THE CANADIAN PRESS

TORONTO 含羞草研究社� Vancouver-born director Miles Jay was on a fruitless pursuit of accolades before he finally realized his mistake.

Like many young filmmakers, he thought taking on projects that felt like guaranteed award winners would bring a future of trophies.

含羞草研究社淚 spent a lot of time in the early part of my career really wanting them and hunting for them,含羞草研究社� admits the director, who was born Miles Jay Robison.

It wasn含羞草研究社檛 until he gave up the chase that recognition began to emerge.

Now the 27-year-old is directing major commercials 含羞草研究社� he shot two Super Bowl spots with John Malkovich 含羞草研究社� and has a Cannes Silver Lion on his mantel. He could grab another trophy Sunday night at the Grammy Awards.

His powerful visual take on the song 含羞草研究社淩iver含羞草研究社� by soul singer Leon Bridges is nominated for best music video alongside heavy-hitters like Beyonce含羞草研究社檚 含羞草研究社淔ormation含羞草研究社� and Coldplay含羞草研究社檚 含羞草研究社淯p&Up.含羞草研究社�

The seven-minute clip focuses on the lives of Baltimore residents in the aftermath of protests over the death of Freddie Gray, a black man who died while in police custody in 2015.

The video is mostly a fictional interpretation of scenes Jay witnessed.

The director formulated his idea after wandering the streets of Baltimore in search of inspiration for a feature film. As a Canadian living in Brooklyn, N.Y., he wanted to better understand the simmering racial tensions within the city.

含羞草研究社淚 was much more interested in what people did when they left the riots,含羞草研究社� Jay says of his approach to the 含羞草研究社淩iver含羞草研究社� video.

含羞草研究社淲hat it was like to go home after a moment of police brutality, or a vigil.含羞草研究社�

The video was filmed with a mostly Canadian crew, including cinematographer Chayse Irvin, who also worked on Beyonce含羞草研究社檚 Grammy-nominated music film 含羞草研究社淟emonade.含羞草研究社�

Jay says they found inspiration in the work of photographer Bruce Davidson, who含羞草研究社檚 known for documenting America含羞草研究社檚 class struggles and economic strife while treating his subjects with dignity.

He expanded on his Baltimore memories with fictionalized stories, and residents were cast for the video含羞草研究社檚 vignettes.

Earning the trust of his inexperienced actors was monumental to making 含羞草研究社淩iver含羞草研究社� work, says Jay.

含羞草研究社淭he key is to stay with those people,含羞草研究社� he says. 含羞草研究社淣ot just shoot them and run away.含羞草研究社�

One of the most tender moments he wanted to recreate happened between a mother and son Jay watched as they left a Baltimore vigil that fateful summer. In the video, he extended their story into a private moment back at home.

Another scene features a blood-drenched father returning home to hold his baby. It was inspired by a friend Jay met at a community centre.

Other scenes were pulled directly from real life, like footage of a church congregation holding a baptism beneath a fire hose. It doubles as a reminder of clashes with police during the U.S. civil rights movement, Jay says.

Bridges is also seen in the video playing his guitar in a hotel room while news footage of the Gray riots plays on a fuzzy television screen.

Jay says he likes that viewers aren含羞草研究社檛 necessarily able to separate the truth from the fiction in his video.

含羞草研究社淲e all look at the world through our own emotions and experience,含羞草研究社� he says.

含羞草研究社淭hat balance (of) trying to figure out if it含羞草研究社檚 real or not, I think that含羞草研究社檚 more what life is like.含羞草研究社�

含羞草研究社� David Friend, The Canadian Press