Marc Silver

About me

I’m currently directing a documentary film set at the US / Mexico border with Gael Garcia Bernal, creating a 360 degrees video installation co-commissioned by several festivals, and am creative director for Jamie Cullum.

My primary interest is in exploring the construction of physical and psychological barriers in a time where the world is ever more connected and unbordered. I’m concerned about the way we see, both actually and ideologically, identifying locations of power and potentials for resistance.

In 1999, as one of the pioneer directors to use digital video as a means of telling stories that otherwise would not be heard, I made a seminal film on the anti-globalisation movement for the BBC called Global Protest. I went on to direct films for other broadcasters including the first on the Burning Man festival’s philosophical roots (Ch 4), as well as an experimental documentary about indigenous people’s views on colonialism screened on Maori TV.

Itching to push my work further I co-founded the small creative agency yeastCulture and collaborated worldwide with artists including Matthew Herbert, Faithless, Nitin Sawhney, The Beastie Boys, Michael Nyman, Ben Okri, Cirque du Soleil and Jamie Cullum. These projects included directing music videos, visual albums, animations and VJing.

I continue to work closely with both Michael Nyman and Jamie Cullum creatively directing across a variety of mediums such as iphone apps, websites, video installations, album covers and live concerts.

Since 2007 I’ve focussed on films as a force for change, as inspiration to take action. The first of these was about a 70 year old porn actress who challenges our assumptions about sex, and the second was about the power of collaborative crowds, with music by Ben Frost.

A decade after I began my career, I’m directing documentary films that work with online communities and the third sector to not just reflect on, but actually effect issues. The first of these is Resist, a film with Gael Garcia Bernal challenging the Wall that is being built between Mexico and the USA, and the second is The Games which is documenting the opportunities the London Olympics creates, as seen through the eyes of young people living locally in one of the poorest boroughs in the UK.

Journal

Premiere at Supersonic festival

Premiering at Supersonic, 24th-26th July Birmingham, UK “There are no others, there is only us” is a monochrome video projection that explores how we protect ourselves from a seemingly more chaotic planet.
‘There are no others, there is only us’ is a powerful visual metaphor illustrating the nature of collaboration and the power of crowds, with music composed by producer Ben Frost (Bjork, Valgeir Sigurosson).
The centerpiece of the film is an aerial dance of half a million swarming birds, projected at Birmingham Moor Street Station, where 7,000 commuters come and go daily.
For Supersonic, we have exclusively invited 5 chosen music artists to create their own 9-minute soundtrack for the piece. The audience can experience the film with the original soundtrack, as well as 5 alternative Birmingham made responses to the film material.
The film was inspired by a hundred conversations with people in Birmingham about how people find peace in a world of chaos. The thousands of individual birds moving as one is a metaphor for a more collaborative future.
New Communication Technology and Social Change lecture at Saybrook

On June 13th I will be joining a discussion at Saybrook
‘New media technologies and strategies are transforming the nature and potential of social activism—from their novel use in the Obama campaign and administration, and in nonprofit organizations, to their deployment by social movements such as the “Twitter Revolution” in Moldova. In this seminar, we will reflect upon these changes, learn some of the skills necessary to utilize these technologies and strategies effectively, critically assess the comparative strengths, weaknesses, and social implications of newer and traditional forms of social change, and consider the impact of the emergence of such technologies on our educational, research, and activist work at Saybrook’.
Nyman's music. Your film.

Working with Michael Nyman and Shooting People we’ve made a track available for free and launched a competition for film makers.
The track being made available is an edit of ‘The Embrace’ and ‘Lost and Found’ and comes from ‘The Piano’. Members, who use the track and upload the resulting film to Shooting People by 12 August 2009, will have a chance to win a personal endorsement from Nyman, as well as a training package valued at £750 from the Frontline Club. As a judge – and a filmmaker himself - Nyman will be looking for the most creative and original use of his soundtrack. Entries are open from 1 June – 31 July, and the winner will be announced 19 August 2009.
Back to back with Michael Nyman

Michael & I will be DJ-ing on May 22 at the Walpurgis Night Hendrick’s Halloween Ball Part 1 at The Bridge, Weston Street, London SE1, located in the mysterious tunnels beneath London Bridge.
Run by The Last Tuesday Society, founded in the 1870s and devoted to ‘exploring and furthering the esoteric, literary and artistic aspects of life in London and beyond‘, the ball is one of a series of irregular parties held to celebrate significant dates in the calendar and guests are asked to come ‘beautifully dressed’.
The nearest well for 5km, Ethiopia

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Taken on a recent trip to Ethiopia with Jamie Cullum and Unicef to see sanitation, nutrition and water projects
Ethiopian landscapes

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Taken on a recent trip to Ethiopia with Jamie Cullum and Unicef to see sanitation, nutrition and water projects
Immersive installation

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I’m collaborating with the Australian musician Genevieve Lacey on a totally immersive piece. Itʼs played out in darkness. The airʼs warm and soft - breathing is a pleasure. Images are projected onto fine-spun gauze, 360 degrees around. Itʼs a gossamer world of entrancing, dream-like motion. Spaces in your head and heart expand just by being there. For forty-five minutes, your entire world is sensual. In the middle of the space one musician plays live across an electroacoustic backdrop. The musicʼs a universe in itself, somewhere between electronica, ambient music, sound art. Sometimes fierce, virtuosic waves of sound demand your attention. Other times are gentler, thought-wandering experiences. Swarms of birds occupy this realm. They form astonishingly beautiful shapes in a constant state of flux as they flit across the ethereal screens. Their patterns are infinitely complex, completely self organised - they move as one, without any centralised control. These crowds of birds become a metaphor for us and for our times. As a swarm of half a million, they are able to make implausibly fast decisions. No individual waits for direction. It seems the future belongs to crowds. It seems the future belongs to us …
Launch of Michael Nyman's exhibition 'Distractions'

Having worked with Michael over the last 2 years curating his personal collection of video art the works are being presented at the Sketch Gallery in London at the end of April until mid June.
Jamie Cullum's new stage designs

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I’m beginning to work on what Jamie’s new world tour will look like with the visionary stage designer, Es Devlin. Here are some images of Es’s first 3d model. It references a theme that we might use throughout Jamie’s new album - the inside of a piano.
Michael Nyman's new website is up and running

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Having worked with Michael over the last couple of years curating his personal videos for exhibitions worldwide, it was time to redesign his website. It shows clips of all Michael’s video art pieces and is an archive for his musical works. You can even download a track for free to use on your own films. I worked on this (and many other websites) with designer Tim Harbour.