Nominations for UK Music Video Awards 2019 reveal the year’s most exciting collaborations between music artists and visual talent

 The nominations for the annual UK Music Video Awards reveal a set of exciting collaborations between music artists and visual creatives over the past year. The annual ceremony, which takes place at the Roundhouse in Chalk Farm, London on Wednesday October 23 will see over 100 UK and international artists contesting awards.

Leading the pack is FKA twigs with Chinese-American director Andrew Thomas Huang, whose video for Cellophane picks up 5 nominations, showcasing twigs’ extraordinary choreography and Huang’s technical prowess to deliver a stunning visual fantasy.

British director Henry Scholfield wins a double nomination in the UK Urban Video category for his videos for Stormzy’s chart-topping Vossi Bop and Wiley’s collaboration with Sean Paul, Stefflon Don and Idris Elba, Boasty, as well as a place on the Best Director shortlist. Meanwhile, US directing heavyweight Paul Thomas Anderson sees his collaboration with Thom Yorke on the short film Anima pick up 3 nominations, for Best Special Video Project, Best Choreography and Best Production Design. Young British director, Frank Lebon enters the nominations for the first time with videos for A$AP Rocky ft Tame Impala’s Sundress and James Blake’s Can’t Believe The Way We Flow, also winning himself a place on the Best Director list.

Previous winner Rosalía continues her run of success at the Awards with 4 nominations, a tally equalled by A$AP Rocky who returns to the shortlists with 3 separate videos for Kids Turned Out Fine, Sundress and his collaboration with FKA twigs on Fukk Sleep. British artists James Blake, The Chemical Brothers, Kojey Radical and Loyle Carner win 3 nominations apiece, along with Swedish songstress Tove Lo.

Mercury Prize-winner Dave gets his first nomination for Best Artist at the Awards, alongside FKA twigs, James Blake, Loyle Carner, Rosalía and American breakout star, Lizzo.

The awards show, which celebrates music video creativity at all levels and from all over the world, is set to showcase music filmmaking achievements in a range of genres, from pop to electronica through, rock, hip hop, grime, rap, R&B, jazz and alternative. Young British artists feature strongly in a range of categories at the UKMVAs, with double nominations for Stormzy, Jorja Smith, Dave, Ghetts, Barns Courtney, and James Massiah. There are also double mentions for established British acts including Ed Sheeran, Mark Ronson, The Chemical Brothers, The 1975, Paloma Faith, Mumford and Sons, and The Specials.

The Best International Pop Video shortlist sees an all-female line-up with Billie Eilish facing off against Madonna, Rosalía, Sigrid and Tove Lo. Among the other notable inclusions in the international categories are Lil Nas X’s chart-busting Old Town Road featuring Billy Ray Cyrus in the Best Urban category, Kamasi Washington’s modern jazz classic Hub-tones by young British director Jenn Nkiru in the Best Alternative category, and Alabama Shakes singer, Brittany Howard’s Stay High in the Best Rock category, directed by Kim Gehrig whose video for Chaka Khan’s Like Sugar was a double winner at last year’s event.

A number of celebrated directing talents feature in this year’s shortlists, not least American directing heavyweight, Paul Thomas Anderson for his collaboration with Thom Yorke, music video legend Spike Jonze for his live video for Karen O and Danger Mouse, and British BAFTA winner, Aneil Karia who directed Kano’s Trouble. There are also multiple nominations for videos by young British directing talent including Charlotte Regan, Duncan Loudon, Dan Emmerson, Frank Lebon, Louis Bhose and Taz Tron Delix. Meanwhile, 2017’s New Director winner, Matilda Finn has won a place in this year’s Best director shortlist.

Among the international filmmaking talent gaining more than one nomination are US director Dave Meyers, French newcomer Sacha Barbin, Lisbon-born João Retorta, Israeli directors Val Muggia and Vania Heymann, American Nick Roney as well as powerhouse duo, Diana Kunst and Mau Morgó.

In the craft categories, a host of new names win shortlist places for their work. Among them, BRIT School graduate Nat Zangi for her choreography work on Jungle’s Casio alongside Israeli-born Jasmin Vardimon who worked with Paloma Faith on her video for Loyal. The Best Styling category sees a first-time appearance on the shortlist for Belgian/Congolese artist Baloji for his self-styled film Zonbies, as well as Brits Taff Williamson for Little Dragon and Matthew Josephs for Kojey Radical. London-based team Studio Augmenta wins a Best Production Design nomination for Jorja Smith’s Be Honest and another team, The Joy of Sets, won the judges’ approval for their work on Lee Ann Womack’s Hollywood.

This year’s nominated DoPs in the Best Cinematography category include 5 new shortlistees – Benoit Soler, Daniel Fernández-Abelló, Ruben Woodin Dechamps, Molly Manning Walker and Sam Meyer – alongside last year’s double-nominee Kanamé Onoyama, In the editing category there are first-time nominations for The Quarry’s Flaura Atkinson and TenThree’s Liam Bachler, while the best colour grading category sees an all- British line-up including last year’s victor, Framestore’s Simon Bourne. British animators Ewan Jones Morris and Casey Raymond, find themselves up against 2017’s winners Karni and Saul, and double-nominee Chris Ullens in the animation category alongside 3 new shortlistees: Richie Oldfield, Páraic Mc Gloughlin and Hungarian-born Balázs Simon. The Best VFX category sees artists from two London powerhouses gaining nominations for their work: Electric Theatre Collective for Beardyman ft Joe Rogan, and The Mill for The Chemical Brothers.

As well as honouring the best work in music videos, there are also awards at the UKMVAs for live music performance films, with nominations in the shortform category for 5 London-shot films for Kano, Kojey Radical, Mumford & Sons, Tom Walker and Wolf Alice, and 1 Paris-based production for American singer Maggie Rogers. In the concert category, Coldplay, Justice, Kylie and Paul Weller all win places in the shortlist.

The UK Music Video Awards editorial director, David Knight, says, “It’s a big moment for the international music video industry when the nominations for the UKMVAs are announced. As always, 100s of music video professionals have taken part in judging this year. And the industry has now spoken, picking what it regards as the best work, and the greatest individual contributions of the year. The nominations are a remarkable expression of the creativity in music videos right now – vibrant, iconoclastic, increasingly diverse. They are also confirmation of the wonderful craft and technical expertise evident in the medium – from filmmaking rookies to Oscar-winners.”

The 12th annual UK Music Video Awards ceremony will be staged at the Roundhouse on 23rd October, and will be hosted once again by BUG frontman, and UKMVA regular host, Adam Buxton.