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1. Introduction
Music and film are a match made in heaven, and never have they been more celebrated than at the Berlin Music Video Awards 2024. Thousands of creatives gathered at Berlin’s 12th edition, this year at Club Gretchen, the infamous cultural hotspot of Berlin. Attendees came dressed in decadent night-wear fashion, as if they were attending Billy Idol’s very own “White Wedding”.
2. Overview of the Berlin Music Video Awards
The Berlin Music Video Awards is more than an annual music video festival. It’s Europe’s epicenter for creatives who are in love with the beautiful convergence of music and film. Where else do thousands of musicians, filmmakers, producers, writers, and artists get to gather to celebrate what makes them tick? The creative juices flow so strongly here that it’s impossible to drink fast enough; and in a world with less and less support for creative communities, the thirst for rich and thriving cultural spaces like the one the Berlin Music Video Awards creates feels like the end of a drought.
The Berlin Music Video Awards is a safe haven for artists, where budget plays no role and creativity takes center stage. Operating entirely independently, there are no big brands lurking behind the curtain influencing the jury. Anyone can win, and anything can happen.
3. Atmosphere and the Venue
To set the scene, Club Gretchen is a protected heritage site built in 1854 as the former stables of the Prussian 1st Guards. They would have never imagined the euphoria and hedonistic partying that would take place between those same cast-iron columns years in the future.
Founder and Producer of the BMVAs, Aviel Silook, had some kind words to share about this one-of-a-kind venue, saying:
“The Gretchen is a fantastic location, not only for the great sound system but also because of the owners and the staff, really incredible people. The place is not only historical because it is a historical building but it’s historical because it makes history these days. I love working with people who think about legacy, that’s the next level. Besides all that, it is also a wonderful venue for events like ours because we have several spaces to project different videos, stage talks, and DJs at the same time.”
And no previous night of partying quite compares to this one, the opening night of the Berlin Music Video Awards. This multi-day festival indulges in the stunning creations of the film and music industries’ leading creatives, and celebrates the incredible work of these stunning members of the cultural industry.
A SHORT HIGHLIGHT VIDEO OF THE FESTIVAL’S 12TH EDITION:
4. More Words from the Producer
The vibe at the BMVAs is entirely inclusive; young promising creatives are competing alongside world-leading industry professionals in the same categories. That reflects the Berliner attitude: a fierce passion for DIY and a punk-love for art that says “we made something out of nothing”. This is part of what sets the BMVAs apart from other music video festivals.
Aviel explains, “I think that the main thing that makes people like the festival is the fact that it is independent. People in Berlin and also the filmmakers, they are very good when it comes to smelling a commercial production. They can see that it is a passion project by the selection of the videos or the laid-back atmosphere. It’s easy to see that we have no sponsors to please or government funds that dictate our policies. That’s part of the concept of originality; the freedom of art and expression can’t exist with restrictions that these entities impose.”
5. Highlights of the Event
a. The Program
The BMVA carried out a breathtaking program, providing three spaces with parallel programs and opportunities for its guests. The main stage displayed the best music videos from the broad international range of video submissions to the festivals. Being nominated at the Berlin Music Video Awards is a great achievement in itself, but the festival created winning moments across 16 categories of music videos, with winners experiencing a memorable thrill.
Box 2 hosted the Silver Screenings, a long selection of videos that the BMVA decided were worth showing despite not making the nomination. These videos ran non-stop throughout the festival, only interrupted by panel talks of industry experts, for e.g. Yonatan Dor, discuss the impact of AI on music
videos. Further panels by filmmakers and artists were held, as well as some group activities which focused on networking. Just like in the main hall, these video screening were equally internationally attended by their filmmakers.
The outdoor space of Gretchen featured DJ sets that complemented the positive, colourful, and open-minded vibe of the festival, including DJs like Lawya from New York, and multi-medial nominated artist Jacques from Marseille, and a wider pool of local DJs. The big photo wall designed for memorable pictures and interviews, captured the words and joys of the winners were captured as soon as they stepped off the stage. It also hosted the Kamasutra Ninja display, from Italian multi-media artist and DJ Ari Denaro. The festival enjoyed the attendance of all its jury members and most of their media partners, capturing the unique story of the Berlin Music Video Awards. [Find the Highlights video here]
b. Performances
Several nominated artists delivered breathtaking performances, most performing the songs of their nominated videos, giving the crowd an insight into who they really are as artists. The program included ten captivating live shows, featuring a broad selection ranging from Malina Scar from Russia, Thunder Bae from Berlin, SIIE from France, Adan Cruz from Mexico, and more. Trying to describe these performances in words would be doing them a disservice, so go check out the highlights video:
c. After-parties
The festival days were rounded off with after-parties where many guests, nominees, and winners kept the party going and enjoyed the festival further. On day 2, the Experimental Culture Day, the guests of the festival took their dress-code “kinky” outfits to the iconic fetish club of KitKat. The follow-up after-party was at Ritter Butzke, which is part of the identity of Berlin Kreuzberg. Those were the moments of celebration and closure.
6. Winners
Gennre experiences a career changing moment at the BMVA this year. Coming all the way from Paris with her guitarist, manager and sister, and a stunning outfit she appeared ready to receive the best outcome. Day 3 of the festival was her day. She opened the program with the performance of her song „Wynona“ who’s music video was among the nominated videos for the best song category.
After setting the mood for the rest of the day with her performance, she proceeds to frist win the best song category, then also the final, being awards the ‘Best Music Video’ of the BMVA 2024, with her first music video!
The final round was composed of the winning videos of all the categories, plus 3 ‘golden passes’, awarded to videos that did not win, but the juries deemed to fit to compete in the final round. In previous editions, the golden passes have proceeded to win the awards show as the best music video.
More about the winners of the BMVA 2024.
8. Closing Remarks
As evident is the recent experience, the Berlin Music Video Awards continue to be a haven for artistic expression, where budget plays no role and creativity takes center stage. The BMVAs independence continues to ensure that the freedom of art and expression remains unbridled.
As the event drew to a close, the sense of community and celebration remained strong, within the team and beyond. The stature of the BMVA has been built upon once more, retaining the fans, artists, filmmakers, media partnerships of the festival, and created more inspiring moments for the future.
If you have not experienced the festival live, the updated galleries should be enough to give an impression of an event that you to be a part of. It is already time to submit your music video for the following edition next year, the gates are now open.
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