Jamie Thraves
- Born
- 1969 · Romford.
- Nationality
- United Kingdom
- Occupation
- screenwriter · director
- Languages
- English
In this article
Key facts
• Name — Jamie Thraves • Birth Name — James Thraves • Occupation — Film writer and director • Years Active — 1989–present James Thraves is a British film writer and director. He is known for many music videos and the feature film Treacle Jr. (2010), starring Aidan Gillen.
Early life and education
Thraves began making early short experimental films in 1989 at the University of Humberside, having previously studied illustration. His graduation film Scratch (1991) and The Take-Out (1993), a short film made under the BFI New Directors scheme, both went on to win awards at film festivals worldwide. He joined the Royal College of Art in 1993 where he made another award-winning film, The Hackney Downs (1995).
Career
After leaving the Royal College of Art he joined Oil Factory, a music video company, making his breakthrough video in 1995 for Radiohead for their song "Just" where a man is lying on the pavement and is confronted by an angry crowd, while Dorian Lough portrays the initial and main passerby who begins to question him after tripping over the man, this video garnered Thraves a lot of attention for its strong narrative structure and use of subtitles, what the man says to make the crowd lie down at the end of the video still continues to cause discussion amongst fans today. Thraves has made music videos for many artists over the years including Blur, The Verve, Radiohead, and Coldplay and more recently Jake Bugg, Sam Smith and Villagers. His video for Coldplay's "The Scientist" won three Moon Men at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards in the US, including Best Direction and Breakthrough Video. Thraves directed the short film I Just Want To Kiss You in 1997, starring Martin Freeman, which won the Fox Searchlight Award for Best Short Film at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in 1998. Thraves made his first feature, The Low Down (2000), with Film 4. It starred Aidan Gillen, Kate Ashfield, Tobias Menzies, Dean Lennox Kelly, Adam Buxton and Joe Cornish. The film was named among the "neglected masterpieces" of film history by The Observer in its rundown of 50 Lost Movie Classics. His second feature, The Cry of the Owl (2009), an international co-production with BBC Films, starred Paddy Considine and Julia Stiles. It was based on the novel of the same name by Patricia Highsmith. His third feature film, Treacle Jr. (2010), reunited him with Aidan Gillen. At the film's world premiere at the 21st Dinard British Film Festival it won the Hitchcock D'Or - Grand Jury Prize. Treacle Jr. had its UK Premiere at the 54th BFI London Film Festival. Time Out said of Treacle Jr. "Funny, touching and gritty, this coolly rendered observation on need and rejection really is a Brit drama to shout about". Thraves' fourth feature film, Pickups (2017), is the third to star long-term collaborator Aidan Gillen, who co-wrote the script.
Music videos
• 1995 • "Just" - Radiohead • "Toes Across the Floor" - Blind Melon • 1996 • "Charmless Man" - Blur • "Woman" - Neneh Cherry • 1997 • "All I Want to Do Is Rock" - Travis • "Lucky Man (US Version)" - The Verve • 1998 • "Temper, Temper" - Goldie • "Being a Girl" - Mansun • "Negative" - Mansun • 2000 • "Catch the Sun" - Doves (Version 1 - Unaired). • 2001 • "So Why So Sad" - Manic Street Preachers • 2002 • "Sound of Sounds" - Gomez • "The Scientist" - Coldplay • 2003 • "God Put a Smile upon Your Face" - Coldplay • 2005 • "Love Steals Us from Loneliness" - Idlewild • "Somewhere Else" - Razorlight • "Half Light" - Athlete • "I Understand It" - Idlewild • 2006 • "I Will Follow You into the Dark" - Death Cab for Cutie • "Anna Molly" - Incubus • "9 Crimes" - Damien Rice • 2007 • "Overpowered" - Róisín Murphy • 2008 • "Daddy's Gone" - Glasvegas • 2009 • "Fire Escape" - Fanfarlo • 2010 • "I'd Do It All Again" - Corinne Bailey Rae • "Dirtee Disco" - Dizzee Rascal • 2012 • "Two Fingers" - Jake Bugg • 2013 • "Another Love" - Tom Odell • 2014 • "Money on My Mind" - Sam Smith • "Stay with Me" - Sam Smith • "Hold On" - Twin Atlantic • 2015 • "Everything I Am Is Yours" - Villagers • 2017 • "Sweat" - The All-American Rejects • 2020 • "Call Me" - Gabrielle Aplin
Filmography
• The Low Down (2000) • The Cry of the Owl (2009) • Treacle Jr. (2010) • Pickups (2017)
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Jamie Thraves, revision 1329297101 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.BFI. The Hackney Downs (1995). 2 July 2015.
- 2.Fothergill, Lucas. What's It like to Be a Jobbing Actor in the World of Major Music Videos?. VICE. 2015-03-11.
- 3.Ryan Gilbey. Jamie Thraves: Life is bittersweet | Film. The Guardian.
- 4.50 Lost Movie Classics | Film | The Observer. The Guardian.
- 5.Treacle Jr |. Time Out.
- 6.Gilbey, Ryan. Aidan Gillen: 'I hate fame – but I'd miss it too'. The Guardian. 9 December 2015.
- 7.Twin Atlantic 'Hold On' by Jamie Thraves on Promo News.
- 8.YouTube 0PeZwZw9D_s Twin Atlantic – Hold On (Official Music Video)
- 9.YouTube hD0wd2HUVs Villagers - Everything I Am Is Yours (Official Video)
- 10.Murray, Robin. Villagers - 'Everything I Am Is Yours'. 13 April 2015.
- 11.YouTube eyJqfI5OB_0 Gabrelle Aplin - Call Me (Official Video)
Citations
References
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 02 September 2026.
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