The BBC programme will be shown from May in a special series of five one-minute inserts designed to portray South Africa to a world audience in a positive light.
Ian Gabriel’s video depicts a contemporary nostalgia that promises a fresh look at South Africa’s number one band. The video is designed to play to audiences in the UK and Europe and was commissioned by Freshlyground’s UK distributor Sony BMG after they were shown ‘Nomvula’, Ian Gabriel’s earlier emotionally evocative video of the band. A special remix was done of the 'I’d like' track, with the video for the track releasing across Europe in May. 'I’d like' shot to number one on the South African charts during 2006 on 5FM, Kaya, P4, Kfm and Metro Radio. The video for ‘I’d like’ will be the band’s first international video release since winning the coveted MTV Best African Act Award in 2006.
Generous contributors who collaborated with Giant Films to produce the video include the Madam Zingara tent which was supplied as a venue for the commercial, equipment was supplied by AFM and 186, post production assistance was supplied by Condor Cape, Priest and Black Ginger. Director of photography Vicci Turpin and theatre production designer Angela Nemov helped to create the at once tongue-in-cheek yet nostalgic mood for the video.
Freshlyground manager Sevi Spanoudi commented that for the band to work with “Ian Gabriel and the Giant team has once again been fun and a great learning experience.”
“It’s always good for the film industry to give back,” said Giant’s executive producer Cindy Gabriel. “If Ian had his way he’d shoot at least one music video for Freshlyground every year!”
The BBC insert will run for six months and be seen by an estimated 150 million viewers worldwide.
