Emmanuel Kwasi Adjei is a Ghanaian-Dutch film director and visual artist. Adjei was featured as co-director and creative collaborator of ''

Black Is King ''Black Is King'' is a 2020 American musical film and visual album directed, written, and executive produced by American singer Beyoncé. It is a visual companion to the 2019 album '' The Lion King: The Gift'', curated by Beyoncé for ''The Lion ...

'', the acclaimed

musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serve merely as breaks ...

and

visual album A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

by American singer

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...

, which premiered on

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and deligh ...

, July 31, 2020. Alongside British singer

FKA twigs Tahliah Debrett Barnett (born 17 January 1988), known professionally as FKA Twigs (stylized as FKA twigs), is an English singer, songwriter, and dancer. Born and raised in Cheltenham, she became a backup dancer for numerous famous musicians aft ...

, Adjei directed the music video for ''Don't Judge Me'', released on January 26, 2021, which featured the

Tate Modern Tate Modern is an art gallery located in London. It houses the United Kingdom's national collection of international modern and contemporary art, and forms part of the Tate group together with Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. It is ...

commissioned sculpture '' Fons Americanus'' by American contemporary artist

Kara Walker Kara Elizabeth Walker (born November 26, 1969) is an American contemporary painter, silhouettist, print-maker, installation artist, filmmaker, and professor who explores race, gender, sexuality, violence, and identity in her work. She is best k ...

. He directed the global campaign film ''Alien Goddess'' for French fashion house Mugler, released on August 29, 2021, starring American musician

Willow Smith Willow Camille Reign Smith (born October 31, 2000), known mononymously as Willow (stylized in all caps), is an American singer and actress. The daughter of actors Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, she has received various accolades, including ...

and with music by Icelandic musician and visual artist Bjork. Adjei was appointed by American rapper,

record executive A music executive or record executive is a person within a record label who works in senior management and makes executive decisions over the label's artists. Their role varies greatly but in essence, they can oversee one, or many, aspects of a re ...

, and

media proprietor A media proprietor, media mogul or media tycoon refers to a entrepreneur who controls, through personal ownership or via a dominant position in any media-related company or enterprise, media consumed by many individuals. Those with significant co ...

Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and founder of Manhattan-based conglomerate talent and entertainment agency Roc Nation. He is regarded as one of ...

, his wife Beyoncé, and the American retail and luxury company

Tiffany & Co Tiffany & Co. (colloquially known as Tiffany's) is a high-end luxury jewelry and specialty retailer, headquartered on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. It sells jewelry, sterling silver, porcelain, crystal, stationery, fragrances, water bottles, watc ...

, to direct the film to the global campaign ''About Love,'' which premiered on September 13, 2021. The Carters' love story is illuminated by the

Tiffany Yellow Diamond The Tiffany Yellow Diamond is one of the largest yellow diamonds ever discovered. Its carat weight was originally 287.42 carats (57.484 g) in the rough when discovered in 1878 in the Kimberley mine in South Africa. It was cut into a cushion shap ...

and set against the backdrop of

Jean-Michel Basquiat Jean-Michel Basquiat (; December 22, 1960 – August 12, 1988) was an American artist who rose to success during the 1980s as part of the Neo-expressionism movement. Basquiat first achieved fame as part of the graffiti duo SAMO, alongside Al ...

's ''Equals Pi'' (1982). The film also features a musical performance of the song ''

Moon River "Moon River" is a song composed by Henry Mancini with lyrics by Johnny Mercer. It was originally performed by Audrey Hepburn in the 1961 movie ''Breakfast at Tiffany's (film), Breakfast at Tiffany's'', winning an Academy Award for Best Original ...

''. Made famous in the 1961 film ''Breakfast at Tiffany's'', the tune is reimagined with vocals by Beyoncé. Adjei’s directing career has been marked by successful collaborations with a variety of recording artists such as

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

, Beyoncé, Mark Pritchard,

Mykki Blanco Mykki Blanco (born April 2, 1986) is an American rapper, performance artist, poet and activist. She has collaborated musically with artists including Kanye West, Teyana Taylor, and Dev Hynes, Blood Orange. Early life Blanco was born in Orange ...

, and

Sevdaliza Sevda Alizadeh (; born 1 September 1987), known professionally as Sevdaliza, is an Iranian-Dutch singer, songwriter, record producer, visual artist, and director. In 2015, she released two EPs, ''The Suspended Kid'' and ''Children of Silk''. Whi ...

Education

Adjei graduated with a degree in Fine Art from the

Utrecht School of the Arts The HKU University of the Arts Utrecht ( nl, Hogeschool voor de Kunsten Utrecht, HKU) is a performing arts and visual arts educational institution in Utrecht, Netherlands. Overview The institution has 680 teachers and staff members. The HKU co ...

in the Netherlands, before securing a talent scholarship to attend the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent, Belgium, where he studied Audiovisual Arts and Film. During this time, he discovered his passion for

experimental cinema Experimental film or avant-garde cinema is a mode of filmmaking that rigorously re-evaluates cinematic conventions and explores non-narrative forms or alternatives to traditional narratives or methods of working. Many experimental films, parti ...

and

video installation Video installation is a contemporary art form that combines video technology with installation art, making use of all aspects of the surrounding environment to affect the audience. Tracing its origins to the birth of video art in the 1970s, it has ...

. In 2013 and 2014, Adjei was awarded a ''Young Talent'' grant from the Mondriaan Fund to develop his artistic practice.

Awards

Adjei was nominated a

Grammy Award for Best Music Film The Grammy Award for Best Music Film is an accolade presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally named the Gramophone Awards, to performers, directors, and producers of quality videos or musical programs. ...

and a

NAACP Image Award The NAACP Image Awards is an annual awards ceremony presented by the U.S.-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to honor outstanding performances in film, television, theatre, music, and literature. Similar to ...

for Outstanding Directing in a Television Movie for his work on ''Black Is King''. In 2021, Adjei and co-director

FKA Twigs Tahliah Debrett Barnett (born 17 January 1988), known professionally as FKA Twigs (stylized as FKA twigs), is an English singer, songwriter, and dancer. Born and raised in Cheltenham, she became a backup dancer for numerous famous musicians aft ...

won Best Music Video at

Raindance Film Festival Raindance is an independent film festival and film school that operates in major cities including London, Los Angeles, New York, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Budapest, Berlin, and Brussels. The festival was established in 1992 by Elliot Grove to ...

for ''Don't Judge Me''.

References

External links

Official website
* __FORCETOC__ {{DEFAULTSORT:Adjei, Emmanuel Living people Dutch people of Ghanaian descent Music video directors Dutch film directors 1988 births