A promo video is simply an advertisement for a song, said the intro card of the 1993 music video for Babies by British band Pulp. Is it really so? Pulp themselves have systematically broken the dictum. The status of this audiovisual form has always been uncertain, navigating a rather volatile path between art and advertising, occasionally finding itself in the realm of a bastard cinema when figures like Andy Warhol or Gus Van Sant were at the helm. “Where does the music video stand in relation to film?” is the big ontological question, often accompanied by a stigma of lucrative art that works against the short format.

Dora Leu

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Graduated with a BA in film directing and a MA in film studies from UNATC; she's also studied history of art. Also collaborates with the Acoperisul de Sticla film magazine and is a former coordinator of FILM MENU. She's dedicated herself to '60-'70s Japanese cinema and Irish post-punk music bands. Still keeps a picture of Leslie Cheung in her wallet.

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