Popcorn and lively conversation awaited Chanel’s guests at the Curzon Mayfair cinema in London on Monday evening.
The night at the movies, which featured everything from virtual films to archival footage, was a celebration for Chanel Arts & Culture in honor of the Next Prize Collection, a collaboration between the fashion house and MUBI. Recipients of the biannual award—which offers €100,000 as well as two years of mentorship—screened their projects for the likes of Hans Ulrich Obrist and BAFTA winning director Savanah Leaf.
Guests gathered at the plush, arthouse cinema for showings of Sam Eng’s Skate Story, Moor Mother’s Jazz Codes, and Rungano Nyoni’s Mwansa the Great. The narratives—a celestial race through a virtual game, a traipse through both the ongoing history of jazz and scenic California, and a young boy’s quest to be a hero—exemplified the breadth of emerging artists and Chanel’s dedication to fostering them.
The films will be available to stream, among others, on MUBI—a wide-reaching, international streaming service, film distributor, and production company. In addition to the screenings, guests participated in a Q&A with Chanel’s Global Head of Arts and Culture, Yana Peel, and the 2024 Next Prize recipient, artist and director Fox Maxy.
Maxy, a Payómkawish filmmaker from the Mesa Grande Band of Mission Indians, also screened one of her shorts. Maat is a lens into contemporary Indigenous identities through archival footage. The former recipient of the Sundance Institute’s Merata Mita Fellowship—who premiered her first feature, Guts and Glitz, at the festival—spoke with Chanel guests ahead of the premier of her second feature, $hy Heart, which explores mental health.
Welcomed by the crisp, classic marquee, guests had time between screenings to mingle under low table light in the theater’s red velvet seats. Recipients of BFI Awards and BAFTAs alike swapped stories, ideas, and bits of popcorn as the night wound down. The room was abuzz with the promise of cinematic potential.
The harmony between documentary, video games, and jazz hinted at an exciting promise for film. The innovative, unique, and deeply human ways the Next Prize winners are exploring their craft and circumstances proves tender and inspiring. Chanel has gathered another great generation of filmmakers that prompt one simple question: What will they create next?
