Chris Welsby / William Raban
River Yar

United Kingdom (1971-1972) 35’, 16mm

A two screen study of seasonal changes at the River Yar estuary on the Isle of Wight.

The entire film was shot from a window in a water-mill in Yarmouth, Isle of Wight. From this fixed viewpoint overlooking the River Yar, the camera was operated by 'single-framing' so that time was compressed at the rate of one frame every minute (day and night) for three weeks.
The film was made in two parts: twenty-one days following the Autumn Equinox, which is projected on the left-hand screen, and three weeks preceding the Spring Equinox shown on the right-hand screen.

Extract from artist's screening notes for John Hansard Gallery, Southampton University November 1972.

"River Yar is one of the richest and most beautiful films to have been made by a British film-maker."
(John Du Cane)

"River Yar (1972) is a classic of English avant-garde landscape in its merging of process and Romanticist imagery."
(William Raban)

Chris Welsby / William Raban
River Yar

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