• Source: John Smith (English filmmaker)

      • John Smith (born 1952, Walthamstow, East London, England) is a British avant garde filmmaker and professor of Fine Art based in London. His work has been noted for his use of humour in exploring various themes that often play upon the film spectator's conditioned assumptions of the medium and he is therefore often associated with Structural film.
      His film The Girl Chewing Gum has been called one of the most important avant-garde films of the 20th century.


      Early life and education


      Smith was born in 1952 in Walthamstow, East London and later studied film at the Royal College of Art. During this time he found inspiration in conceptual art, structural film and spoken word.


      Career


      While still attending college, Smith made The Girl Chewing Gum in 1976, which remains his best known work to date. The film consists of two camera shots and narration by Smith himself. He directs the movement of passersby, pigeons and even inanimate objects. The official Tate museum artwork collection text draws a relation to François Truffaut's 1973 film La Nuit américaine, pointing out the exposing of the work of the director as a shared theme.
      Smith lives and works in east London. He is Professor Emeritus of Fine Art at University of East London after teaching for over 40 years. He has also worked as a lecturer at Central Saint Martins. Among his students are musician Jarvis Cocker and film director Carol Morley.
      Smith has made more than 60 films over 50 years. He studied together with filmmaker Peter Gidal, a founding member of the London Film-Makers' Co-op. Smith was at some point part of the LFMC, speaking fondly of colleagues such as Ian Breakwell.


      Reception


      In a 2022 interview article for Frieze, Smith collaborator Juliet Jacques describes The Girl Chewing Gum as marrying "the 1970s structural film obsession with Brechtian alienation".
      In 2013, Smith won the annual Film London Jarman Award.


      Style


      Smith has said his goal is "making films that are as simple as possible".


      Selected filmography




      Bibliography


      The Arts in the 1970s: Cultural Closure? (with Peter Gidal, Materialist Film (Routledge) and Bart J. Moore-Gilbert), Routledge, 1994, ISBN 0-415-09906-4


      References




      External links


      Official website
      An essay on Smith's film 'The Girl Chewing Gum' on Tate website
      An essay on Smith from Idiom magazine
      An interview with Smith from Sight & Sound magazine

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