Ben Rivers Explained

Ben Rivers (born 1972) is an artist and experimental filmmaker based in London, England. His work has been screened at film festivals and galleries around the world and have won numerous awards. Rivers' work ranges in themes, including exploring unknown wilderness territories to candid and intimate portraits of real-life subjects.

Life and career

Rivers studied fine art at Falmouth University.[1] His 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 often employs analogue media and hand develops 16mm film, which shows the evidence of the elements it has been exposed to – the materiality of this medium forming part of the narrative.[2]

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,[3] was made in collaboration with American filmmaker Ben Russell, a frequent collaborator, and premiered at Locarno Film Festival 2013.

His feature films are distributed in the United Kingdom by SODA Pictures,[4] Cinema Guild[5] and KimStim[6] in North America.

Rivers is represented by Kate MacGarry Gallery, London. His most recent feature directed in collaboration with Thai filmmaker Anocha Suwichakornpong Krabi, 2562 (2019) premiered at Locarno Film Festival. Rivers is a Media City Film Festival Chrysalis Fellowship[7] recipient (2020), after screening his work at the festival since the early aughts.

Shows

Artist-in-focus screenings and retrospectives include Courtisane Festival;[17] Pesaro International Film Festival; London Film Festival; Tirana Film Festival; Punto de Vista[18] Pamplona; and Karlovy Vary International Film Festival[19]

Awards

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Lux. Ben Rivers . 9 December 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110927100049/http://www.lux.org.uk/collection/artists/ben-rivers . 27 September 2011 . dead . dmy-all .
  2. http://www.lux.org.uk/collection/artists/ben-rivers-0
  3. Web site: A Spell To Ward Off The Darkness . A Spell To Ward Off The Darkness . 13 September 2013 . 3 March 2015 . dead . https://archive.today/20141008212411/http://www.aspelltowardoffthedarkness.com/ . 8 October 2014 . dmy-all .
  4. Web site: Soda Pictures . Soda Pictures . 3 March 2015.
  5. Web site: TWO YEARS AT SEA - Cinema Guild Home Video . 2014-10-08 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20141013101531/http://cinemaguild.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=HE&Product_Code=5182 . 13 October 2014 . dmy-all .
  6. Web site: spell-theatrical . Kimstim.com . 3 March 2015 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150410053244/http://www.kimstim.com/spell-theatrical.html . 10 April 2015 .
  7. Web site: Media City Film Festival. 2021-03-08. Media City Film Festival. en-US.
  8. http://www.ica.org.uk/17753.twl
  9. Web site: Wild Shapes Cell Project Space. cellprojects.org. en. 2018-05-01.
  10. Web site: A Foundation: Ben Rivers – A World Rattled of Habit . Afoundations.blogspot.com . 8 September 2009 . 3 March 2015.
  11. Web site: Ben Rivers | Gallery TPW . Gallerytpw.ca . 1 October 2011 . 3 March 2015.
  12. Web site: Matt's Gallery – Ben Rivers: Slow Action . Mattsgallery.org . 3 March 2015.
  13. Web site: Heather & Ivan Morison, Ben Rivers, David Thorpe | What'S On . Hepworth Wakefield . 10 June 2012 . 3 March 2015.
  14. http://www.douglashydegallery.com/exhibition.php?intProjectID=175
  15. Web site: Temporary Gallery . Temporary Gallery . 3 March 2015.
  16. Web site: Exhibitions . Kate MacGarry . 3 March 2015.
  17. Web site: courtisane . Courtisane.be . 3 March 2015. nl.
  18. Web site: Punto de Vista – Festival Internacional de Cine Documental de Navarra . https://archive.today/20130213121442/http://www.navarra.es/home_en/Temas/Turismo+ocio+y+cultura/Actividades+culturales/Espectaculos/PuntodeVista/Historico/Edicion+2009/Otras+secciones/Ciclos/ . dead . 13 February 2013 . navarra.es . 3 March 2015 .
  19. Web site: Karlovy Vary International Film Festival | Program sections . Kviff.com . 3 March 2015 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20141015062758/http://www.kviff.com/en/films/program-sections/195-tribute-to-ben-rivers/ . 15 October 2014 .
  20. Web site: FLAMIN - the Jarman Award 2010 . 9 December 2010 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20101107015002/http://flamin.filmlondon.org.uk/projects/projectscurrent/jarman_award . 7 November 2010 .
  21. Web site: Paul Hamlyn Foundation ~ 2010 Awards ~ Ben Rivers ~ About the artist . 9 December 2010 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110824092605/http://phf.org.uk/artists/artist.asp?id=1167 . 24 August 2011 .
  22. Web site: Baloise Art Prize 2011 - Baloise Group . 8 October 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20141014074545/http://www.baloise.com/en/mediarelations/mediakits/baloiseartprize2011.html . 14 October 2014 .
  23. Web site: robert gardner film award Archives . Studio 7 Arts . 1 February 2013 . 3 March 2015.

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