Whether it’s roaring through Lagos on the back of a motorcycle taxi or gently rafting down Jamaican waterways, the six nominees for the 2025 Film London Jarman Award invite audiences to embark on immersive journeys that capture diverse facets of contemporary life and history. This prestigious £10,000 prize celebrates British artists working with moving images who exhibit innovation, creative storytelling, and bold political or personal commentary.

The shortlisted works traverse a broad geographical and thematic range. Onyeka Igwe’s 2022 film The Miracle on George Green reflects on radical protests, sparked by a 1993 campaign to save a 250-year-old sweet chestnut tree on the M11 link road in Hackney, east London. Using letters written by local schoolchildren during that protest, Igwe connects past and present acts of resistance dating back to the 17th century. Meanwhile, Karimah Ashadu’s Machine Boys (2024) immerses viewers into the macho motorcycle taxi culture of Lagos, Nigeria. The film layers philosophical discussions on death and rebellion against the backdrop of revving engines and dust clouds, bringing a kinetic energy to the screen.

Other nominees include Morgan Quaintance, whose 2024 film Available Light uses interviews with renters in Tokyo and London to explore the concept of home in large cities, revealing intimate stories amid sprawling urban landscapes. Scottish filmmaker George Finlay Ramsay’s Flesh, Wax and Glass II: The Age of the Son (2024) follows a grieving Calabrian lorry driver engaging in a bloody ritual during Holy Week, examining themes of loss and tradition in southern Italy.

The shortlist further extends to Hope Strickland and the artist duo Arwa Aburawa and Turab Shah. Strickland’s a river holds a perfect memory (2024) navigates waterways from Jamaica’s Martha Brae River to Falmouth lagoon, with reflections on ancestral memory voiced by local subjects. Aburawa and Shah’s And still, it remains (2023) takes audiences to the remote Algerian village of Mertoutek, investigating the enduring impact of French nuclear testing during the final stages of the Algerian war in the early 1960s. This work foregrounds the lingering scars of colonial violence and historical trauma in a rarely spotlighted context.

The Film London Jarman Award, named after the pioneering filmmaker and artist Derek Jarman, has a reputation for recognising artists who later achieve wider acclaim, including Turner Prize nominations and wins. Since its inception in 2008, the award has highlighted leading voices shaping the UK’s moving image art scene. Past nominees and winners have included notable figures such as Heather Phillipson, Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Charlotte Prodger, and last year’s winner, Iranian artist Maryam Tafakory. Tafakory’s work was inspired by post-revolution Iranian cinema and explored themes of displacement, memory, and resistance, underscoring the prize’s embrace of politically and socially resonant art.

Tafakory is now a member of the award jury, which described this year’s shortlist as “a powerful reflection of the richness and diversity of moving image practice in the UK today.” The jury praised the nominees for pushing the boundaries of form and storytelling, combining intimate identity explorations with bold political commentary to reaffirm artists’ film as a vital force in contemporary culture.

The winner of the 2025 Jarman Award will be revealed in late November during a ceremony in London. Ahead of this, the shortlisted artists’ works will tour cultural venues across the UK, culminating with an exhibition at the Whitechapel Gallery in London from 18 November to 14 December 2025. This nationwide programme ensures that the innovative and thought-provoking films reach a broad audience, celebrating the continuing vitality of moving image art in the UK.

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Source: Noah Wire Services