6 November 2012 Author Omar Kholeif

Last night, artist James Richards (b. Cardiff, 1983) won the prestigious Jarman Award at the ceremony held at the Whitechapel Gallery in London. Produced by Film London in partnership with Channel 4 and Art Review, the Jarman Awards is Britain's most prestigious prize for artists working in artist film and video. James will receive a sum of £10,000 and a commission for Channel 4. 

We would like to extend our congratulations to James and are excited to see him move into the next stage of his young and exciting career journey. FACT and Jacqui Davies in association with Arts Council England recently commissioned Richards to make a new short film for Channel 4 as part of its Random Acts strand, which will soon be broadcast into millions of homes across the country. Richards' film, along with other films commissioned for Random Acts - including a short film by artist and actor James Franco - will also be screening at the Rome Film Festival this November.

We were delighted to welcome James at FACT at the beginning of September for a Q&A, where the Jarman Awards' national touring programme was first launched this year.

We'd also like to extend our congratulations to all of the other nominees, especially Karen Mirza and Brad Butler, as well as Shezad Dawood, who have all recently exhibited work at FACT, and who will also receive commissions on Channel 4.