The Work That Made Me: Salsa
Directing duo Salsa, Diego Santana Claudino and Guto Azevedo, are known for their raw and honest portrayals of human connection. Their deeply immersive approach to storytelling has transcended cultures and continents, earning them international recognition. By embracing simplicity and truth, Salsa's narratives are imbued with a unique texture and authenticity that resonate deeply with audiences.
Claudino and Azevedo first crossed paths at university, and their directing careers took off in remarkable fashion with a first-prize win at the prestigious Young Director Awards at Cannes. The success of their work can be attributed in large part to their relentless attention to casting and visual composition—two elements they leverage to craft emotionally resonant messages that reflect the complexities of our time.
Now, Salsa enters the UK advertising scene with Armoury, and we are excited to witness their distinctive vision and impeccable craftsmanship as they create memorable stories for brands.
LBB> The ad/music video from my childhood that stays with me…
Diego> Lemme see… ads from that time I don’t recall much, but if I have to pick one music video I would say Aerosmith’s - Hole in My Soul. I remember seeing it with my child’s eyes and thinking “wow… it is just like a movie, but it is not”.
Guto> The first music video I remember watching as a kid that really stuck with me was probably A-ha – Take On Me, probably introduced to me by my older brother. But I think I only really started enjoying music videos in my teenage years. Back then, my ultimate MTV hit was definitely Beastie Boys - Sabotage... with an honourable mention to Radiohead - Karma Police.
LBB> The ad/music video/game/web platform that made me want to get into the industry…
Diego> Ads I can name two: Nike – Tag by Frank Budgen and Nike - Secret Tournament / The Cage by Terry Gilliam - which I even shot a version of with my friends. It was my first ever directorial attempt and one of the reasons I decided to be a director instead of a creative (at the time, I was studying advertising and marketing, and the natural path was to work as a creative). So I guess the latter was more impactful for me. Besides that, all of the music videos of Michel Gondry from that 'Directors Series' DVD.
Guto> I think I can split this into two moments: the first that made me want to work at an agency, and years later, the one that made me want to become a director.
The first was when a well-known creative director came to my uni and showed us a reel of Cannes Lions winners in the film category. A few that really stood out to me were: Sony Bravia – Balls, Carlton Draught – Big Ad, Honda – Impossible Dreams, Levi’s – Odyssey, Xbox – Life is Short. But it was only a few years later that I got interested in directing, inspired mostly by guys like Martin De Thurah, Juan Cabral with IKEA – Beds, and I had the privilege of learning and being inspired by our production company colleagues, Tino + Jones, with Leica 100.
LBB> The creative work (film/album/game/ad/album/book/poem etc) that I keep revisiting…
Diego> Hard to pick just one, but, for the sake of this exercise, here we go… 'Magnolia' from Paul Thomas Anderson.
Guto> Got some time? The list is huge… It’s impossible not to mention 'City of God' (Fernando Meirelles), 'Tree of Life' (Terrence Malick), 'Paris, Texas' (Wim Wenders), 'Synecdoche, New York' (Charlie Kaufman), 'Amour' (Michael Haneke), 'A Ghost Story' (David Lowery), and lately, I’ve been deeply moved by the humanity in the work of Hirokazu Koreeda, especially 'Like Father, Like Son' and 'Monster'.
LBB> My first professional project…
Diego> My first paid gig as a director was a corporate film for some folding plastic boxes. Loved doing that. It was a shoestring budget, but a lot of freedom.
Guto> I shot a mini-doc for a Rio street carnival bloco that pulls in over a million people every year. It was crazy intense squeezing through the crowd. Never got the second half of my payment, but hey, I learned a lot.
LBB>The piece of work (ad/music video/ platform…) that made me so angry that I vowed to never make anything like *that*…
Diego> Never had that feeling to be honest.
Guto> I don’t really get angry… but I’ll admit, there are a few pieces I’ve seen where I think to myself “Dodged a bullet not being part of that one!”
LBB> The piece of work (ad/music video/ platform…) that still makes me jealous…
Diego> Wow… this list is loooooong. There are so many great works out there. I am still in love with Nike - 'Tag' for the brilliant simplicity of the idea and the perfect execution and, to not leave you in vintage land, I will give you a more recent example: Burberry - 'Open Spaces' by Megaforce - for me a modern day masterpiece.
Guto> I wouldn’t use the word jealous, but there is definitely work that inspires us to push further. I love the short film on Vimeo 'Where I End & You Begin' by Hoffman & Metoyer, and on the ad side, Lacoste – 'Crocodile Inside' is still a huge inspiration.
LBB> The creative project that changed my career…
Diego> There were a few pivotal works for us, but if I had to pick one, I would say 'Heaven', our first work together. It was a clear career change moment (actually, it was a career starter), we won Gold at YDA with it and literally, from one day to the other, we went from self-financing-producing a project, having no representation, asking a bunch of favours to make it happen, getting a bunch of no’s on the way, spending all the cash we had, to signing with global representation.
Guto> I'm not sure if it was the project that changed our career, but it was definitely the film that opened the most doors for new projects. Before that, our reel was still perceived by the market as too dark or too heavy on drama. But after telling a love story between two dogs (IKEA – 'Love Story'), the world of more naturalistic, slice-of-life scripts opened up for us.
LBB> The work that I’m proudest of…
Diego> I don’t have a work that I am most proud of. More and more I’m seeing our films as a body of work and not necessarily single hits, so every single one of them adds to the all. But what I can say is that I am super proud of the Cart & Heart spot we shot this year. It was the best process we ever had in the making of a film. The agency, client and production were all aligned to make the best possible film with the constraints we had. It was such a joy.
Guto> I can’t say I have a favourite baby, but maybe because of the emotional memories tied to the shoot—the circumstances, the vibe, and the total freedom we had during the concept and execution—I’d probably go with 'Memories'.
LBB> I was involved in this and it makes me cringe…
Guto> There’s this really fun festival organised by production companies' network: Czar, Bacon, Henri, and others, where directors and producers from all their offices get together for a weekend of partying, bonding, and awards. It’s called Dead & Mighty Mouse Awards. They don’t just celebrate the best films across the network—they also hand out an award for the worst one.
I remember we were in Oslo, in the awards room, surrounded by some of the great directors we admire: Martin de Thurah, Martin Werner, Jeppe Rønde, the Lionel Goldstein guys, Bart Timmer, and so on. We were so sure we’d win the award for the worst film that when they were about to announce it, we literally ran out of the room pretending we had to go to the bathroom. Hahaha…
In the end, the “worst film” award went to another director—someone we actually admire a lot, and who’s on that list I just mentioned. In a way, that whole episode showed us that everyone has their ugly ducklings, and messing up is just part of the learning process.
LBB> The recent project I was involved in that excited me the most…
Diego> The short film we will release in 2025. It has been in the making for such a long time and I love that we have something more abstract and free to present.
Guto> Without a doubt, our short film 'Five More Minutes', premieres in 2025. It’s a poetic, immersive experience inspired by real human relationships—an essay on grief, loss, the relativity of time, and love. It’s a sort of tribute to those we’ve lost and to the fleeting nature of life. I’m so excited to share this film with the world.
