SEAMUS HARAHAN WINS THE 2015 JARMAN AWARD

Filmmaker Seamus Harahan, who is based in Belfast, Northern Ireland, has won the 2015 Film London Jarman Award, which was presented at London’s Whitechapel Gallery along with £10,000 (about $15,100) and a commission for Channel 4’s short-form arts show, Random Acts. For the first time, however, the latter prize has been extended to all other artists on the shortlist—Adam Chodzko, Gail Pickering, Alia Syed, Bedwyr Williams, and Andrea Luka Zimmerman.

Born in London in 1968 and raised in London and Northern Ireland, Harahan often uses urban landscapes as a backdrop for his films and video works, which are shot using amateur, hand-held equipment and are described by the artist as falling somewhere between the genres of documentary and music video. Harahan, whose works are featured in private collections worldwide, was chosen to represent Northern Ireland at the 2005 Venice Biennale.
This year marks another first for the history of the Jarman Award, with cinematographer Noski Deville taking home the inaugural Jules Wright Prize for female creative technicians, which comes with a prize of £5,000 (about $7,530). Deville’s credits include films by Steve McQueen, Isaac Julien, and Alia Syed.