NEWS

YDA CHATS Episode 3: Salomon Ligthelm

This week Karim Bartoletti, YDA Jury Chairman for 2020, chats to Salomon Ligthelm, multiple YDA award-winner and renowned director at Stink.

Salomon is a self-taught filmmaker whose international background–––a childhood spent in Johannesburg, Dubai, and Sydney–––figures strongly in his distinctive, visual style. His textural and experimental work finds new ways of exploring visual storytelling, always with a human story at its core. His work has garnered recognition across the world, with inclusion in both the Saatchi & Saatchi and 1.4 New Directors Showcases, two Golds and three Silvers at the YDAs, shortlist for online commercial of the year over 2 minutes for Audi at Shots, shortlists for Music Video of the Year at Shots, Best Alternative Video and Best New Director at the UKMVA’s, and a music video shortlist at Ciclope. These honors are all the more extraordinary for a young director, who is just three years into his commercial film career. His body of work includes short films like “Rocket Wars,” which documents the stunning aerial fireworks battle of a Greek village, as well as commercials for Audi, S7, and Valvoline, and music videos for artists like Daughter and Young Fathers. Salomon lives in New York City with his young family.

Music by Charlie Pearch
Graphics by Sincromie

Other News

Gustav Bondeson’s curveballs and beautiful chaos

Director Gustav Bondeson’s ad for RF-SISU, Where Do We Play, won a YDA Gold Screen in  More…

Sai Karan Talwar’s multidimensional villain

YDA Gold Screen-winning director Sai Karan Talwar discusses how his short film, I AM THE PRIZE,  More…

Laura Almstrup’s doom-scrolling degradation

Young Director Award 2026 winner Laura Almstrup, who bagged Gold trophies in the Passion Project  More…

Lisa Mausbach turns an apology into a dark comedy

Director Lisa Mausbach’s surreal film, Sorry, produced by SOUP for Fleurop, scooped a YDA Gold. Here,  More…

Souf Kinani’s moving story

In the first of our interviews with the directors who picked up a Gold Screen  More…

YDA presents AICP Emerging Voices Grants

On June 25th during the YDA Award Ceremony in Cannes, Matt Miller, President and CEO  More…