Andrea Luka Zimmerman

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Andrea Luka Zimmerman (they/them)
Andrea Luka Zimmerman - IFFR 2024.jpg
Zimmerman at the IFFR 2024
Born
Andrea Luka Zimmerman

1969 (age 55–56)
Munich, Germany
Alma mater Central St Martins (B.A.)
Central Saint Martins (Ph.D.)
Known forVision Machine
Fugitive Images
Notable work Here For Life
Erase and Forget
Website andrealukazimmerman.com

Andrea Luka Zimmerman (they/them) is a German-born, UK-based artist, filmmaker, and cultural activist. Their work focuses on themes of social injustice, class, and the experience of marginalized communities. They received the Jarman Award in 2020. [1]

Contents

Zimmerman's films include Wayfaring Stranger (2024), the Artangel-produced Here For Life (2019), Erase and Forget (2017), Estate, a Reverie (2015), and Taskafa, Stories of the Street (2013).

In December 2024, Second Run Films released a 2-disc Blu-ray special edition of their films. That same month, the British Film Institute presented the UK premiere of Wayfaring Stranger (2024) and a season dedicated to their work.

Life and career

Andrea Luka Zimmerman was born in Munich, Germany, in 1969, and grew up on several large public housing estates, including the Wohnring in Neuperlach. They left school at 16, and after moving to London in 1991, studied at Central Saint Martins, where they graduated with a BA in 1997 and a PhD (Secreting History: Spectral and Spectacular Representations of Political Violence) in 2006. [2]

Zimmerman co-founded the film collective **Vision Machine** in 2001, an experimental filmmaking group created to research, analyse and respond to conditions of economic, political and military power. [3] Other members included Christine Cynn, Joshua Oppenheimer, and Michael Uwemedimo. The collective collaborated on the Academy Award-nominated documentary The Look of Silence .

In 2009, Zimmerman co-founded the cultural collective **Fugitive Images** alongside Lasse Johansson and David Roberts. [4]

Since January 2022, Zimmerman has been a Professor of Possible Film at Central Saint Martins. [2]

Films

Zimmerman's film Taskafa, Stories of the Street (2013) explores resistance and co-existence through the lives of the street dogs of Istanbul. [5] The film features text and readings by John Berger and references the Hayırsızada dog massacre of 1911. [6]

Estate, a Reverie (2015) was filmed over seven years, documenting the dismantling of the Haggerston Estate in East London. The film records the lives and stories of residents affected by the estate's demolition and subsequent social housing changes. The film was nominated for the Grierson Award and is held in the Arts Council Collection. [7]

Erase and Forget (2017) is a documentary portrait of "Bo Gritz," a US Special Forces veteran and anti-communist militant who reputedly inspired the Rambo character. The film examines military power and social conscience through Gritz's life. [8] It premiered at the Berlin Film Festival, [9] where it was nominated for the Glashutte Original Documentary Award. Little White Lies said the film "A definitive film of the Trump era." [10]

Here for Life (2019) is a collaboration with theatre-maker Adrian Jackson. The film follows ten Londoners who navigate the city outside of mainstream structures, finding solidarity and questioning social inequalities. The film won Special Mention in the Cineasti Del Presente international competition at the Locarno Film Festival, 2019, and first prize (feature film) at the Palmares Festival De Cinema En Ville! - 2020. [11] Sight & Sound described the film as "A film of great compassion and political and aesthetic ambition." [12]

Wayfaring Stranger (2024) charts the life of an itinerant character, embodied by seven performers, across seven days. It explores themes of finding a liveable life on one’s own terms and without conflict. It had its world premiere at the Rotterdam Film Festival on 25 January 2024, and its UK premiere at the BFI in London on 7 December 2024.

Art and Projects

Art exhibitions and projects include i am here (2009–2014), a public artwork in Haggerston, Hackney, where large photos of residents were placed over the windows of vacated flats in a building undergoing gentrification. [13]

Other projects include Real Estates (2015), co-curated with David Roberts at PEER with LUX, which addressed issues of housing and social justice in East London, and Common Ground (2017) at Spike Island, Bristol, which explored strategies of social and cultural resistance. [14] Civil Rites (2017) was made in response to a speech given by Martin Luther King Jr. at Newcastle University and was shown at the Tyneside Cinema Gallery and the London Open triennial at Whitechapel Gallery in 2018. [15]

Awards

Filmography

Bibliography

References

  1. 1 2 "The Jarman Award 2020". Film London. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
  2. 1 2 "Dr Andrea Zimmerman". Central Saint Martins. Retrieved 7 December 2024.
  3. ↑ "Vision Machine 2001–2010" . Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  4. ↑ "Fugitive Images" . Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  5. ↑ "LUX - Distribution". LUX Distribution. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
  6. ↑ "On Killing Dogs". LA Review of Books. 1 February 2016. Retrieved 11 July 2018.
  7. ↑ "Art Monthly : Magazine : Issue : 400 October 2016". www.artmonthly.co.uk. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
  8. ↑ "Erase and Forget: new documentary reveals life story of the real Rambo". The Guardian. 13 February 2017. Retrieved 11 July 2018.
  9. ↑ "Berlinale: Erase and Forget". Berlin Film Festival. Retrieved 11 July 2018.
  10. ↑ "Erase and Forget review – 'A definitive film of the Trump era'". Little White Lies. Retrieved 7 February 2025.
  11. ↑ "Le P'tit Ciné - Regards sur les Docs : PALMARES FESTIVAL DE CINEMA EN VILLE ! - 2020". www.leptitcine.be. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  12. ↑ "Locarno 2019: films forged in fire | Sight & Sound". British Film Institute. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
  13. ↑ Saner, Emine (27 September 2009). "Hackney estate: the faces in the windows". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  14. ↑ "Andrea Luka Zimmerman, Common Ground at Spike Island, Bristol". Spike Island. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  15. ↑ "The London Open 2018". Whitechapel Gallery. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
  16. ↑ "British Council Film: The Delmarva Chicken of Tomorrow". British Council Film. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  17. ↑ "Andrea Luka Zimmerman: Wayfaring Stranger". The Wapping Project. Retrieved 1 December 2025.
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