* 1972 in Somerset.

From 1990 to 1993, Ben Rivers studied Fine Art at Falmouth School of Art. He co-founded and programmed Brighton Cinematheque from 1996 to 2006. He has exhibited at many international film festivals and galleries, and won numerous awards. Together with US artist filmmaker Ben Russell, he toured New Zealand/Australia in July/August 2008 with a two-person show We Can Not Exist In This World Alone. Ben Rivers lives and works in London.

Official website: http://www.benrivers.com/

UK 2009, 10 min
Rivers tells the story of a journey to Woodbridge, Suffolk, to visit his friend Ben and his father Oleg...

Presented by VIS within the context of:
VIS Vienna Independent Shorts 2009, Tribute to Ben Rivers

UK 2008, 16 min
A 70-year-old man living in a remote part of Scotland obsessed for years with “trying to really understand” Darwin’s book, of which he is great fan. While pursuing this passion, he has constantly worked on small inventions to make his life easier.

Presented by VIS within the context of:
VIS Vienna Independent Shorts 2009, Tribute to Ben Rivers

UK 2008, 20 min
A family's life in the wilderness of the Scottish Highlands, working, playing on a farm through the seasons; free-range animals and children, junk and nature, all within the most sublime of landscapes. A sense of freedom, with no particular story, beginning, middle or end, just fragments of lives lived. A poetic study which contrasts the languid setting with the youngster's restless energy.

Presented by VIS within the context of:
VIS Vienna Independent Shorts 2009, Tribute to Ben Rivers

UK 2007, 5 min
A ghostly set of images of a scale model of an abandoned house. Lit by torches, we can only catch glimpses, fragments of the building. What we cannot see is just as important as what we can. Crumbling interiors, stained, peeling walls, forgotten furniture, dust sheets on rotting floorboards. The process of abandonment, decay and renewal.

Presented by VIS within the context of:
VIS Vienna Independent Shorts 2009, Tribute to Ben Rivers

UK 2006, 14 min
The daily routine of self-sufficient Jake Williams, who lives alone within miles of forest in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Jake always has many jobs on at any one time, finds a use for everything, is an expert mandolin player and has compost heaps going back many years. He has a different sense of time to most people in the 21st Century.

Presented by VIS within the context of:
VIS Vienna Independent Shorts 2009, Tribute to Ben Rivers

UK 2006, 5 min
Thousands of people climb a rocky mountain terrain. Their destination and purpose remains unclear. They crawl and stumble, progress upwards, vanish amid clouds at the top; the inspecificity of their actions and gestures raises questions about human nature. A vague, mysterious and unsettling pilgrimage in which we witness the eternal struggle of humankind to reach the summit.

Presented by VIS within the context of:
VIS Vienna Independent Shorts 2009, Tribute to Ben Rivers

UK 2005, 3 min
A sumptuous landscape in luminous black and white. The hills of rural England transformed into a set of deeply resonant shadow-forms, but the land always retains its specificity.

Presented by VIS within the context of:
VIS Vienna Independent Shorts 2009, Tribute to Ben Rivers

UK 2004, 1 min
A small rural village, deserted and utterly still. The camera wanders through the streets. But the soundtrack contradicts the image, giving the impression of a mass demonstration.

Presented by VIS within the context of:
VIS Vienna Independent Shorts 2009, Tribute to Ben Rivers