The Sparks Brothers has won Best Music Film at the BandLab NME Awards 2022.
The Edgar Wright-directed documentary about the band Sparks beat out Billie Eilish: The World’s A Little Blurry, If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power, Oasis Knebworth 1996 and Questlove’s Summer Of Soul for the win.
“We’re so honoured to be given the finger by NME,” Russel Mael said while accepting the award remotely. “Thanks to the great director Edgar Wright and the whole team who made this wonderful film,” he added.
His brother Ron Mael, also shared his “thank you”, noting that he was “deeply appreciative of this award” before throwing up a celebratory middle finger. Watch their video acceptance speech in full above.
Wright added on stage that he wanted to thank NME for the award and “for making me a Sparks fan”, as “in the days before the internet” he used the publication to track Sparks’ success.
“Thanks to Ron and Russel Mael from Sparks,” he went on. “Genuine icons, they’ve been going in the business for 50 years and they’re not done yet, they’re still going. Here’s to the next 50 years of Sparks.”
In a four-star review of The Sparks Brothers, NME’s Lou Thomas said that Wright “brought the infectious fun of his [scripted] films to the job”. He added: “You can even hear his laughter in some of the interviews and it’s likely most viewers will feel similarly joyful after watching.”
The Sparks Brothers was one of two 2021 releases directed by Wright, the other being the psychological horror film Last Night In Soho. The latter was nominated for Best Film at the BandLab NME Awards 2022, where it went up against Licorice Pizza, Promising Young Woman, Sound Of Metal and The Harder They Fall.
The BandLab NME Awards 2022 returns to the O2 Academy Brixton this evening (March 2), co-hosted by Daisy May Cooper and Lady Leshurr. The ongoing ceremony, which celebrates the most brilliant people in music and pop culture right now, saw performances from Sam Fender, Griff and Sigrid. Meanwhile, Bring Me The Horizon will close out the show.
Check back for the latest news, interviews, winners and more from the BandLab NME Awards 2022.