William Raban: British Artists’ Films

Our British Artists’ Films series, produced in partnership with arts documentary producers Illuminations and Arts Council England, features a wide selection of important film and video work by British artists from the last thirty years.

Raban is a leading figure in his field, whose work ranges from multi-screen gallery pieces to perfectly-crafted short films. His particular interests – the City of London and the British landscape – are in the tradition of the romantic landscape painters.

The DVD features five films written, produced, photographed, edited and directed by Raban: Thames Barrier, Fergus Walking, A13, MM and the acclaimed Thames Film, filmed from a boat drifting downstream and narrated by actor John Hurt. The films show Raban’s continuing explorations of the formal properties of film itself and his immediate surroundings: East London and the River Thames.

• theFrame — William Raban (2003, 29 mins) William Raban talks about the inspiration behind his work and some of the techniques involved, illustrated by clips from 12 films.
• Sleeve notes — on Thames Film — by Peter Ackroyd, novelist, critic and author of London: The Biography.