Past Successful Graduates
Ben Rivers
School: Falmouth UniversityField of Studies: Art/Documentary
Website Reference:
Major Achievements: Ben
Rivers
(born
in
1972)
is
an
artist
and
experimental
filmmaker
based
in
London.
His
work
has
been
shown
in
film
festivals
and
galleries
around
the
world
and
has
won
numerous
awards.
His
work
ranges
from
themes
about
exploring
unknown
wilderness
territories
to
candid
and
intimate
portrayals
of
real-‐life
subjects.
Rivers's
practice
as
a
filmmaker
treads
a
line
between
documentary
and
fiction.
Often
following
and
filming
people
who
have
in
some
way
separated
themselves
from
society,
the
raw
film
footage
provides
Rivers
with
a
starting
point
for
creating
oblique
narratives
imagining
alternative
existences
in
marginal
worlds.
Rivers
uses
near-‐antique
cameras
and
hand
develops
the
16
mm
film,
which
shows
the
evidence
of
the
elements
it
has
been
exposed
to
–
the
materiality
of
this
medium
forming
part
of
the
narrative.
Rivers's
first
feature-‐length
film,
Two
Years
at
Sea,
was
presented
in
September
2011
in
the
Orizzonti
section
at
the
68th
Venice
International
Film
Festival
and
won
the
FIPRESCI
International
Critics
prize.
His
second
feature,
A
Spell
To
Ward
Off
The
Darkness,
was
made
in
collaboration
with
Ben
Russell
and
premiered
at
Locarno
Film
Festival
2013.
The
feature
films
are
distributed
in
UK
by
SODA
Pictures
and
KimStim
in
North
America.
Rivers
is
represented
by
Kate
MacGarry
Gallery,
London.
Awards:
• 2010:
Shortlisted
for
the
Jarman
Award
(and
also
in
2012)
• 2011:
Baloise
Art
Prize,
Art
Basel.
• 2011:
FIPRESCI,
International
Critics
Prize,
68th
Venice
Film
Festival
• 2013:
Artangel
Open
[8]
• 2014:
Tiger
Award
for
Short
Film,
International
Film
Festival
Rotterdam
Filmography:
• Old
Dark
House
(2003)
• We
the
People
(2004)
• The
Hyrcynium
Wood
(2005)
• The
Bomb
with
a
Man
in
his
Shoe
(2005)
• This
Is
My
Land
(2006)
• Astika
(2006)
• The
Coming
Race
(2006)
• Terror!
(2006)
• Greenhouse
(2007)
• Dove
Coup
(2007)
• House
(2007)
• Ah,
Liberty!
(2008)
• Sørdal
(2008)
• Origin
of
the
Species
(2008)
• A
World
Rattled
of
Habit
(2008)
