Dr Timothy Smith is a London-based academic and artist/filmmaker, creator of narrative short films such as Attack (2005) and Le Weekend (2007); which have been shown at more than 70 international film festivals; winning awards in Milan, Calgary, Oslo and Warsaw. More recently, Timothy has made experimental non-narrative films such as Béton brut (2014) and When we come to it (2015); which eventually led to Timothy undertaking his PhD and making works such as A Queering of Memory: Parts 1&2 (2017), Queer Babel (2018) and Queering di Teknolojik (2019). His experimental audiovisual work has screened in London at the BFI London Film Festival, BFI Flare and Fringe! Queer Film Fest; and internationally in Rotterdam, Barcelona, Montréal, Michigan and Washington DC. His most recent film, Queering di Teknolojik was nominated for the 2019 BFI London Film Festival Best Short Film Award and the 2020 Iris Prize. The film won the ‘George Manupelli Founder’s Spirit Award’ at the 2020 Ann Arbor Film Festival and the Best British Short Award at Bristol Queer Vision. Find out more about Timothy's films via the menu link above.
Timothy obtained his BA(Hons) in Film Production and Animation from Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia (where he was born and raised); and his MA in Art and Media Practice at the University of Westminster, in London. From 2008-2016 Timothy worked at the British Film Institute; initially as the Events Programmer for the BFI London Film Festival from 2008-10, returning to the LFF as Production Supervisor for BFI Live in 2011. Subsequently, he worked for the BFI on a part-time basis, producing cinema events, until he began his research degree in 2016 at the University of the Arts London and completed in 2020.
Timothy is a member of UAL's Creative Research into Sound Arts Practice (CRiSAP).
Timothy obtained his BA(Hons) in Film Production and Animation from Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia (where he was born and raised); and his MA in Art and Media Practice at the University of Westminster, in London. From 2008-2016 Timothy worked at the British Film Institute; initially as the Events Programmer for the BFI London Film Festival from 2008-10, returning to the LFF as Production Supervisor for BFI Live in 2011. Subsequently, he worked for the BFI on a part-time basis, producing cinema events, until he began his research degree in 2016 at the University of the Arts London and completed in 2020.
Timothy is a member of UAL's Creative Research into Sound Arts Practice (CRiSAP).
EDUCATION
ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE
- 2016 – 2020: Practice-Based PhD
(Funded by the Techne AHRC Doctoral Training Partnership).
University of the Arts London - 2001 – 2002: MA Art & Media Practice - digital video & documentary
University of Westminster – London - 1994 – 1997: BA(Hons) Media - film production & animation
Deakin University – Melbourne
ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE
- 2020: Doctoral thesis - A Queering of Memory, Temporality, Subjectivity: Subversive Methods in Audiovisual Practice.
Available here: https://ualresearchonline.arts.ac.uk/id/eprint/15618/1/ - 2017 – 2019: Summer School Co-convener of ‘Listening to: Field, Body, Voice’, an AHRC-funded collaboration between Royal Holloway University and University of the Arts London. Extended series of London-based seminars focusing on a wide range of critical theory and practice-based listening. The project culminated in a week-long, practice-based research trip to Bude, Cornwall in summer 2019.
- 2018: Published writing (review article) ‘Lesions in the Landscape, an exhibition by Shona Illingworth’, The Moving Image Review & Art Journal (MIRAJ), 7(1), pp. 156–166. doi: https://doi.org/10.1386/miraj.7.1.156_5.
GUEST LECTURES, ARTIST TALKS, CONFERENCES
- 08/04/21: Artist Talk. aemi Year in Review Programme (online due to Coronavirus pandemic).
- 06/04/21: Artist Talk. BAFTSS ‘Film & Philosophy’ SIG (online due to Coronavirus pandemic).
- 30/09/20: Artist Talk. GAZE Dublin LGBT+ Film Festival (online due to Coronavirus pandemic).
- 17/09/20: Artist Talk. Queer Vision Bristol + Encounters Short Film Festival (online due to Coronavirus pandemic).
- 20/05/20: Guest Lecture. ‘Towards a Theory of Diffractive Listening’. CRiSAP Soirée (online due to Coronavirus pandemic).
- 27/03/20: Artist Talk. Ann Arbor Film Festival, Michigan (online due to Coronavirus pandemic).
- 23/01/20: Artist Talk. Screen School Public Programme. London College of Communication.
- 15/01/20: Guest Lecture. Pop-up common room: ‘Putting PhD Practice at the Centre of the Conversation’. London College of Communication.
- 14/11/19: Panel discussion. 'The Abject Subject: Fiction, Fact, and Activism'. Fringe! Queer Film Fest, Barbican Cinema, London.
- 16/11/19: Artist Talk. Fringe! Queer Film Fest. Rose Lipman Building, London.
- 05/10/19: Artist Talk. BFI London Film Festival. British Film Institute, London.
- 27/03/19: Artist Talk. BFI Flare Film Festival. British Film Institute, London.
- 13/12/18: Symposium Presentation: Seven-minute interventions on the sonorous, the black sonic and methodologies. Techne Conflux: Art, Performance and the Sonorous. University of Roehampton.
- 18/11/18: Artist Talk. Fringe! Queer Film Fest. Hackney Showroom, London.
- 17/10/18: Guest Lecture. ‘Affective Listening and the Audiovisual Experience’. Points of Listening. London College of Communication.
- 23/05/18: Guest Lecture. CRiSAP Soirée. London College of Communication.
- 26/04/18: Guest Lecture. LCC Sound Arts Visiting Practitioner Series. London College of Communication.
- 27/03/18: Artist Talk. BFI Flare Film Festival. British Film Institute, London.
- 11/01/18: Conference Presentation. ‘Affect and Resonance: Moving towards a Theory of Haptic Aurality’. Flow & Flux Conference. Chelsea College of Art.
- 08/01/18: Conference Co-organiser. Large Objects Moving Air (LOMA) Conference. London College of Communication.
- 19/11/17: Artist Talk. Fringe! Queer Film Fest. Hackney Showroom, London.
- 17/11/17: Symposium Presentation: ‘Haptic Aurality & Queering of Memory’. High Fidelity Festival. Syracuse University, London.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
- Aug 2020 – Present: Grants Monitoring Manager – Arts Council England
Responsible for writing appraisals for Project Grant applications and reviewing/releasing payments for the DCMS Culture Recovery Fund. - Jul – Dec 2020: Chief Blog Writer – Ultra Sports Clinic
Responsible for writing SEO articles and creating photo/video content for social media. - 2014 – Present: Director – Lucid Films.
- 2010 – 2016: Cinema Events Producer – British Film Institute
Responsible for delivering a range of high-profile events and managing associated budgets as part of the year-round public programme. - 2011: Production Supervisor – BFI Live
Responsible for managing five film crews and delivery of content during the BFI London Film Festival. - 2008 – 2010: Cinema Events Programmer – BFI London Film Festival
Responsible for programming and delivering high-profile events such as Screen Talks and Masterclasses and managing associated budgets. - 2008 – 2010: Cinema Events Coordinator – London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival
Responsible for delivering all of the events and parties and managing associated budgets. - 2004 – 2014: Writer/Director/Producer/Editor – Attack Productions Ltd.
- 2004 – 2006: Freelance Broadcast Cinematographer and Editor
Broadcast clients included CNBC Europe, Channel 5, BBC, ITV and The Community Channel.
