Dancing Ledge

In non-linear snippets and including photographs of Jarman's artwork, he describes his sexual awakening in post-war England, his early struggles to create and find recognition for his art, and vivid accounts of his friends, lovers, and inspirations.

Jarman's light illuminates the wilderness as brightly as ever

Jarman [is] the sort of troublemaking visionary who one day may be compared with Blake

Derek Jarman was born in London in 1942. His career spanned decades and genres, from painter, theatre designer, director, film maker, to poet, writer, campaigner and gardener. His features include Sebastiane (1976), Jubilee (1978), Caravaggio (1986), The Last of England (1987), Edward II (1991) and Blue (1993). His paintings – for which he was a Turner Prize nominee in 1986 – continue to be exhibited worldwide, and his garden in Dungeness remains a site of pilgrimage to fans and newcomers alike.