James Marsh
TFI Support
The Power of Words 2014
About
James Marsh is an award-winning documentary and fiction filmmaker. His breakthrough documentary, 1994's Troubleman, chronicled the last years of soul singer Marvin Gaye and his murder at the hands of his father. Marsh’s first dramatic feature, The King, was co-written with Oscar nominated screenwriter Milo Addica and was an Official Selection at the Cannes Film Festival in 2005. It starred Gael Garcia Bernal and William Hurt. In 2008 he made the documentary Man on Wire, about Philippe Petit's walk between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York. The film won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature at the 81st annual Oscars, the BAFTA Award for Best British film, the Independent Spirit Award, and many others. His latest film, The Theory of Everything, is a critically acclaimed biopic on Stephen Hawking starring Eddie Redmayne. His 2014 The Power of Words film is titled Of The Unknown.
Of The Unknown
A short visual meditation, Of The Unknown is set in Hong Kong where millionaires and the ‘working poor’ live side by side in one of Asia’s wealthiest and most densely populated cities. The film explores how our notions of freedom and happiness are shaped by the place we occupy, both literally and metaphorically, in our society. What is the importance of freedom when one faces a daily struggle for survival? Is it even possible to have dreams, or to dream, if one was never given any opportunities in life?
Mandela quote: "Where poverty exists, there is not true freedom."