A retrospective programme dedicated to Scott Barley, one of today’s leading experimental filmmakers. His creative method is defined by radical independence and self-imposed limitations. Since 2015, he has worked almost entirely alone, shooting primarily on an iPhone and handling the camera, editing, sound, and production himself. Barley begins each film without a script, collecting fragments of light, movement, natural phenomena, sounds, and details of the surrounding world—recorded over different days, in different places. These fragments, sometimes gathered months or even years apart, are then woven into a single visual and sonic fabric. In his meditative works, the director minimizes the use of technology and resources, engaging deliberately with space and time, aiming not merely to show but to let the viewer experience the world in flux. The programme presents two of his short films alongside his signature feature, Sleep Has Her House.

Scott Barley

Born in 1992 in Cardiff, Wales, he is a filmmaker, artist, and film theorist whose work lies at the intersection of slow cinema, visual poetry, and sound. He studied film and experimental art at the University of Wales and Cardiff Metropolitan University. His films explore darkness, nature, the Anthropocene, and the phenomenology of perception. His 2017 feature debut Sleep Has Her House received the Best Film award at the Fronteira International Documentary & Experimental Film Festival in Brazil. Barley’s films have been screened at festivals and museums worldwide, creating a distinctive space between cinema, meditation, and lyrical essay.