Ben Rivers is an artist and filmmaker whose work moves freely between documentary and fiction, often portraying solitary lives, remote communities and alternative ways of being. Working predominantly with hand-processed 16mm film, he has made more than forty short, medium-length and feature films, presented internationally in cinemas, festivals and galleries.

His first feature, Two Years at Sea (2011), won the FIPRESCI International Critics Prize at the Venice Film Festival. He has twice received IFFR’s Tiger Award for Short Films: for Ah, Liberty! in 2008 and Things in 2015. Other major distinctions include the Baloise Art Prize for Sack Barrow and the EYE Art Film Prize.

His films include A Spell to Ward Off the Darkness, co-directed with Ben Russell; The Sky Trembles and the Earth Is Afraid and the Two Eyes Are Not Brothers; Krabi, 2562, co-directed with Anocha Suwichakornpong; and Bogancloch, which premiered in Locarno’s main competition in 2024. His latest feature, Mare’s Nest (2025), won the Pardo Verde at the Locarno Film Festival.

Get your tickets and read more about Bens work presented at MIRAGE below: