Duncan Campbell

Based in a sincere desire to understand the past, as well as the conviction that documentary is only “a peculiar form of fiction”, Campbell’s films trouble the boundaries between the actual and the artful, record and interpretation, in historical narrative and media representation. The works delve into the question of how to represent history, and how to sift through, recoup or discard the manifold images that history leaves behind. Blending archive, documentary material with fictional, imaginary elements, his films have been described as “slippery biopics”, often focusing on visionary protagonists, such as car-maker John DeLorean (Make It New John) or Irish political activist Bernadette Devlin (Bernadette).