Victoria Miro Gallery is delighted to announce that two films by celebrated artist and filmmaker Isaac Julien, True North, 2004 and Fantome Afrique, 2005 have been selected for the prestigious Sundance Film Festival 2006 in the short film category.

True North and Fantome Afrique were exhibited to great critical acclaim in October 2005 at Victoria Miro Gallery. Malcolm Le Grice, writing in a recent issue of Frieze discusses Julien’s practice:
‘One quality underlying Julien’s work is his exceptional command of the aesthetics of cinema. His images are often sumptuous, and the film construction shows a great control of visual rhythm’.

Both films explore the impact of location – cultural and physical – to resounding effect through a juxtaposition of opposing global regions. True North, filmed in the spectacular landscapes of Iceland and Northern Sweden is conceived around the expedition and writings of Matthew Henson. One of the key members of Robert E. Peary’s 1909 Arctic expedition, African-American Henson was controversially and arguably the first person to reach the North Pole. True North’s counterpart, Fantôme Afrique, weaves cinematic and architectural references through the rich imagery of urban Ouagadougou, the centre for cinema in Africa, and the arid spaces of rural Burkina Faso, and is punctuated by archival footage from early colonial expeditions and landmark moments in African history.

At Sundance Isaac Julien will be part of a prestigious panel of guests taking part in a symposium entitled Idea Factory…Film Art Convergence. Born out of past conversations between Julien and Festival Director Geoff Gilmore, the symposium will discuss the intersection of the film and art worlds and examine how certain artists and filmmakers are exploring the realm of cinematic innovation. The notion of ‘Film Art’ has a strong currency of opinion and Julien will make a significant contribution to this discussion, which also involves Douglas Gordon, Philippe Parreno and Lynn Hershman Leeson.

Isaac Julien was born in 1960 in London, where he currently lives and works. Julien graduated from St Martin’s School of Art, where he studied painting and fine art film. Julien has been making films and producing film installations for over twenty years. His films include Fantôme Afrique (2005), True North (2004), Baltimore (2003), which won the Grand Jury Prize at the Kunst Film Biennale in Cologne, Paradise Omeros (2002), Vagabondia (2000), choreographed by Javier de Frutos, for which he was nominated for the 2001 Turner Prize, The Long Road to Mazatlan (1999), made in collaboration with Javier de Frutos. Earlier films include Frantz Fanon: Black Skin, White Mask (1996), the Cannes prize-winning Young Soul Rebels (1991) and Looking for Langston (1989). Julien was a jury member for documentary films at the 1992 Sundance Film Festival. His film Young Soul Rebels was selected for the 1992 Sundance Film Festival and Frantz Fanon for the 1997 Festival.

Idea Factory…Film Art Convergence
Symposium
Sunday 22 January, 3pm
Egyptian Theatre, 328 Main Street, Park City, Utah, U.S.A