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VIDEO: Kourtrajmé

Posted 5/5/2008 2:02 PM by Cameron Cook

Tags: video, art

So by now you’ve probably seen the controversial video for “Stress”, the new Justice single, which features a scary gang of delinquents run around the more scenic parts of Paris committing just about every petty crime in the book, Clockwork Orange-style. While the video has gotten its fair share of YouTube hits since it premiered on the Web late last week, no one has really spoken about the video’s director, i.e. French videographer Romain Garvas. Romain is part of Kourtrajmé, a largely African artist collective which focuses on expressing the French minority experience through the medium of film. Over the years they’ve directed music videos from people like comedy rap group Fatal Bazooka to Simian Mobile Disco, but their most evocative work is their guerilla coverage of the 2005/2006 Parisian riots following the death of two African teenagers (after being chased by local policemen) in the disenfranchised Paris suburb of Clichy-Monferneuil. It’s brutal, eye-opening, and does its best to shatter the idyllic image most people have of France and its inhabitants. After the jump, check out our favorite moments in Kourtrajmé’s short yet eventful career as the forerunners of a new wave of documentary.

Stream: Justice - D.A.N.C.E.

Stream: Justice feat. Mos Def and Spank Rock - D.A.N.C.E.

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