Jessica Ashman, Natasha Austin-Green, Onyeka Igwe and Alan Warburton have been selected for the 2020 AFFAs in Experimental Film supported by the David Collins Foundation.
The finalists for the award were selected from a longlist of artists nominated from experts immersed in the field from around the UK. The judging panel comprised of filmmaker and fellow of the Arts Foundation Carol Morley(Documentary Making 2003), co-founder of the London Short Film Festival Philip Ilsonand film maker Topher Campbell who commented, ‘process and the quality of work about such relevant issues were key in our decision.’
The group of finalists represent a broad range of styles and subject focus. Multidisciplinary artist Alan Warburtonmakes experimental CGI films exploring themes around digital labour, simulation, gender and representation. Natasha Austin-Green blends documentary and experimental film to ‘dive into the abstraction of an idea’ free from the constraints of more traditional documentary formats. Jessica Ashmanworks with animation, deconstructing traditional filmmaking tropes via a frame-by-frame image-making process to explore gender, identity and race. Disrupting the notions of knowledge and documentation through her filmmaking process, Onyeka Igwe’s filmmaking practice is deeply rooted in politics and activism.
You will have a chance to see their work and hear them speak at a special event to highlight the award and their work. The Experimentalists : Finalists of the 2020 AFFA in Experimental Film will be hosted at the ICA as part of the London Short Film Festival on the 12th January at 7pm. More information will be available on this link.
The winner of the £10,000 award will be announced at the AFFAs (Arts Foundation Futures Awards) held at the ICA on the 27th January 2020 along with the results from the other four artforms Comics, Experimental Music, Visual Arts and Social Innovation in Materials Design. All the runners-up will receive £1,000 awards.
The David Collins Foundationwas set up in 2016 to honour his legacy and celebrate his love and contribution to the Arts and this is the fourth award which the Foundation has supported. The David Collins studio is an architectural based consultancy which has redefined luxury interior design on a global scale.