Gigi Ben Artzi

As early as 22 years of age, Gigi Ben Artzi was already a well-known fashion photographer in his home country. But it was when he turned his lens away from glamour and onto the world around him that he felt he could ask the questions looming deep his mind. In Downtown Divas (2014) he conducted a series of interviews with female drug addicts about their realities and ambitions. The film sparked immediate controversy upon its release, garnering over 1 million views on Vimeo within a few weeks. The film was praised as an “eye-opening look into Russian drug addiction and prostitution” by Bullet Media, with Juxtapoz going as far as saying the “(the) film shows the tenderness and warmth that is still present within each woman and how even though they may have fallen upon hard times, there is still hope within each of them for a better day ahead.” Other features included Metro Magazine, Oyster Magazine and countless others His next project and first narrative short film E.W.A (2016) followed the life a Russian teenager with a mysterious disease that caused her nose to permanently bleed, culminating in a scene where she produces an installation projection of her own blood on white canvas in front of an audience of art house spectators. The film won the Encounters Short Film Festival and was nominated to dozens of others worldwide festivals including A.F.I and Marfa Film Festival. It was praised for its cinematography and depth in depicting the isolation of its main heroine. E.W.A, as well as most of Gigi’s other works, premiered online on renown magazine Nowness.

Role: director
01

art

04:51

MEDICINE

02

fashion

02:59

Paris Hilton's "WHAT'S HOT WEATHER"

There are celebrities—and then there’s Paris Hilton. She’s the 21st century entrepreneur, a billionaire heiress and socialite who never had to work, but did anyway and created a whole genre of celebrity in the process...

03

music

03:04

Yonatan Gat - Cue the Machines

04

art

07:17

E.W.A

05

fashion

02:49

Fashionable Animal

06

art

07:32

Downtown Divas

Female drug addicts living off the proceeds of street prostitution. “What drew us to this project is the ex-territorial status of these women as part of a group that exists outside society but is in fact society’s own product. Beyond the aesthetic challenge,we wanted to integrate these women back into society and ignore that ‘drug addict’ tag that they carry around. ‘Heroin Chic’ may look glamours in fashion editorials but when you take real heroin addicts who have the same characteristics as these models (…) the contrast is absolutely astounding. Not at one point did we wish to glamorize drugs, only to highlight reality.”

07

fashion

04:52

POP & SUKI

08

music

03:07

SAINt JHN - Trap ft. Lil Baby

09

music

03:36

Future - 100 Shooters ft. Meek Mill, Doe Boy

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