Lost Time, the latest fashion film by multidisciplinary artist Anna Radchenko, stars alternative pop singer and songwriter Jones. The film examines the passage of time as something fleeting and beyond our control.
Lost Time, a movement-led piece, represents a positive journey into learning to coexist with time. The malleability of sand is used as a metaphor for time slowly seeping through our hands in the film. We are presented with a path full of challenges and frustrations, depicted in the video by sandstorms and exploding hourglasses, but also eternal moments of beauty and peace as the sand float around Jones.
To emphasize the sense of time passing, Jones worked with movement director Jamie Neale to ensure that every minute movement worked as a subtle detail to express her emotions. The styling is also important in emphasizing the film's ethereal nature. They included labels such as the romantic non-binary Harris Reed and the effortlessly chic Ukrainian womenswear brand Nadya Dzyak, which were curated by Elizabeth Jane Bishop and Max Saward.
Lost Time is currently on the road at international film festivals. With over 40 selections across 15 countries, the fashion film has already received 12 awards including Best Commonwealth Fashion Film and Best CGI at Canadian International Fashion Film Festival, Best Experimental at Bristol Independent Film Festival, French Riviera Film Festival, and Female Filmmakers Festival Berlin, as well as Best VFX at the Croatia Fashion Film Festival and Detroit Shetown Women's Film Festival. IRK was lucky enough to catch up with Anna Radchenko and to begin to understand what drives this incredible artist:
Anne, can you tell us what inspired you to make Lost Time? The actual concept for Lost Time was initially created as a pitch for a music video for The Cranberries. However, this was exactly around the time when the lead singer Dolores O'Riordan sadly passed away. The project still felt very close to my heart so I wanted to make it happen.
Does your interest in existential psychology often influence your work? I'm generally very inspired by psychology and philosophy. I look for what's hidden inside myself, what’s affecting me. It’s also therapy - I let my ideas run wild, almost as if it were a playground. One thing to notice is that there’s always a certain surrealism to my work. I love digging into the human mind and seeing what I can discover. As an artist why do you choose to include fashion in your creations? I would define myself as a multidisciplinary artist, specialising in short films, music videos, commercials, mixed media, editorial projects and art installations. I graduated in Fashion Photography from the London College of Fashion; since my MA I’ve been working towards defining my vision. It’s about bringing my surreal ideas to life to create work that is both optically arresting and memorable. Fashion becomes a tool to communicate my vision with. The post-production for this piece is impressive. Was it everything you were hoping when you started? Lost Time was one of those projects where I just kept on learning about CGI. It’s always tricky not knowing how long something would take when you don’t have much experience. And when it comes to CGI (especially particle rendering. Working with small articles is super challenging with CGI!) I definitely underestimated how long it would take and the amount of work involved. Lost Time is a passion project, so that’s also why it has taken longer to finalise than as if a client was involved. During the lockdown I finally had the time to focus on it and get the post production talent to bring all the CGI elements together. What were your favorite looks for this film? I particularly enjoyed Harris Reed’s headpiece. It’s such an iconic statement, but I remember we had to be super careful with how we handled it. Especially as we were dealing with sand and that’s not something you want to get in your clothing!
You collaborated with songwriter Jones to make this piece. Did you have the idea for the shoot before meeting Jones? Through a series of spontaneous connections, I ended up getting to know the singer and songwriter Jones and I thought she would be great for the piece. We also had the opportunity to travel to France near Lyon, as one of our friends gave us the location free of charge. It was an amazing experience in terms of team building, closer to the feeling you'd get on feature projects working together over several days. You had a great team helping you make this film as great as it is. Are these people you work with often? Having a team you can trust is of course of vital importance. As this piece is very much focused on CGI, I worked with CGI artist Murat. He’s also the artist who collaborated with me on my short film Kokosmos and over the years we built a strong connection, level of trust and understanding. We are deeply impressed by your talent. Are you working on any new projects we can hope to see soon? I’m working on several projects, but can’t say much about it as it’s still work in progress. Lost Time is a passion project very close to my heart and I’m super happy to have been able to bring it to life and share with an audience. Another side of my work is my online academy. I set it up a few years ago, with the intent of giving young creatives the chance to learn from professionals working in the industry. With the pandemic I’ve had to reshuffle a little the different packages I was offering. I wanted to make sure people had the chance to participate, regardless of their budget.
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Anna Radchenko is a multidisciplinary artist and award-winning director from Moscow who now lives in London. Her areas of expertise include short films, music videos, commercials, mixed media editorial projects, and art installations. Radchenko's films have been selected for the world's major fashion and short film festivals, including London, Berlin, and Los Angeles, after graduating with honors from London College of Fashion. In terms of vision, she employs surreal ideas to create visually arresting and memorable content. In the United Kingdom, Anna is represented by Kode Media.
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