The Critics Company broke the internet a few months ago when their work was covered by Reuters and BBC. We were introduced to their makeshift tripod, the cracked Tecno smartphone they used to record, the leaf blower they used for effects, and the incredibly innovative films they were able to make with these little things. They had reached out to Kemi Adetiba (director of King of Boys) for help earlier on, and she was thrilled by their spunk. She launched a funding campaign that raised enough money for them to buy new equipment, and the publicity that followed was wild, to say the least. J.J Abrams, an American filmmaker known for his work on Star Wars and Star Trek, discovered the Reuters video and was so impressed he shared it with Ava Duvernay, another Hollywood mogul. As far as we knew, the excitement stopped there, but the latest rung on their ladder was revealed last week Thursday.
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While we are all distracted, the Critics Company teamed up with an American punk rock group called Anti-Flag to create a music video for one of the tracks on Anti-Flag’s latest album, 20/20 Vision. The result is a video that celebrates the power of breaking free from hurt; very much like the Unbreakable song itself that the video was created for, which the Anti-Flag’s Justin Sane describes as ‘inspirational’. Justin Sane told Billboard he wrote the song while his mother was battling cancer, and didn’t even realize he was writing the song about himself:
“At the time I didn’t realize I was writing a song about myself. It’s a great example, I think, of music being an outlet for people to work through where they are in their lives… I think it could be a song that is a source of inspiration for a person who’s dealing with the loss of a loved one or dealing with depression, or it could be inspirational for a movement and a group of people who are working together. It’s just about the idea we are gonna run into a lot of adversity in life. Right now as a society we’re in a place where, for a lot of people, things feel hopeless, but this song is just trying to be an inspiration for people to not give up.”
The motives behind the song offer universal comfort. Like Sane says, we’re all going through something. We all need to be reminded, now and then, that we don’t have to give up when things get unsavoury or tough. It is perhaps, this universal message that appealed to The Critics Company when they agreed to create a video for the song. Anti-Flag reached out to them because they felt a kinship to the spirit of The Critic Company’s work. One of the most impressive things about The Critics Company is their drive and their determination to overcome. Using practically next to nothing, this team of teenagers was making live-action fantasy films with some of the most imaginative storylines that you will ever come across. They refused to let their environment limit their ability to create.
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Anti-Flag gave The Critics Company license to create a music video based on their own interpretation of the Unbreakable song. In the video, we observe a day in the life of a Critics Company member. He plays, he laughs, he cries, he creates, and the lesson is hurt happens but life can go on. Justin Sane of Anti-Flag described the project as ‘one of the most fun and exciting music video collaborations we’ve ever had.’ The video premiered on Billboard last week Thursday, but you can watch it on Youtube as well.
Sources:
Billboard
Featured Image Source: @thecritics001 – Twitter
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