John Smith
John SMITH (1952, UK) studied Film at the Royal College of Art in London and is one of the best-known experimental filmmakers in the world. Since 1972, he has made many films – first on 16mm and then much later on video – in which autobiographical elements and irony play major roles. The Girl Chewing Gum (1976) is considered to be one of the most important cinematic works of the 20th century avant-garde movement. His award-winning work has been shown in cinemas, art galleries and on televisions around the world.
Filmography
(selection) Triangles (1972, short), Someone Moving (1972, short), The Hut (1973, short), Words (1973, short, co-dir), Out of the Back (1974, short), William and the Cows (1974, short), Faces 1 & 2 (1974, short), Associations (1975, short), Leading Light (1975, short), Nine Short Stories (1975, short), Subjective Tick-Tocks (1975, short), The Girl Chewing Gum (1976, short), Summer Diary (1977, short), Hackney Marshes – November 4th 1977 (1977, short), Gardner (1977, short), Hackney Marshes (1978, short TV), 7P (1978, short), Blue Bathroom (1979, short), Celestial Navigation (1981, short), Spring Tree (1981, short), Shine So Hard (1981, short), Light Sleep (1984, short), Shepherd’s Delight (1984, short), Om (1986, short), The Black Tower (1987, short), Dungeness (1991, short), Slow Glass (1991, short), Gargantuan (1992, short), Home Suite (1994, short), Blight (1996, short), The Kiss (1999, short & instal), The Waste Land (1999, short), Regression (1999, short), Rebus (2001, instal), Lost Sound (2001, short), Frozen War (2001, short), Worst Case Scenario (2001-2003, short), Besides the A-Side (2002, instal, co-dir), Museum Piece (2004, short), Throwing Stones (2004, short), B&B (2005, short), Pyramids/Skunk (2006-2007, short), Dirty Pictures (2007, short), Six Years Later (2007, short), Double Shutter (2010, instal), Third Attempt (2010, instal), Flag Mountain (2010, short), unusual Red cardigan (2011, short & instal), The Man Phoning Mum (2011, short), Dad’s Stick (2012, short), White Hole (2014, short) Song for Europe (2017, short), A State of Grace (2019, short), Citadel (2020, short), Covid Messages (2020, short)
More Info: John Smith and Wikipedia, John Smith
John Smith op IFFR
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Frozen War (Hotel Diaries 1)
John Smith | 11' | Ireland | Dutch Premiere
Sardonic reflections on the state of the world occasioned by a frozen news broadcast. -
Pyramids
John Smith | 6' | United Kingdom | International premiere
Part five from the series Hotel Diaries came about in Smith’s hotel room in Rotterdam while he was a jury member at the Festival in… -
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Regression
John Smith | 17' | United Kingdom | -
The maker talks about the use of video and demonstrates this using a Christmas carol. -
Dad’s Stick
John Smith | 6' | United Kingdom | European premiere
A film crammed full of warmth and compellingly dry insight introduces us to Mr. Tony Smith, John’s Dad, and ‘a perfectionist with a steady hand’. -
A State of Grace
John Smith | 3' | United Kingdom | None
Good heavens! Airline safety instructions can be highly ambiguous. John Smith delivers a biblical interpretation of Ryanair’s in-flight safety card. -
Worst Case Scenario
John Smith | 18' | United Kingdom | -
Quiet observations on Viennese street corners acquire more and more (strange) life as the film progresses. -
The Host
Miranda Pennell | 60' | United Kingdom | International premiere
The artist’s investigation into her parents’ involvement with the Anglo Iranian Oil Company (nowadays British Petroleum) lead to her discovery o -
Museum Piece
John Smith | 12' | Germany | International premiere
Personal reflections form a hotel room in Berlin. -
Lost Sound
John Smith, Graeme Miller | 28' | United Kingdom | -
What do fragments of sound tell us about the context they were discovered in?
