19.03.2026 – 30.04.2026
Derek Jarman was not only one of Britain’s most important filmmakers, he also occupies a leading position among his country’s 20th-century artists. An accomplished painter, designer and writer, he was the first film director to be nominated for the prestigious Turner Prize in 1986. A magnet for controversy in his own country – his exuberant ‘queerness’ created tensions at a time of state-sanctioned homophobia – he was revered abroad. After Jarman tested positive for HIV in 1986, he turned to experimental work with the non-narrative trilogy The Last of England (1987), War Requiem (1988) and The Garden (1990). With two historical-biographical works even more daring than Caravaggio, he completed another unofficial trilogy: the Marlowe adaptation Edward II (1991) and Wittgenstein (1993). The last film project Jarman completed before his death in 1994 at the age of 52 completely transcended the moving image: Blue (1993), an epic in frozen azure blue. Jarman’s oeuvre comprises eleven feature films, the Super 8 compilations In the Shadow of the Sun (1974/81) and Glitterbug (1994, completed posthumously by friends), numerous dynamically effervescent Super 8 short films, and groundbreaking music videos. Together, they form a complex, interreferential cinematic galaxy full of glittering opulence, in which each element is created with minimal means.
Derek Jarman
19.03.2026 – 30.04.2026
Österreichisches Filmmuseum
Augustinerstraße 1
1010 Vienna
https://www.filmmuseum.at
