus on making each experience as strong and meaningful as it can be for the audience.”