This year’s UK Music Video Awards were a slightly different, more socially distant and virtual affair, but the results are in, and the best music videos of the year are here. It’s hard to believe that 2020 is nearly over, but at least the past 11 and a bit months have given us some great music videos to look back on, eh? Silver linings!
The big winners of the night were director Sam Pilling, who won Video of the Year and three further awards for his work on DJ Shadow’s “Rocket Fuel”, a comic recreation of the disastrous Apollo 11 mission (suitably fitting for 2020, tbh). After Hours by The Weeknd scooped up a Best Director Award, while the artist’s huge bop “Blinding Lights” was awarded Best Pop Video International. In the craft categories, FKA twigs’ video for “Sad Day”, directed by multi-UKMVA winner Hiro Murai, took the award for Best Cinematography, while Beyoncé’s celebrated wardrobe curator, Zerina Akers, was honoured for her styling in the video “Already” from the Black Is King film, in an award sponsored by yours truly (i-D, not this writer, I am poor).
Other 2020 winners included Dua Lipa, JME and Riz Ahmed. Pop fitness queen Dua took the Best Pop Video award for a third time with the visual accompaniment to “Break My Heart” in another successful collaboration with director Henry Scholfield — last year’s winner of the Best Director award. And there was a first time win for JME, who won Best UK Hip Hop/Grime/Rap video for “Live”, directed by Matthew Walker.
Rather than a glitzy affair with a red carpet and boozy dinner, this year the MVAs were broadcast from a London studio on the second night of lockdown deux, with presenter Becca Dudley speaking live to the winners via a virtual audience platform. Ah, 2020, eh? What a year.
Still, congrats to all the winners!