Khalid's Director Emil Nava Reveals What Being A Free Spirit Really Means

Khalid's sophomore album, Free Spirit, out today (April 5), comes with a treat – a short film of the same name helmed by esteemed music video director Emil Nava. The movie premiered in select theaters on April 3 for one day only, starring veteran actors Jahking Guillory (On My Block and Kicks) and Edi Gathegi (X-Men: First Class), models Estefania Preciado and Judah Lang, and also artists Dizzy Fae and Khalid himself. The singer was busy filming the movie and penning it, also. He's credited a co-writer as well as Nava. It's a tale of traveling youths that grows complex over the course of its runtime.


Nava met with Khalid on Christmas Eve right after having discussed about wanting to shoot a video with each other, the director told MTV News over the phone. Nava, who's worked with artists like Post Malone, Ed Sheeran, and Bebe Rexha, paired with Khalid to shoot "Talk," the album's first single. However that wasn't all that the singer wanted. "What amazed me about Khalid was that he really wanted to create a film, not a visual album or just music videos," Nava mentioned. "I shot my first full-length film last year, so this was an especially exhilarating project because it has everything that I love in it – both music and cinema."


After deciding to get the ball rolling on the film, the pair worked to determine how to round out the cast. "It was built out of his companions and unique actors because we were looking for people names as well as fresh, exhilarating new talent," Nava mentioned. Once that was settled, then came creating the film itself, which actually didn’t take that long: "We shot for 10 days out in the desert outskirts of Los Angeles. The main thing that we wanted to make was the feeling of a road trip where they are really on this journey. We also wanted the cast to have a good time and feel like themselves."


It's evident in starting shots of the trailer that recreation is one of the film's biggest themes. "The movie is about escapism and the youth of today," Nava mentioned. "It's about an audience of youths that are living in the depths of America and so they hope to get out. So one day, they steal a van and all wish to go on a road trip with each other, and essentially, what unfolds is a modern-day, complex love story." Later in the trailer, the categorize of youths are led by a young woman named Ladybug who seems to command a persons vision all of the guys in her vicinity. "She's really who the film is focused about," he mentioned. "She's a young product of today's world – amazingly powerful and strong-minded. At the end of the trailer, she appears in arms every one of the guys while one solemnly remarks to the camera, "Everybody loves Ladybug, though. Literally everybody." There's a fast cut of Khalid looking at the camera, mystified. Then, black.


Nava believes that while Ladybug is a central piece of the film's narrative, the significance of freedom is just as pertinent. He sees himself in nearly all of the characters. "Growing up, I certainly had a feeling of wanting to escape my hometown also he mentioned. "Today, 15 years later, I'm still exploring the idea of escapism. Because of this, I visualize myself in a lot of these. I'd like to funnel that into creating cinema that is for the youth."


Whenever I ask Nava what being a complimentary spirit means to him, he gets specific: “Being able to be free in your own mind. It's about not caring what people's suggestions are." He pauses for a second before continuing. "The way that the world is today, we're seeing so much through social media and were able to be watched, judge, and commented on by people that don’t even known us. I think that it may be very hard to grow up as well as a hard world to stay in. I think being a complimentary spirit is being yourself and being happy and being able to be yourself."