Being John Smith

In Being John Smith, 2024, the artist reflects on the ordinariness of his name and its profound impact on his sense of self. Through a mix of humour and melancholic self-reflection, Smith navigates his lower middle class roots and his rise to prominence as an influential avant-garde filmmaker. But Smith also uses the autobiographical focus of the film to address issues that affect us all, offering poignant reflections on the human condition, the state of the world and the passage of time.

John Smith was born in Walthamstow, London in 1952 and lives and works in London. He studied at North-East London Polytechnic and the Royal College of Art, after which he became an active member of the London Filmmakers Co-op. Inspired by conceptual art, structural film, and the immersive power of narrative and the spoken word, Smith has developed an extensive body of work that subverts the boundaries between documentary and fiction, representation and abstraction. Often rooted in everyday life, his meticulously crafted films examine and expose the language of cinema itself.

John Smith will give an Artist’s Talk at CAST on Thursday 12 June, tickets including a CAST Café supper are available now. Supper will be served from 6pm, and the talk will begin around 7.15pm.

Wednesday 14 May 2025 – Saturday 21 June 2025
The film begins on the hour and half hour.

10am - 4pm Wednesday to Friday, 10am to 8pm on Saturdays (except Saturday 24 May).

Free admission, all welcome