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

Behind the scenes of 'EN MASSE' concert/film/installation

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Studio in France - whiteout!

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Knight Foundation Funding Application

We’ve entered an open funding challenge with the Knight Foundation in the US. It’s ‘open’ in that it can be critiqued and enhanced ahead of the deadline, Dec 15th. If you have a few minutes and would like to support our project in East London, please have a read and comment here.
Having received hundreds of stories of resistance from all over the world, we’ve spent the last few months focusing on the Wall that is being built along the entire USA border with Mexico.
It is one of the greatest symbols of the divisions between rich and poor, and inspires a major investigation into the systemic causes of poverty and migration.
We’ve followed the death of one migrant and are currently seeking funding to expand the film to expose a global network of new Walls and the divisive impact they will have on all of our futures.
(Shot on the Canon EOS 7d with the Canon EF 50 mm F1.2L USM lens & Canon EF 14 mm F2.8 L II USM lens).

Watch the trailer for Resist's first film, 'The Others'.
Vjing for 'Build An Ark' at Cargo as part of the London Jazz Festival.

Buy tickets for November 19th here
Jamie Cullum's 'exploding piano' music video released today
A few shots from the USA / Mexico wall

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For the last few weeks I’ve been researching the impact of the Wall that is being built at the border between the USA & Mexico, and how it is leading to the deaths of migrants in the Sonora desert in Arizona.
Screening at the Unsound festival, Krakow

‘There Are No Others, There Is Only Us’ is being shown as part of the Systems exhibition which explores the idea of borders and political, sociological and cultural systems, including the legacy of communism. It is about transition, change, positive forms of globalisation and rebellion - especially in terms of how they relate to music and culture. (19>25th October). The film can be experienced with the 9-minute film soundtrack made by Ben Frost, or with one of three commissioned alternate soundtracks made by Jacaszek (PL), Tomasz Bednarczyk (PL) and Denis Kolokol (UA).
Here’s a link to photos of the launch night.
Jamie Cullum album cover driving around London!

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Jamie Cullum ‘Pursuit Podcasts’ are live on iTunes from today. Subscribe here http://tiny.cc/9VQP7 for a unique insight into the album recording.
I've upgraded my HD video & photography equipment to ...

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Canon EOS 7d with ...
Canon EF 50 mm F1.2L USM lens
Canon EF 14 mm F2.8 L II USM lens
I’m recording audio separately using a Tascam DR-100 which has XLR inputs.