Iranian Artist-Filmmaker Maryam Tafakory Wins Film London’s 2024 Jarman Award

Iranian artist and filmmaker Maryam Tafakory has won the 2024 Jarman Award. 

Tafakory was handed the award — which comes with a £10,000 prize — this evening during a ceremony at the Soho Hotel in London. 

Now in its 17th year, the Jarman Award is administered by the local arts body Film London and honors UK-based artists and filmmakers working in the medium of experiential moving image. The award, of course, takes its name and inspiration from the seminal British filmmaker Derek Jarman. 

Tafakory was one of six artists shortlisted for this year’s award. The other artists were Larry Achiampong, Maeve Brennan, Melanie Manchot, Rosalind Nashashibi, and Sin Wai Kin. 

Tafakory’s work has been the subject of solo shows and screenings at the Locarno Film Festival, MoMA in New York, the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC, the Academy Museum in LA, and New York’s Museum of the Moving Image. Her 2023 short Mast-del debuted at Cannes Directors’ Fortnight. 

Discussing Tafakory’s work, which has been described as textual, filmic collages, Jarman jury member Matthew Barrington described her work a “compelling exploration of displacement, memory and resistance, interweaving archival fragments, poetry and personal narratives to craft deeply evocative works.”

“Her films navigate historical and personal traumas with remarkable sensitivity, reflecting on the intersections of Iranian cultural identity and individual struggles,” Barrington said. “Tafakory’s innovative blend of reality and fiction through visual poetry, symbolism and archival compilation firmly establishes her as a worthy winner of the Jarman Award, showcasing an artistic voice that is both profound and essential.”