5. CAMIILA MORENO / “RAPTADO” / DIR. PABLO MIRANDA DINAMARCA [CHL]
Sometimes it can be hard to find a music video treatment that can fit the song to a tee. Chilean folk favorite Camila Moreno and her team make it look easy. Her music video for “Raptado” is an aesthetic trip that doubles as an art film. By taking several visual cues from Chicago-based photographer Kyle Thompson’s work, the intimate track is brought to life in the middle of a beautiful Chilean forest. Between the melancholy color palette and the beautifully crafted shots, we knew “Raptado” was a shoe in for this year’s list. – Cristobal Saez
[insert-video youtube=YOlk668zzqY]
4. DËNVER / “REVISTA DE GIMNASIA” / DIR. BERNARDO QUESNEY [CHL]
It’s hard to tell what’s real in Dënver’s “Revista de Gimnasia.” Who’s the villain and who’s the victim? Is anyone ever really a victim or are we all complicit in some sort of violence toward one another? Bernardo Quesney, some of the best hands in the business, channels all of these anxieties of representation in the Chilean duo’s best video to date. A mixture of color and discomfort runs through the video, as we see the young gymnast stretched and pulled and gagged by her captor coach. She ends in a triumphant stance, as a burst of confetti rains down on her, conveying a visceral feeling of mischief and agency. This beautiful, lingering final shot proclaims victory for all those involved in the video. – Paola Capó-García
[insert-video youtube=OH0AJJ3CPu0]
3. LA BIEN QUERIDA / “A VECES NI ESO” / DIR. ERNEST DESUMBILA & LIMON ESTUDIOS [ESP]
If you’re a cinephile then this La Bien Querida video, directed by Ernest Desumbila and Limón Estudios, was like a Where’s Waldo in every shot. From Tarantino to Besson to Lynch to Coppola (one of them, at least), “A Veces Ni Eso” took us through a heavily referential journey that wouldn’t quit. All eyes are on the blue-bobbed protagonist who seems to embody every single female movie character, confidently stepping in and out of films via a slew of props—Blue Velvet gas mask, Christine-like car, and Uma Thurman’s Pulp Fiction get up—only to end up cuddling up beside her Bill Murray/Jean Reno conflation. It’s beautifully shot, cleverly done, and highlights the flexibility of the track (“A Veces Ni Eso” would feel right at home in many of these soundtracks). It’s a video that gets better with each watch, if only for the fact that you discover a new reference each time. – Paola Capó-García
[insert-video youtube=AfqmTEBoifQ]
2. GUADALUPE PLATA / “MILANA” / DIR. NYSU [ESP]
Do you remember what happened the first time you watched Robert Rodriguez’s “From Dusk Till Dawn?” It was pretty freaky, wasn’t it? One minute, George Clooney and Quentin Tarantino are watching Salma Hayek do a sexy dance with an enormous yellow python. The next, Ms. Hayek and everyone else not linked to Clooney and Tarantino become vampires and the shit hits the fan for over an hour.
The video for “Milana” is slightly the same. The band’s singer is replaced by actress Silvia Vacas who does a really great job imitating Pedro de Dios Barcelo’s voice. She stops midway due to a coughing fit and…wait, is that blood? Wait, what’s happening to her face? WHY IS SHE MELTING?! AAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!! -Afroxander
[insert-video youtube=OK3mztXqTSc]
1. BFLECHA / “B33” / DIR. TOMAS PEÑA [ESP]
I have seen the future and it looks a whole lot like the ‘80s. At least according to BFlecha. The Vigo-based singer has given us a lot to talk about this year, if only for the fact that there doesn’t seem to be anyone else doing what she does: 808-embracing R&B and pop. And so this mini film felt like a revelation, a gift in every shot that we weren’t worthy of receiving. It’s a confident yet vulnerable debut that takes us on an introspective, surreal walkabout guided by Belén Vidal herself. The scenes are outfitted with fantastic colors and costumes, all encompassing what it feels like to be in love. It’s both lonely and magnificent. Videos like these make me proud of what I do. – Paola Capó-García
[insert-video youtube=pGAZ_RDg2a8]