Film London and Channel 4 in association with the Whitechapel Gallery are delighted to announce Spartacus Chetwynd, Ben Rivers, Zineb Sedira and Emily Wardill as the shortlist for this year's prestigious Jarman Award. The winner will be announced at a special event on 5 October at the Whitechapel Gallery.

This year's jury members were: Stuart Comer (Chair), Film Curator, Tate Modern; John Akomfrah, Film-maker; Iwona Blazwick, Director, Whitechapel Gallery; Avi Grewal, Channel 4 Documentaries; Mark Rappolt, Editor, ArtReview; and Gillian Wearing, Artist film-maker.

A UK touring programme showcasing works by the shortlisted artists will take place over the coming weeks at venues throughout the UK, including Arnolfini Bristol in association with Picture This, Saturday 25 September. The tour will culminate in a day of screenings and performances at London's Whitechapel Gallery on Saturday 2 October. Full details of the touring programme will be announced shortly.

Adrian Wootton, Chief Executive of Film London said: "Supporting and profiling these talented and inspiring artist film-makers through the Jarman Award, itself inspired by the iconic and visionary Derek Jarman, is such an important part of Film London's work. The Film London Artists' Moving Image Network (FLAMIN) with backing from Arts Council England and crucial partnerships with Channel 4 and the Whitechapel Gallery enable us to continue to provide this vital and unique opportunity. I am really excited by these four artists and proud this award exists to celebrate their work."

Following in the footsteps of previous winners Luke Fowler (2008) and Lindsay Seers (2009), the winner of the 2010 Film London Jarman Award will be awarded a £10,000 cash prize and a unique broadcast commission - to make film-based artwork for Channel 4's acclaimed Three Minute Wonder strand (3MW). This is the only Award of its kind where an artist is rewarded with both financial assistance to enable them to flourish and the exceptional opportunity to broadcast their work on primetime national television. Luke Fowler's 3MW's can be viewed on the Channel 4 website: http://www.channel4.com/programmes/3-minute-wonder/episode-guide/series-3.

Fowler's work has been the subject of major solo exhibitions at both the Kunsthalle Zürich and the Serpentine Gallery in London. Last year's winner Lindsay Seers' commission will be broadcast later this year. She is represented by Matt's Gallery, London, and her work can be seen here: http://www.mattsgallery.org/artists/seers/exhibition-1.

Launched in 2008 the Film London Jarman Award gives recognition and support to artists working with the moving image and whose work resists conventional definition, encompassing innovation and excellence. The Award is inspired by visionary avant-garde film-maker Derek Jarman who was one of the most esteemed and controversial artists of the late 20th Century. Film London and Channel 4 are delighted to be partnering again with the Whitechapel Gallery this year.

Details about shortlisted artists: 

Spartacus Chetwynd
The Jury says: "Spartacus Chetwynd's performative work combines a DIY punk aesthetic with a distinctly British sense of carnivalesque humour mixed with her own unique lo-fi brand of burlesque playfulness."

Spartacus Chetwynd (b.1973) is a British artist based in London. Recent solo shows and projects include 'The Snail Race', Massimo de Carlo Gallery, Milan (2008), 'Help! I'm Trapped in a Muzuzah Factory, Le Consortium, Dijon' (2008) and 'Spartacus Chetwynd', migros museum, Zurich (2007) (cat.). Group shows include: South London Cultural Centre, London (2009) (www.myspace.com/southlondonculturalcentre), Helmut Newton Ladies Nights, Event Horizon, Royal Academy, London (www.helmutnewtonladiesnight.com). Forthcoming shows will be at British Art Show, Hayward Touring Exhibitions, curated by Lisa Le Feuvre and Tom Morton (2010) and Le Printemps de Septembre a Toulouse (2010).  'A Tax Haven Run by Women' (performance once a day for five days) and 'Cat Bus Puppet' (installation), Frieze Projects, Frieze Art Fair, London (2010).

Ben Rivers
The Jury says: "A unique voice in contemporary moving image practice, Rivers crafts epic narratives out of peripheral people and places. He creates fascinating post apocalyptic visions, colliding slow time geology with the real time of marginalized hinterlands."

Born Somerset, 1972. Studied Fine Art at Falmouth School of Art, 1990-93. He has exhibited widely at international film festivals and galleries, and won various awards. He has been the recipient of a number of commissions, including LAFVA 2007, for which he made two films - 'Origin of the Species' and 'Ah, Liberty!' and Vauxhall Collective commission 2008, making 'I Know Where I'm Going'. He was included in ICA's 'Nought To Sixty' programme and recently had solo shows at A Foundation, Liverpool and Kate MacGarry, London. 

Emily Wardill
The Jury says: "A formally daring film-maker, Wardill has produced a bold range of highly experimental and fiercely intelligent yet accessible works. Her most recent feature length film, 'Game Keepers Without Game', confidently unpacks clichéd ideas about realist television and melodramatic convention."

Emily Wardill has exhibited in Britain and abroad extensively. Solo projects include exhibitions at The Showroom, London (2009), ICA, London (2008), Fortescue Avenue / Jonathan Viner, London (2005, 2006), STANDARD (OSLO) (2008) and the performance event 'The Feast Against Nature', at PS1 Contemporary Art Centre, New York (2004). In 2006 Wardill featured in the Art Now Lightbox programme at Tate Britain, her films have also been screened at film festivals internationally, including Oberhausen, The New York Film Festival and the London Film Festival. Emily Wardill is a Senior Lecturer at Central Saint Martins College of Art.

Zineb Sedira
The Jury says: "A technically accomplished film-maker, Sedira's meditative installation and single screen works pursue a poignant enquiry into themes of identity and displacement, powerfully celebrating the physical potential of the image and the craft of film-making."

Zineb Sedira has exhibited throughout Europe, the US and the Middle East. Amongst many: the Venice Biennale (2001), Tate Britain, London (2002), ICP Triennial, NY (2003), PhotoEspana, Madrid (2004), Centre Pompidou, Hayward Gallery, (2005), British Art Show 06 and ICA, London (2006), Brooklyn Museum, NY (2007), 1st Quadrennial for Contemporary Art, Copenhagen, Denmark, (2008) and in 2009 at Museum of the Image and Sound, Sao Paulo, Brazil Selected solo shows at Cornerhouse (2004), Photographer's Gallery (2006), Wapping Project (2008). In 2009 at Rivington Place, London, John Hansard Gallery, UK, Pori Art Museum, Finland and in 2010 at the Picasso Museum, Valauris, France and Prefix Institute of Contemporary Art, Toronto, Canada and Nikolaj Copenhagen Contemporary Art Center, Denmark.

For further press information, please contact:

Emma Pettit
Margaret
emma@margaretlondon.com
+44(0)7852196539

John Dunning
Margaret
john@margaretlondon.com
+44(0)7974101474

Colette Geraghty
Film London
colette.geraghty@filmlondon.org.uk
+44 (0)20 7613 7680

Notes to Editors:

Jarman Award

In 2008 Film London and Channel 4 in partnership with the Serpentine Gallery launched the Jarman Award, an annual prize inspired by acclaimed artist film-maker, Derek Jarman. The winner for the 2008 inaugural year was artist Luke Fowler. His 3 Minute Wonder commissions Anna, Helen, David and Lester premiered on C4 in April 2008 over 4 nights achieving audiences of up to 921,000 people per night. Luke Fowler enjoyed his first solo show in 2009 at London's Serpentine Gallery (May-June 09). 2009'S winner Lindsay Seers major new show 'It Has to Be This Way^2' opened in Copenhagen in May 2010. Further information about the award can be found here: www.filmlondon.org.uk/jarmanaward

Film London Artists' Moving Image Network (FLAMIN)

Film London, the capital's film and media agency, aims to ensure London has a thriving film sector that enriches the city's businesses and its people. Through the Filming Partnership: London and the South East, the agency sustains, promotes and develops the region as a major international production and film cultural capital, working with all the screen industries. Film London is supported by the UK Film Council and the London Development Agency, also receiving significant support from Arts Council England London, the Mayor of London and Skillset. 

Film London is a major supporter of artists' work, through the Film London Artists' Moving Image Network (FLAMIN). FLAMIN was launched by Film London in 2005 as a one-stop resource to provide London-based artists working in the moving image with access to funding, guidance and development opportunities. Through our unique commissioning funds we have commissioned over 100 productions, and FLAMIN has supported the careers of countless other artists with programmes of one-to-one advice sessions, residencies and workshops.
www.filmlondon.org.uk/FLAMIN

FLAMIN (Film London Artists' Moving Image Network) is supported by: Arts Council England

Media partner: Art Review