Scott Barley

Personal Info

Known For Director

Gender Male

Birthday 1992-11-11 (32 years old)

Place of Birth Cardiff, Wales, UK

Also Known As Scott W. Barley, Scott William Barley

Scott Barley

Biography

Scott Barley is an artist-filmmaker, cinematographer, musician, and lecturer based in Scotland. His work is primarily concerned with the anthropocene, nature, darkness, absence, cosmology, phenomenology, and mysticism. He has exhibited at film festivals and art galleries worldwide, including ICA London, Jeu de Paume Paris, Doclisboa, Karlovy Vary IFF, Venice Biennale, QAGOMA, MoMA Río de Janeiro, and MoCA Busan. Since 2015, Scott has made films solo, switching from ARRI cameras and larger crews to almost exclusively shooting his films on iPhone, and carrying out all aspects of production (direction, writing, cinematography, sound, post-production, and distribution) himself, with an emphasis on poetics, nature, and environmental sustainability. His short film, Hinterlands was voted one of the best films of 2016 in Sight and Sound's annual film poll. Scott's first feature, Sleep Has Her House was released in 2017. It received the Jury Award for Best Film at Fronteira International Documentary & Experimental Film Festival, Brazil. It later received nominations in Sight and Sound’s 2017 and 2018 annual best film polls. In 2018, Barley co-founded Obscuritads — an international collective focused on “rendering the invisible visible” through cinema, fine art, digital ecologies and their intersection — with filmmaker, Mikel Guillen (Toronto) and curator and programmer, Miquel Escudero Diéguez (Paris, Barcelona). American filmmaker, Phil Solomon (1954–2019) is an honorary member. In 2020, film historian, and Jean-Luc Godard's editor for Le Livre d’Image (Cannes Film Festival’s Special Palme d'Or Winner) Nicole Brenez cited Sleep Has Her House as one of the ten best films of the decade, after previously writing that “[Barley’s] films renew our conception of visuality”, and describing him as “one of the most gifted visual poets of his generation”. In 2022, Sleep Has Her House was included in the decennial Sight and Sound poll of The Greatest Films of All Time, receiving votes in both the Critics’ and Directors' polls as one of the ten greatest films ever made. A revised and remastered version of the film was completed in 2023. Outside of his own solo filmography, Barley has worked with other filmmakers as a cinematographer, multimedia artist, and consultant. He was cinematographer and multimedia artist for To the Moon (Tadhg O’Sullivan, 2020) with Jimmy Gimferrer, cinematographer for Birdsong and Story of My Death (Albert Serra, 2008, 2013), Joshua Bonetta (El Mar La Mar, 2017), and artist-filmmaker, Margaret Salmon. As a pre-production consultant, he contributed to the upcoming tenth feature film, Silent Friend (starring Léa Seydoux and Tony Leung Chiu-wai) by Academy Award nominee Ildikó Enyedi (On Body and Soul, Golden Bear winner, 2017). Danish film critic, and former director of the European Documentary Network, Tue Steen Müller has described him as the “Anselm Kiefer of cinema”. His second feature film, The Sea Behind Her Head, funded by the British Film Institute (BFI) and Doc Society, is currently in production, along with several new short films, and a series of multimedia works, funded by Creative Scotland.

Known For

Director

The Emerald Fire

as Director

2020
Half Moon

as Director

2017
2017
The Green Ray

as Director

2017
Passing

as Director

2017
Womb

as Director

2017
Painting (I)

as Director

2016
Closer

as Director

2016
Hinterlands

as Director

2015
Hours

as Director

2015
Shadows

as Director

2015
2015
Hunter

as Director

2015
Evenfall

as Director

2014
Ille Lacrimas

as Director

2014
Polytechnique

as Director

2013
Nightwalk

as Director

2013
Retirement

as Director

2013
Irresolute

as Director

Camera

The Sea Behind Her Head

as Underwater Director of Photography

The Sea Behind Her Head

as Underwater Camera

The Sea Behind Her Head

as Drone Cinematographer

The Sea Behind Her Head

as Director of Photography

The Sea Behind Her Head

as Camera Operator

The Emerald Fire

as Director of Photography

2020
To the Moon

as Director of Photography

2020
Half Moon

as Director of Photography

2020
Half Moon

as Camera Operator

2017
Passing

as Director of Photography

2017
Womb

as Director of Photography

2017
Sleep Has Her House

as Director of Photography

2017
Sleep Has Her House

as Camera Operator

2017
Womb

as Camera Operator

2017
Passing

as Camera Operator

2017
The Green Ray

as Director of Photography

2017
The Green Ray

as Camera Operator

2017
Painting (I)

as Director of Photography

2017
Painting (I)

as Camera Operator

2016
Hinterlands

as Director of Photography

2016
Hinterlands

as Camera Operator

2016
Closer

as Camera Operator

2016
Closer

as Director of Photography

2015
Shadows

as Director of Photography

2015
Hunter

as Director of Photography

2015
Evenfall

as Director of Photography

2015
Hunter

as Camera Operator

2015
Blue Permanence / Swan Blood

as Director of Photography

2015
Blue Permanence / Swan Blood

as Camera Operator

2015
The Sadness of the Trees

as Director of Photography

2015
Evenfall

as Camera Operator

2015
Hours

as Camera Operator

2014
Ille Lacrimas

as Camera Operator

2014
Polytechnique

as Director of Photography

2014
Polytechnique

as Camera Operator

2014
Ille Lacrimas

as Director of Photography

2013
Irresolute

as Camera Operator

2013
Nightwalk

as Camera Operator

2013
Nightwalk

as Director of Photography

2013
Irresolute

as Director of Photography

2013
Retirement

as Camera Operator

2013
Retirement

as Director of Photography

Sound

The Sea Behind Her Head

as Sound Designer

2020
Half Moon

as Music

2020
Half Moon

as Sound

2020
Half Moon

as Sound Designer

2017
The Green Ray

as Sound Designer

2017
Womb

as Sound Designer

2017
Womb

as Music

2017
2017
2017
Sleep Has Her House

as Sound Designer

2017
Womb

as Sound

2017
The Green Ray

as Sound

2016
Hinterlands

as Sound Designer

2016
Hinterlands

as Sound

2016
Hinterlands

as Music

2016
Closer

as Sound

2016
Closer

as Sound Designer

2015
Shadows

as Sound mixer

2015
Shadows

as Sound Editor

2015
Shadows

as Sound Designer

2015
Hunter

as Sound Designer

2015
Hunter

as Sound

2015
Hunter

as Music

2015
2015
The Sadness of the Trees

as Sound Designer

2014
Ille Lacrimas

as Sound Designer

2013
Nightwalk

as Sound Designer

2013
Irresolute

as Sound

2013
Irresolute

as Sound Designer

2013
Irresolute

as Music

2013
Nightwalk

as Sound

2013
Retirement

as Sound

2013
Retirement

as Sound Designer

Crew

The Sea Behind Her Head

as Special Effects

The Sea Behind Her Head

as Cinematography

2020
Half Moon

as Cinematography

2017
The Green Ray

as Cinematography

2017
Sleep Has Her House

as Cinematography

2017
Womb

as Cinematography

2017
Womb

as Special Effects

2017
Passing

as Cinematography

2017
Painting (I)

as Cinematography

2017
Sleep Has Her House

as Special Effects

2016
Closer

as Cinematography

2016
Hinterlands

as Cinematography

2016
Hinterlands

as Special Effects

2016
Closer

as Poem

2015
Shadows

as Script

2015
Shadows

as Cinematography

2015
Hunter

as Cinematography

2015
Evenfall

as Cinematography

2015
2015
The Sadness of the Trees

as Cinematography

2015
Hours

as Cinematography

2014
Polytechnique

as Cinematography

2014
Ille Lacrimas

as Cinematography

2013
Retirement

as Cinematography

2013
Nightwalk

as Cinematography

2013
Irresolute

as Cinematography

Writer

2017
Womb

as Idea

2017
Passing

as Idea

2017
2017
Painting (I)

as Idea

2016
Hinterlands

as Idea

2016
Closer

as Writer

2016
Closer

as Idea

2015
Shadows

as Idea

2015
Hunter

as Idea

2015
Evenfall

as Idea

2014
2014
Ille Lacrimas

as Writer

2014
2013
Retirement

as Idea

2013
Nightwalk

as Idea

2013
Irresolute

as Idea

Editor

2020
Half Moon

as Editor

2017
2017
The Green Ray

as Editor

2017
Womb

as Editor

2017
Passing

as Editor

2017
Painting (I)

as Editor

2016
Closer

as Editor

2016
Hinterlands

as Editor

2015
Shadows

as Editor

2015
Hunter

as Editor

2015
Evenfall

as Editor

2015
Hours

as Editor

2014
Ille Lacrimas

as Editor

2014
Polytechnique

as Editor

2013
Nightwalk

as Editor

2013
Irresolute

as Editor

2013
Retirement

as Editor

Producer

Silent Friend

as Production Assistant

The Emerald Fire

as Producer

2017
2017
Womb

as Producer

2017
Passing

as Producer

2017
The Green Ray

as Producer

2017
Painting (I)

as Producer

2016
Closer

as Producer

2016
Hinterlands

as Producer

2015
Hunter

as Producer

2015
2015
Hours

as Producer

2014
Polytechnique

as Producer

2013
Irresolute

as Producer

2013
Nightwalk

as Producer

2013
Retirement

as Producer

Visual Effects

The Sea Behind Her Head

as Compositing Artist

The Emerald Fire

as Compositing Artist

2020
Half Moon

as Compositing Artist

2017
Sleep Has Her House

as Compositing Artist

2017
Womb

as Compositing Artist

2017
The Green Ray

as Compositing Artist

2016
Hinterlands

as Compositing Artist

2016
Closer

as Compositing Artist

2015
Hunter

as Compositing Artist

2015
The Sadness of the Trees

as Compositing Artist

2014
Polytechnique

as Compositing Artist

2014
Ille Lacrimas

as Compositing Artist

2013
Nightwalk

as Compositing Artist

2013
Irresolute

as Compositing Artist

2013
Retirement

as Compositing Artist

Art

The Sea Behind Her Head

as Art Direction

2020
Half Moon

as Art Direction

2020
Half Moon

as Painter

2017
Sleep Has Her House

as Art Direction

2017
Womb

as Art Direction

2017
2017
The Green Ray

as Art Direction

2016
Closer

as Art Direction

Actor

2015
Hunter

as Himself

2015
Hours

as Himself

2013
Irresolute

as Himself