Michel Gondry, Do it Yourself!

Portrait of a jack-of-all-trades who revolutionised music videos with a do-it-yourself spirit and an infectious sense of wonder.

From an early age, filmmaker Michel Gondry was captivated by the magic of cinema. His great muse was George Méliès, the father of cinema himself, whose beginnings as a magician and toymaker would shape Gondry's work for years to come. Tracing his early days as the drummer in French pop band Oui, Oui, the film follows Gondry as he sets out on his filmmaking path by directing their music videos. From here, he builds a remarkable career as the go-to music video director for artists including Björk, Daft Punk, The White Stripes, Beck and The Rolling Stones. His scrappy, inventive approach reveals a consummate craftsman who treats filmmaking like a magician pulling off the ultimate trick.

Curator's note
Featuring interviews with key collaborators including Kylie Minogue, whose music video Come into My World exemplifies Gondry's gift for taking the everyday and making it surreal. This sensibility carries through to his feature films, a career shift sparked when he saw his music video for Björk's Isobel on the big screen. His Oscar-winning feature career kept alive the hand-made style and childlike wonder that define him.