John Smith Movies

  • 2016
    Who Are We?

    Who Are We?

    Who Are We?

    02016HD

    On the 23rd of June 2016 Britain voted to leave the European Union. Who Are We? is a re-working of material from a BBC television debate transmitted...

    Who Are We?
  • 2018
    Song For Europe

    Song For Europe

    Song For Europe

    02018HD

    On December 1st 1990, watched by the world’s media, construction worker Graham Fagg of Dover climbed through a hole in a chalk wall 40 metres...

    Song For Europe
  • 2019
    A State of Grace

    A State of Grace

    A State of Grace

    62019HD

    A biblical interpretation of airline safety instructions.

    A State of Grace
  • 1984
    Shepherd’s Delight

    Shepherd’s Delight

    Shepherd’s Delight

    71984HD

    Many of my films involve humour, but unlike the earlier work Shepherd’s Delight attempts to confront the problem of humour head-on, referring...

    Shepherd’s Delight
  • 2011
    Unusual Red Cardigan

    Unusual Red Cardigan

    Unusual Red Cardigan

    02011HD

    The discovery of a VHS tape of the artist's films on eBay triggers obsessive speculation about the seller's identity.

    Unusual Red Cardigan
  • 2007
    Hotel Diaries: Dirty Pictures

    Hotel Diaries: Dirty Pictures

    Hotel Diaries: Dirty Pictures

    62007HD

    Moving from one hotel in Bethlehem to another in East Jerusalem, the filmmaker encounters a series of problems involving a ceiling, a video camera...

    Hotel Diaries: Dirty Pictures
  • 1976
    The Girl Chewing Gum

    The Girl Chewing Gum

    The Girl Chewing Gum

    6.71976HD

    At Stamford Road in Dalston Junction of east London, the camera follows pedestrians, cars and birds while a narrator, who appears to be the director...

    The Girl Chewing Gum
  • 1978
    Hackney Marshes

    Hackney Marshes

    Hackney Marshes

    01978HD

    Artist John Smith tells stories about tower block life, editing in bold, unconventional fashion, cutting into the material and highlighting the...

    Hackney Marshes
  • 2011
    The Man Phoning Mum

    The Man Phoning Mum

    The Man Phoning Mum

    02011HD

    Filmmaker John Smith revisits the original locations of his seminal experimental film The Girl Chewing Gum (1976) after 35 years, using...

    The Man Phoning Mum
  • 1994
    Home Suite

    Home Suite

    Home Suite

    91994HD

    Home Suite, Smith’s first video work, is a close-up journey through a domestic landscape and a journey through memory, containing only three...

    Home Suite
  • 2007
    Hotel Diaries: Six Years Later

    Hotel Diaries: Six Years Later

    Hotel Diaries: Six Years Later

    02007HD

    The filmmaker returns to the city where he made the first video in the series [Frozen War] and looks back at the events of the past six years.

    Hotel Diaries: Six Years Later
  • 1987
    The Black Tower

    The Black Tower

    The Black Tower

    6.81987HD

    A man finds himself haunted by a mysterious black tower in London that appears to follow him wherever he goes.

    The Black Tower
  • 2014
    Dark Light

    Dark Light

    Dark Light

    22014HD

    Reflecting on past political problems and the state of the world as it was provides no tools or means for envisioning the future.

    Dark Light
  • 2003
    Worst Case Scenario

    Worst Case Scenario

    Worst Case Scenario

    82003HD

    An exploration of the ambiguities of documentary photographs which develops ideas triggered by a German pun. Worst Case Scenario starts out as a...

    Worst Case Scenario
  • 1979
    Double Shutter

    Double Shutter

    Double Shutter

    01979HD

    A reworking of material from the 16mm film ‘Blue Bathroom’, a distillation of ideas concerning the tension between representation and...

    Double Shutter
  • 2017
    Jour de Fête

    Jour de Fête

    Jour de Fête

    02017HD

    “If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.” Matthew 5:38-40

    Jour de Fête
  • 2004
    Hotel Diaries: Throwing Stones

    Hotel Diaries: Throwing Stones

    Hotel Diaries: Throwing Stones

    02004HD

    As the camera looks out through a barred window and the clock strikes four in a Swiss city, the death of Yasser Arafat provides the starting point...

    Hotel Diaries: Throwing Stones
  • 2004
    Hotel Diaries: Museum Piece

    Hotel Diaries: Museum Piece

    Hotel Diaries: Museum Piece

    02004HD

    While the Iraq war continues, a day’s sightseeing and the features of a German hotel provoke a stream of thoughts about events large and small.

    Hotel Diaries: Museum Piece
  • 1972
    Triangles

    Triangles

    Triangles

    01972HD

    Abstract animation punctuated by found footage, cut to the song White Light / White Heat by The Velvet Underground.

    Triangles
  • 1980
    Celestial Navigation

    Celestial Navigation

    Celestial Navigation

    01980HD

    Celestial Navigation could be seen to work in the tradition of British landscape film in that it incorporates a natural element (the Earths rotation)...

    Celestial Navigation