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Derek Jarman
B2 Movie, 1980
Courtesy James Mackay

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Kate McCurdy

Luke Fowler announced as winner of The Jarman Award 2008 - Read more 

Launched in January this year by Film London, More4 and the Serpentine Gallery, the Jarman Award seeks to award artist filmmakers who create their art in the spirit of the late Derek Jarman. The award coincides with a season of screenings of the filmmaker’s work on More4 (Channel 4’s digital arts and documentary channel), the Serpentine Gallery’s new exhibition on his work, a screening of his Super-8 films at the Tate Britain, and the UK premiere of Isaac Julian’s film biopic, entitled Derek.

A celebration of the artist
Derek Jarman has been described as one of Britain’s most innovative, esteemed and controversial artists, and a strongly influential and important figure in British and international cinema from the 1970s through to the 1990s. He presented homoeroticism on screen with Sebastiane (1976), explored the notion of art as a commodity in Renaissance Rome (as well as his own love of painting) in Caravaggio (1986) while The Last of England (1988), perhaps one of the greatest contemporary examples of the avant-garde genre, evoked his passionate anger at the Thatcher government and the social attitudes towards homosexuality in Britain. He was made a Fellow of the British Film Institute for his outstanding contribution to film culture. By highlighting the exciting works of relatively unknowns, the Jarman award aims to be instrumental in the celebration of the great independent artist filmmaker.

Shortlisted: Cairns by Andrew Kötting

‘Derek Jarman curated by Isaac Julien’
The Derek Jarman exhibition at the Serpentine Gallery, has been curated by Isaac Julien, a significant artist and filmmaker in his own right. The purpose of the exhibition and installation is to celebrate Jarman’s first love of painting, as well as his expansive work in film and the moving image. Julien conceived and designed it as an immersive environment, featuring many examples of rare footage from Jarman’s Super-8 archive including an installation of his film Blue (1993). Much of the archival footage in the exhibition is shown in Julien’s new film Derek, where clips of Jarman’s feature and Super-8 films are juxtaposed with news and current affairs footage to firmly place Jarman’s work in the social context in which he he so keenly observed and participated. Derek is narrated by Tilda Swinton and has been selected for International competition at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and the 2008 Berlin Film Festival. The film will be shown daily at the Serpentine Gallery on a loop for the duration of the exhibition.

Shortlisted: Falls Burns Malone Fiddles by Duncan Campbell

The Jarman Award
The winner of the Jarman Award, to be announced on 1 April 2008, will be one of the four shortlisted artist filmmakers: Duncan Campbell, Luke Fowler, Andrew Kötting and Emily Wardill. They have been selected according to a number of criteria which recognises artist filmmakers who have developed a significant body of work over the past 5-10 years; energised and stimulated the artists’ moving image sector through their challenging of expectations, stimulation of critical debate or connecting with and inspiring an audience; and, artist filmmakers who are at a significant stage in their career, at the cusp of breaking through.
Although there is no age restriction, students are not eligible for the award, and the nominated artists must be living or working in the UK.

The overall winner of the Jarman Award will be presented at the Serpentine Gallery in London with £20,000 from Film London and More4, as well as a commission of four short films for Channel 4’s documentary shorts strand to be aired in Autumn this year, entitled ‘3 Minute Wonder’. The other shortlisted artists will each receive a £1,000 prize.

Shortlisted: Sick Serena and Dregs and Wreck and Wreck by Emily Wardill

The Jarman Award Jury
Among the Jarman Award Jury are Isaac Julien, and Nicolas Roeg, director of such acclaimed films as The Man Who Fell to Earth and Bad Timing. Being the first Jarman Award, the Jury had to make careful choices about they applied the award’s criteria to the work of the nominees.
‘Ultimately, the panel felt that the four shortlisted artist filmmakers were the strongest representatives of the legacy of Jarman’, observes Lisbeth Savill, Chair of the Jarman Award Jury, ‘in the sense of their attitudes and open-ended ways of working, their focus on collaboration and their way of making us look at things differently.’

The influence of Jarman’s films, and the values and principles behind them, is still very powerful for today’s filmmakers. Maggie Ellis, Head of Production at Film London, said that ‘the art/life balance expressed through Jarman’s work combined with a lifetime of dissent and activism, will continue to inspire and influence future generations of filmmakers.’

Shortlisted: Pilgrimage From Scattered Points by Luke Fowler

The Jarman Award’s championing of experimental and artist filmmakers will help the not only the artists themselves to break through into the spotlight, but also the innovative and unique ideas that they represent within their work. This celebration is proof that Jarman’s legacy is still very much alive today in the work of up and coming artists filmmakers in Britain.

‘Derek Jarman curated by Isaac Julien’ will be on display at the Serpentine Gallery from 23 February - 13 April 2008.
Visit the gallery’s website for more details.
To find out more about the Jarman Award visit the Film London website.
To find out more about the More4 and Channel 4 broadcasts of Jarman’s films and the 3 Minute Wonder series, visit the Channel 4 website.

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Luke Fowler announced as winner of The Jarman Award 2008 - Read more

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