Raphael Levy Gives off Upbeat African Vibes in Gael Faye's Music Video for 'Respire'

My Accomplice director, Raphael Levy, has directed 'Respire', the first track of Gaël faye’s new album 'Lundi Mechant', that will be released on 6th November 2020. Gaël Faye is a French/Rwandese artist and author, a hip hop artist and an internationally-known writer, famous for his book about Rwanda genocide, 'Small Country'.

'Respire', meaning 'breath' in French, reflects the track and how society 'crushes us and our urge to breath'. The promo was produced by Sovage, a French production company based in Paris, and part of Sopress, a leading independent media group.

Raphael's aim was to have an urban mood in the film without the Parisian feel. It was for this reason he decided to shoot in a town called Ivry. "The buildings have very special shapes, such as stars", commented Raphael. "What really made the decision is that it's not only concrete, but there's lots of terraces and balconies with lots of plants, and also some very colourful walls. The whole thing was giving an African and tropical flavour that was really important to me to balance with the toughness of the lyrics and make sure the whole piece wasn’t too dark."

Levy concluded: "For that project, we wanted to include dance. We collaborated with young choreographers called Bats and Taylor. They developed a very special style between electro and street, and what really attracted my attention was their duo technique; when they combine their two bodies to give life to a new 'thing' - half human, half animal or insect."

The promotion was released on 26th August 2020.