The sun rises over the dark silhouette of an unknown city, pushing back the night and gradually revealing the skyline of what is, as we start to realize, the New York City. These are last moments of tranquility, for the city that never sleeps is starting to pulse with the rhythm of human energy, and the music video for Madonna's Ray of Light begins to acquire the sort of hyperkinetic pace of which even the editors of Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers would be jealous. The man behind this five-minute long music video, Swedish filmmaker Jonas Åkerlund, used for its creation all possible cinematic means of expression – from brisk time-lapse scenes of the city's daily existence and wonderful trick photography, to shooting various cities around the world with different lenses and using surprising animations of spinning Earth looking like it was a part of some mad dance routine – and thus creating one-of-a-kind audiovisual collage. No wonder that it is often recognized as wild impression on Godfrey Reggio's Koyaanisqatsi. Ray of Light was the big winner of 1998's gala of MTV Video Music Awards, with as much as 5 trophies, in categories such as “Video of the Year” and “Best Direction”. A few years later it was also ranked at number four at MTV's “The Top 100 Videos That Broke The Rules” list. In 1998 Åkerlund was already an established director of commercials and music videos, known for his work with Roxette and Moby among many others, but it was this partnership with Madonna, with many more to come, that announced the world the coming of a new master storyteller.

At that time, Åkerlund, who started as the original drummer of the legendary Swedish metal band Bathory, but found his true calling in creation of various audiovisual forms, had already sparked many controversies with his infamous music video for The Prodigy's Smack My Bitch Up. This work, depicting scenes of drug abuse, shocking violence, abusive drinking and sex shown from first person perspective, elicited a true rage on part of audiences and TV stations alike, and for a couple years it was banned from British and American television. Still, together with the music video for Ray of Light it shows Åkerlund's directing style in a nutshell. His unconventional, frenetic, visually innovative works blend perfectly with the songs' overt or hidden meanings that quite often go deep into the darkness of the human soul. Many of Åkerlund's music videos assault the senses with series of unpleasant images, frequently with social or political messages, from which the viewer cannot take his eyes off. The Swedish filmmaker confirmed this reputation with such music videos as Metallica's Whiskey in the Jar, Rammstein's Pussy, The Rolling Stones' Doom and Gloom, Madonna's American Life, or Lady Gaga's Paparazzi. But Åkerlund is not only about controversy, and has dozens of more standard and stylish, in the conventional use of the word, creations: U2's Beautiful Day, Maroon 5's Moves Like Jagger, or Roxette's Wish I Could Fly, to name just a few.

One can honestly say that Jonas Åkerlund has achieved everything there is to achieve in the music videos business, but the truth is that each and every of his new projects is a wonderful parade of narrative and visual innovativeness, as well as a proof of his complete devotion to his work. Nevertheless, he also achieved success in other branches of visual arts. Åkerlund shot dozens of commercials for such brands as Coca Cola, Adidas, H&M, Smirnoff, Sony, Ikea, Hugo Boss, or Dell. He is an established still photographer, and his work was displayed on the covers of Elle, The Face, and V magazines. His artistic projects were exhibited in Frankfurt, Seoul, and Stockholm. This last city, his home town, saw him also creating and directing... a circus. Åkerlund has also quite a career in directing documentary and feature films. This last area of his expertise brought such pictures as 2002 Spun, a wild and drastic in every definition of the word journey to the life of drug addicts that is also the director's warning against becoming a part of that world. Horsemen, on the other hand, is a riveting dark thriller about a sadistic serial killer who takes inspiration from the biblical stories of Apocalypse. At the moment Jonas is in preproduction for his next feature film. Additionally, earlier this year Jonas Åkerlund won his third Grammy Award - in the " Best Music Film" category for Paul McCartney's Live Kisses. And in September 2014 he directed the HBO-produced On the Run Tour: Beyoncé and Jay Z concert special, which was filmed at Stade de France in Paris.

In Jonas Åkerlund's world concepts of laying low and resting on your own laurels do not exist – the Swedish artist constantly evolves in different directions by learning new things and exploring the borders of different areas of art. For him, only sky is the limit, and the more challenging the given project is, the better Åkerlund deals with it.

This legendary music video director and master storyteller with over 30 years of experience in the industry and CV full of working with artists such as Madonna, The Rolling Stones, Metallica, Ozzy Osbourne, The Smashing Pumpkins, Rihanna, Duran Duran, Macy Gray, U2, Lady Gaga, Rammstein, Coldplay, Maroon 5, The Prodigy, Blondie, Shaggy, Christina Aguilera, Paul McCartney, Roxette, Lenny Kravitz, or Beyoncé, will attend the 22nd edition of the International Film Festival of the Art of Cinematography CAMERIMAGE. Apart from receiving in Bydgoszcz his well-deserved Camerimage Award for Outstanding Achievements in the Field of Music Videos, he will also meet the Festival's participants during the next installment of “Music Videos: The Master Class Series.”


***Selection of the artists Jonas has worked with: Lady Gaga, Beyoncé, Pharrell Williams, Katy Perry, Paul McCartney, Rolling Stones, Justin Timberlake, Jennifer Lopez, Madonna, Britney Spears, Maroon 5, Shakira, Christina Aguilera, Smashing Pumpkins, U2, Pink, Fergie, Coldplay, Metallica, Rihanna, David Guetta, James Blunt, Blink 182, Ozzy Osbourne, Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj, Iggy Pop, Blondie, Robin Williams, Cheryl Cole, Moby, Lenny Kravitz, Robin Thicke, Primal Scream, Jamiroquai, Mika, Duran Duran, Rammstein.