Spotlight 2020: Mark Jenkin (GB)
29.01.2020 // Following the award winning, Turkish director Yeşim Ustaoğlu, the Romanian producer Ada Solomon, and the Albanian filmmaker and film conservator Iris Elezi, CROSSING EUROPE will shine a light on the works of the independent British filmmaker, screenwriter, cinematographer, and cutter Mark Jenkin in the program section SPOTLIGHT. Mark Jenkin has previously been a guest in Linz when he presented his much-talked-about feature film debut BAIT (GB 2019) in Linz. Additionally he will be part of the jury “Competition Fiction” at CROSSING EUROPE 2020.
Mark Jenkin (*1976) is originally from Cornwall in the south-west of England, where he also lives and works today. Since 1997, he has produced more than fifty short and medium length films, next to his work as an independent filmmaker, he also teaches at the Falmouth University in Cornwall. In 2012 he wrote the “Silent Landscape Dancing Grain 13 Film Manifesto”, in which he outlines the essence of his filmmaking through thirteen rules.
He achieved his international breakthrough in 2019 with his debut feature film BAIT (2019) that had its world premiere at the Berlinale and was shown in Austria for the first time in the competition section at CROSSING EUROPE. In BAIT he draws from previous short films, both on a thematic, as well as on a formal level, such as the location of the story on the coast of Cornwall, and the change in relation to traditional ways of life and work, or the highly noteworthy visual aesthetics in a grainy black-and-white. BAIT was filmed on 16mm film, and the sound was separately added later on – something that is typical for Jenkin’s works – thereby creating a special intensity in its imagery and sound. Critics were highly enthusiastic about the artful way in which the film managed to discuss such a cumbersome topic as gentrification (without losing a sense of humor), the quality newspaper The Guardian hails the film “one of the most decisive British film of the decade”. It is therefore no wonder that the film was nominated in two categories for the prestigious British film prize BAFTA. (Note: Mark Jenkin won the BAFTA 2020 for Best Debut of a British Author and Director for "Bait").
The Spotlight consists of a selection of short films, as well as the feature film debut BAIT (GB 2019). This year’s Spotlight guest Mark Jenkin will also be personally attending the screenings in Linz, as well as in the Austrian Film Museum in Vienna (April 26). Additionally there will be a Spotlight talk at CROSSING EUROPE.
| Film selection – Spotlight Mark Jenkin |
Bronco's House (GB 2015; 44 min.) – Austrian premiere
Dear Marianne (GB 2016; 6 min.) – Austrian premiere
The Road to Zennor (GB 2016; 2 min.) – Austrian premiere
David Bowie Is Dead (GB 2018; 17 min.) – Austrian premiere
Hard, Cracked the Wind (GB 2019; 17 min.) – Austrian premiere
Bait (GB 2019; 87 min.) – Austrian premiere at Crossing Europe 2019
| The Spotlight 2020 is presented in collaboration with the Austrian Film Museum.|
Mark Jenkin (*1976) is originally from Cornwall in the south-west of England, where he also lives and works today. Since 1997, he has produced more than fifty short and medium length films, next to his work as an independent filmmaker, he also teaches at the Falmouth University in Cornwall. In 2012 he wrote the “Silent Landscape Dancing Grain 13 Film Manifesto”, in which he outlines the essence of his filmmaking through thirteen rules.
He achieved his international breakthrough in 2019 with his debut feature film BAIT (2019) that had its world premiere at the Berlinale and was shown in Austria for the first time in the competition section at CROSSING EUROPE. In BAIT he draws from previous short films, both on a thematic, as well as on a formal level, such as the location of the story on the coast of Cornwall, and the change in relation to traditional ways of life and work, or the highly noteworthy visual aesthetics in a grainy black-and-white. BAIT was filmed on 16mm film, and the sound was separately added later on – something that is typical for Jenkin’s works – thereby creating a special intensity in its imagery and sound. Critics were highly enthusiastic about the artful way in which the film managed to discuss such a cumbersome topic as gentrification (without losing a sense of humor), the quality newspaper The Guardian hails the film “one of the most decisive British film of the decade”. It is therefore no wonder that the film was nominated in two categories for the prestigious British film prize BAFTA. (Note: Mark Jenkin won the BAFTA 2020 for Best Debut of a British Author and Director for "Bait").
The Spotlight consists of a selection of short films, as well as the feature film debut BAIT (GB 2019). This year’s Spotlight guest Mark Jenkin will also be personally attending the screenings in Linz, as well as in the Austrian Film Museum in Vienna (April 26). Additionally there will be a Spotlight talk at CROSSING EUROPE.
| Film selection – Spotlight Mark Jenkin |
Bronco's House (GB 2015; 44 min.) – Austrian premiere
Dear Marianne (GB 2016; 6 min.) – Austrian premiere
The Road to Zennor (GB 2016; 2 min.) – Austrian premiere
David Bowie Is Dead (GB 2018; 17 min.) – Austrian premiere
Hard, Cracked the Wind (GB 2019; 17 min.) – Austrian premiere
Bait (GB 2019; 87 min.) – Austrian premiere at Crossing Europe 2019
| The Spotlight 2020 is presented in collaboration with the Austrian Film Museum.|
