Some pairings are brought about by fate, while others are serendipitous. For directing duo 300ml, aka Manitou Felipe and Bernardo Dutra, their pairing seems to have been brought about by a portentous vision.

"During a spiritual session, one of [us] had a vision which [revealed] the image of the other member," the duo cryptically wrote to Boards. "During this vision, he was asked that as soon as he got home, to call the other member, describe it to him and what the outcome would be, which was 300ml as a directing entity."

After heeding that vision in 2004, the Brazil-based duo's first spot was "B+B=L" for the Rock in Rio-Lisbon music festival, featuring rows of soccer balls bouncing to a drummer's beat. Awards would soon follow in the form of a CCSP (São Paulo Creative Club) Gold Award for their Claro "Giant" spot, a deftly handled performance piece that features the inner transformation of a surly giant.

Recently, the duo scored a Bronze Lion at Cannes for the Discovery Channel's "In A Man's Life." In it, 300ml's ability to present delightfully off-kilter visuals, which inform the creative in unexpected ways, is aptly highlighted. For example, in one scene, the idea of retiring early is expressed by way of the spot's protagonist peeking out of a zippered canvas closet decorated with palm trees. The "island's" cool breeze is a wall-mounted fan.

"We like to explore activities that are not in everyday advertising," Felipe says of their approach. "[To do that] the story and the possibilities of the situations must be interesting enough."

Repped by Hungry Man internationally since 2006, the duo, previously repped by Republika Filmes for the Brazilian market and Zohar worldwide, recently completed the short Tarantino's Mind. The film, which made its US debut at The Museum of Modern Art in July during its Premiere Brazil! exhibition, is an homage to Quentin Tarantino that uses the director's signature aesthetic to present two average Joes, sitting in a diner, obsessively analyzing the overlapping references in Tarantino's films to construct an overarching theory about them.

Also in line for the pair is work on their first feature, and a campaign for Brazil-based internet provider iG.

"We are intuitive," says Dutra. "We use our time to [develop] the essence of each project. From that point, we go to the agency with the information and together we make the right decisions."

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