Cut 'N' Move -
"Missionary Man"(1996)

"The first music video I ever made was for Cut 'N' Move, a pretty big band at the time. 'Missionary Man' is originally a Eurythmics song and the lead singer Zindy was a hot name.

I made the video after going through the biggest personal tragedy of my life, as we had lost twins to pre-eclampsia in the eighth month of pregnancy. Less than a year after that life-shattering experience I made this video, and something inside me had changed. I had become emotional in a different way, my thought processes had changed, and I was filled with misery and rage. That accident has really had an impact on the way I think about many aspects of life.

The video was made in a power raid of 16 hours – one day of shooting – at a motel in Roskilde. We got some big actors like Thomas Bo Larsen to be in it and it actually ended up winning a Danish Grammy. That was the first time I was invited to a stage to have my work acknowledged, and the feeling I had receiving that award is one of the reasons I still remember why we should cherish the few moments we get like that in our careers.

When I see the video today it is of course outdated, but at the time it had a lot of elements you hadn't really seen before. And I still think that making music videos is a wonderful challenge as music is such a massive driver in filmmaking. That is also why I sense that the music video genre is making a big comeback, and why it is something we should invest time and energy in." - Martin Werner

Martin Werner directed his first music video in the wake of a personal tragedy.