John Smith
(United Kingdom)

John Smith (born 1952, Walthamstow, England) is an award-winning avant-garde filmmaker who studied at the Royal College of Art in London. After graduating in 1977 he became an active member of the London Filmmakers’ Co-op. Inspired in his formative years by conceptual art and structural film, but also fascinated by the immersive power of narrative and the spoken word, Smith has developed a diverse body of work which blurs the perceived boundaries between documentary and fiction, playfully exploring and exposing the language of cinema. Often rooted in everyday life, his films are known for their formal ingenuity, subversive wit and oblique storytelling. Noted works include The Girl Chewing Gum (1976), The Black Tower (1987), Blight (1996) and Dad’s Stick (2012).

Since 1972 John Smith has made over sixty film, video and installation works that have been shown in cinemas, art galleries and on television around the world and awarded major prizes at many international film festivals. He received a Paul Hamlyn Foundation Artist’s Award in 2011, and in 2013 he was the winner of Film London’s Jarman Award. His many solo exhibitions include Museum of Contemporary Art, Leipzig (2015), Centre d'Art Contemporain de Noisy-le-Sec, Paris (2014), Kestnergesellschaft, Hanover (2012), Royal College of Art Galleries, London (2010), Ikon Gallery, Birmingham (2006) and Kunstmuseum Magdeburg (2005). He regularly presents his work in person and it has been profiled through retrospectives at the 2007 Venice Biennale and film festivals in Oberhausen, Tampere, Leipzig, St. Petersburg, La Rochelle, Lussas, Mexico City, Uppsala, Cork, Sarajevo, Prizren, Munich, Regensburg, Stuttgart, Vilnius, Karlstad and Winterthur. His work is held in the collections of Tate Gallery; Arts Council England; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Muzeum Sztuki, Lodz; FRAC Île de France, Paris; Kunstmuseum Magdeburg; Wolverhampton Art Gallery and Ferens Art Gallery, Hull. He lives and works in London and is Emeritus Professor of Fine Art at University of East London.

Films
Filmography
Time and Motion (for A L Rees)
2021
Covid Messages
2020
Citadel
2020
A State of Grace
2019
Jour de Fête
2017
Song for Europe
2017
Who Are We ?
2016
Steve Hates Fish
2015
White Hole
2014
Dark Light
2014
Soft Work
2012
Dad’s Stick
2012
unusual Red cardigan
2011
The Man Phoning Mum
2011
Flag Mountain
2010
Demo Tape
2010
Dirty Pictures (Hotel Diaries 6)
2007
Six Years Later (Hotel Diaries 7)
2007
Pyramids / Skunk (Hotel Diaries 5)
2006-2007
B & B (Hotel Diaries 4)
2004
Throwing Stones (Hotel Diaries 3)
2004
Museum Piece (Hotel Diaries 2)
2004
Worst Case Scenario
2001-2003
Frozen War (Hotel Diaries 1)
2001
Regression
1999
The Waste Land
1999
The Kiss
1999
Blight
1994
Home Suite
1994
Gargantuan
1992
Lost Sound
1988
Slow Glass
1988
Dungeness
1987
Om
1986
The Black Tower
1985-1987
Light Sleep
1981
Shine So Hard
1981
Shepherd’s Delight
1980-1984
Spring Tree
1980
Celestial Navigation
1980
Blue Bathroom
1979
Hackney Marshes (TV version)
1978
7P
1978
Summer Diary
1977
Gardner
1977
Hackney Marshes – November 4th 1977
1977
The Girl Chewing Gum
1976
Subjective Tick-Tocks
1975
Nine Short Stories
1975
Leading Light
1975
Associations
1975
Faces 2
1974
Faces 1
1974
William and the Cows
1974
Out the Back
1974
Words
1973
The Hut
1973
Someone Moving
1972
Triangles
1972

DAFilms.com is powered by Doc Alliance, a creative partnership of 7 key European documentary film festivals. Our aim is to advance the documentary genre, support its diversity and promote quality creative documentary films.

Doc Alliance Members

Sign up to receive regular updates on our film program:

By signing up for the newsletter, I hereby consent to receiving commercial communications by electronic means and to all relevant personal data processing required for the purpose of sending the Doc-Air Distribution s.r.o. newsletter. I hereby confirm that I have read and familiarized myself with the Principles of Personal Data Processing and that I consent to the text therein. I also hereby acknowledge the rights specified herein, including, without limitation, the right to submit objections against direct marketing techniques.

Poslat svému Junioru

Zavřít