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GENER8ION: The French Duo Who Cast Yung Lean in "STORM"
Surkin and Romain Gavras turned a boarding-school short film into one of 2026's defining music videos.
GENER8ION is the audiovisual project of French producer Surkin and filmmaker Romain Gavras, two longtime friends who build music, film and installations around a shared vision of the near future. They are the team behind “STORM,” the two-part short film starring Yung Lean that became one of 2026’s most talked-about music videos.
Who is in GENER8ION?
Surkin, born Benoît Heitz, came up through France’s mid-2000s electronic scene and is tied to the French Touch 2.0 wave. Gavras, son of filmmaker Costa-Gavras, made his name directing videos for Justice, M.I.A., and Jay-Z and Kanye West before moving into features with Athena and Sacrifice. The pair have worked together for more than a decade, and their influences range from American rap and Japanese video games to Detroit techno.
Past work
The project surfaced publicly in 2021 with “Neo Surf,” featuring 070 Shake. Its debut album, Love & Tears, arrived in June 2026 with guests including 070 Shake, Adèle Castillon and Foals frontman Yannis Philippakis. GENER8ION also works in gallery spaces: Visions of 2034 ran at London’s 180 Studios over the summer, and GOD HATES SPACE, an immersive installation built around a 12-meter screen, opened at the Grand Palais during Art Basel Paris in October.
How “STORM” came together
“STORM” landed on April 24, 2026, as a double single, “STORM” and “STORM II,” released through Iconoclast Music. Gavras directed the roughly seven-and-a-half-minute film, Surkin handled creative direction and Damien Jalet choreographed it. The first half follows rebellion spreading through an all-boys British boarding school; the second turns euphoric, ending with uniformed students moving in synchronized waves on the school steps. YourInfoDaily covered the drop in “GENER8ION shares music video for STORM starring Yung Lean.”
Yung Lean’s role
The Swedish rapper, credited under his legal name Jonatan Leandoer, plays a brutish, magnetic bully who tears through the school and starts an informal fight club, with no dialogue. The FADER called the character “genuinely unnerving.” Gavras and Lean were already linked: Sacrifice marks his acting debut. It is a long way from early cuts like “Ghosttown,” his 2014 track with Travis Scott.
The film earned four nominations at the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards, including Video of the Year and Best Direction, though it went home empty-handed. On the broadcast, Lean and GENER8ION restaged the climax with 66 dancers, Lean smashing a Moon Person and swapping the film’s cigarette for an ice cream cone.
Where to watch
The full two-part film premiered on YouTube on April 24, 2026, and remains there, with both halves in a single upload. For the wider world it belongs to, start with Love & Tears.
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Quick answers
Who directed “STORM”? Romain Gavras, with choreography by Damien Jalet.
Is GENER8ION a band? It is a duo project from Surkin and Gavras spanning music, film and installations.
Did “STORM” win a VMA? No. It received four nominations in 2026 and won none.
Sources
The FADER — “Yung Lean is pure chaos in “STORM” by GENER8ION”
Wonderland — “The Future Just Dropped: Welcome To GENER8ION”
My Modern Met — “Watch GENER8ION and Yung Lean Recreate Their Viral Music Video Live on Stage”