It's 1992. MTV Video Music Awards ceremony. The Best Alternative Video award goes to Nirvana'sSmells Like Teen Spirit. This short story of a certain school concert gone berserk, filmed with anarchistic, independent, punk vibe, is now considered one of the most legendary music videos, and it continues to reveal a true wildness of heart in the subsequent generations of listeners. Made with simple, and yet powerful means, it was directed by a newcomer Samuel Bayer and mirrored the essence of both the song and the band that created it. In the following years Smells Like Teen Spirit music video gained a reputation of a truly genre-defining work of art, inspired countless young filmmakers, and made its author one of the most prominent music video directors in the rapidly growing industry. We are extremely proud that director and cinematographer Samuel Bayer will be the special guest of the 21st edition of the International Film Festival of the Art of Cinematography CAMERIMAGE and will receive the Award for Outstanding Achievements in the Field of Music Videos.

Samuel Bayer
(photo by John Clark)
What is interesting, the man responsible for one of the most imaginative and memorable music videos of the last two decades did not think at young age of becoming a filmmaker. However, since his earliest days he was absorbed by the process of image-making, and while still a teenager, he enrolled into the NYC School of Visual Arts to study painting. Soon he realized that a camera offers him more creative opportunities than a paintbrush and so he began to devote his life to film-making. Then Bayer has moved to Los Angeles where he has been working with the greatest and most demanding artists of the music industry, transferring their music and lyrics onto the visual language of a music video according to his artistic vision. He has collaborated with The Cranberries (Zombie), David Bowie (The Heart's Filthy Lesson), Metallica (Until It Sleeps), The Rolling Stones (Anybody Seen My Baby?), Marilyn Manson (Disposable Teens), Lenny Kravitz (Black Velveteen), Aerosmith (Sunshine), Green Day (Wake Me Up When September Ends) and Justin Timberlake (What Goes Around... Comes Around), among many others.

Nirvana "Smells Like Teen Spirit"
The Cranberries "Zombie"
Bayer approaches each new music video project as if it was his first, thus reclaiming the freshness and sharpness of thought and stimulating his own imagination. He likes to have a total control over the visual side of his work. Not only is he a prolific director but also a skilled and creative cinematographer. He always lights and photographs his own work, for which he has won a worldwide recognition.

He considers finding a golden mean between his own vision and the best way to show the atmosphere, rhythm and tone of a given song as the most important aspect of his job. For him, a music video is not only a form of promotion but also a way of artistic expression. Numerous awards that he has received seem to confirm such an attitude. Among them were: MTV Music Video Award for Best Rock Video for Metallica'sUntil It Sleeps, MTV Music Video Award for Best Cinematography and Best Rock Video of the Year for Green Day'sBoulevard of Broken Dreams, Emmy Award for Outstanding Commercial and Cannes Golden Lion for the Chrysler-ordered "Born of Fire". For Bayer approaches commercials with same reverence as music videos - in his career he has worked for Packard Bell, Nike, Mountain Dew, Chrysler, Coke, Pepsi, Nissan and Lexus, among many others.

"Let Me Play" Nike commercial
"Born of Fire" Chrysler commercial
Despite achieving a huge success in many fields of the entertainment industry, Samuel Bayer did not rest on his laurels, quite the contrary - he constantly looks for new challenges and means of artistic expression. Throughout his career, feature length films have always captivated Samuel. He has been attached to a wide variety of film projects and is currently developing a science fiction film, which he also wrote. In 2010 Bayer directed his first feature film, the remake of Nightmare on Elm Street, giving Rooney Mara, one of the brightest young movie stars of today, her first big role. Bayer is also a successful photographer - he already had two exhibitions of his work, named "Transitions" and "Diptychs and Triptychs".

Samuel Bayer will attend Camerimage Festival not only to collect his Award for Outstanding Achievements in the Field of Music Videos but also to meet with the Festival's participants during the next installment of "Music Videos: The Master Class Series."Samuel is also going to chair the Jury of the Music Videos Competition.