Scott Barley

Directing

Scott Barley

Born

1992-11-11 (33)

Place of birth

Cardiff, Wales, UK

Known for

Directing

Credits

44 titles

Born in 1992 in Cardiff, Wales, he is a filmmaker, artist, and film theorist whose work lies at the intersection of slow cinema, visual poetry, and sound. He studied film and experimental art at the University of Wales and Cardiff Metropolitan University. His films explore darkness, nature, the Anthropocene, and the phenomenology of perception. His 2017 feature debut Sleep Has Her House received the Best Film award at the Fronteira International Documentary & Experimental Film Festival in Brazil. Barley’s films have been screened at festivals and museums worldwide, creating a distinctive space between cinema, meditation, and lyrical essay.

Known for

Film credits

Behind the camera

Sleep Has Her House poster
6.7

The shadows of screams climb beyond the hills. It has happened before. But this will be the last time. The last few sense it, withdrawing deep into the forest. They cry out into the black, as the shadows pass away, into the ground.

Sleep Has Her House

2017

Sleep Has Her House poster
6.7

The shadows of screams climb beyond the hills. It has happened before. But this will be the last time. The last few sense it, withdrawing deep into the forest. They cry out into the black, as the shadows pass away, into the ground.

Sleep Has Her House

2017

Sleep Has Her House poster
6.7

The shadows of screams climb beyond the hills. It has happened before. But this will be the last time. The last few sense it, withdrawing deep into the forest. They cry out into the black, as the shadows pass away, into the ground.

Sleep Has Her House

2017

The Sea Behind Her Head poster
NR

The second feature-length film directed by Scott Barley.

The Sea Behind Her Head

—

The Sea Behind Her Head poster
NR

The second feature-length film directed by Scott Barley.

The Sea Behind Her Head

—

The Sea Behind Her Head poster
NR

The second feature-length film directed by Scott Barley.

The Sea Behind Her Head

—

Half Moon poster
7.0

A dance between moon and ocean, forests and rivers. A short film by Scott Barley, originally made for a "half moon phase" sequence for Tadhg O'Sullivan's essay film, 'To the Moon' (2020). Shot on iPhone Xs with various rephotographing techniques, combined with superimposed drawings and paintings by Scott Barley. Released as a standalone short film in 2024 as part of 'Short Films (2012–2020): Solo Works by Scott Barley' on Blu-ray.

Half Moon

2020

The Sadness of the Trees poster
6.2

Two separate, yet poetically connected films that act as a threnody on nature. Mikel Guillen's film is dedicated to the artist, Hiroshi Sugimoto. Scott Barley's film is dedicated to the artist, Vija Celmins.

The Sadness of the Trees

2015

The Sadness of the Trees poster
6.2

Two separate, yet poetically connected films that act as a threnody on nature. Mikel Guillen's film is dedicated to the artist, Hiroshi Sugimoto. Scott Barley's film is dedicated to the artist, Vija Celmins.

The Sadness of the Trees

2015

Hours poster
6.2

Darkness has crept in. The hours pass quietly. A window ajar. A shadow observes the moonlight from the window.

Hours

2015

Hours poster
6.2

Darkness has crept in. The hours pass quietly. A window ajar. A shadow observes the moonlight from the window.

Hours

2015

The Ethereal Melancholy of Seeing Horses in the Cold poster
7.5

A silent short, focusing on the beauty and melancholia of seeing horses in the cold fog, and the metaphors that manifest, as time passes.

The Ethereal Melancholy of Seeing Horses in the Cold

2012

The Ethereal Melancholy of Seeing Horses in the Cold poster
7.5

A silent short, focusing on the beauty and melancholia of seeing horses in the cold fog, and the metaphors that manifest, as time passes.

The Ethereal Melancholy of Seeing Horses in the Cold

2012

A Ladder poster
8.3

Secret ladder. Borne from firmament. Stone, atonal waters. Chorus of silent hands. A vanishing act. Night is burning. Night is burning white. Flesh, a white fire. Avian. Given. Secret ladder. Mirror, become mirror.

A Ladder

2025

Closer poster
6.9

Upon liminal spheres where dreams are woven, Adrift between stars and the trees, I pass closer to the golden dawn. There’s a warmth beyond the shadow. I feel the aurum under my eyelids, And I hope the birds will sing. Oh, I hope I will hear the birds sing... Perhaps a knowledge that never comes. for David Robert Jones (8th January 1947 - January 10th 2016)

Closer

2016

Closer poster
6.9

Upon liminal spheres where dreams are woven, Adrift between stars and the trees, I pass closer to the golden dawn. There’s a warmth beyond the shadow. I feel the aurum under my eyelids, And I hope the birds will sing. Oh, I hope I will hear the birds sing... Perhaps a knowledge that never comes. for David Robert Jones (8th January 1947 - January 10th 2016)

Closer

2016

Closer poster
6.9

Upon liminal spheres where dreams are woven, Adrift between stars and the trees, I pass closer to the golden dawn. There’s a warmth beyond the shadow. I feel the aurum under my eyelids, And I hope the birds will sing. Oh, I hope I will hear the birds sing... Perhaps a knowledge that never comes. for David Robert Jones (8th January 1947 - January 10th 2016)

Closer

2016

The Emerald Fire poster
NR

Scott Barley and Mikel Guillen’s second collaboration, The Emerald Fire is inspired by the eleven Hijabaat (veils) of Sufism, feminine divinity, ascension, and the mereology of reality and experience itself.

The Emerald Fire

—

The Emerald Fire poster
NR

Scott Barley and Mikel Guillen’s second collaboration, The Emerald Fire is inspired by the eleven Hijabaat (veils) of Sufism, feminine divinity, ascension, and the mereology of reality and experience itself.

The Emerald Fire

—

The Emerald Fire poster
NR

Scott Barley and Mikel Guillen’s second collaboration, The Emerald Fire is inspired by the eleven Hijabaat (veils) of Sufism, feminine divinity, ascension, and the mereology of reality and experience itself.

The Emerald Fire

—

Evenfall poster
6.9

A silent poem to celebrate the winter light and the sense of solitude that it brings.

Evenfall

2015

Shadows poster
7.9

Through a series of chiaroscuro vignettes, the deterioration of an elderly woman's life is observed.

Shadows

2015

Wind poster
NR

A commissioned music video for Emmit Fenn’s instrumental track, Wind.

Wind

2019

Nightwalk poster
6.6

Several figures move through the darkness on a cliff-edge. An inaudible conversation near the brow of the cliff may be the cause for the group to disband. The rest of the film follows the solitary journey of the youngest member of the group, until she rests; where land meets the sea.

Nightwalk

2013

Nightwalk poster
6.6

Several figures move through the darkness on a cliff-edge. An inaudible conversation near the brow of the cliff may be the cause for the group to disband. The rest of the film follows the solitary journey of the youngest member of the group, until she rests; where land meets the sea.

Nightwalk

2013

Blue Permanence / Swan Blood poster
6.7

Above all, an experiment. Two identical films mirror each other. The only thing that differentiates between them is colour and sound, which is simply reversed. Through the use of just colour and sound, each part invokes unique sensations in the viewer. Not a single identifiable object features. Instead, the films focus on repetition, texture, movement and light.

Blue Permanence / Swan Blood

2015

Blue Permanence / Swan Blood poster
6.7

Above all, an experiment. Two identical films mirror each other. The only thing that differentiates between them is colour and sound, which is simply reversed. Through the use of just colour and sound, each part invokes unique sensations in the viewer. Not a single identifiable object features. Instead, the films focus on repetition, texture, movement and light.

Blue Permanence / Swan Blood

2015

Hunter poster
7.7

It is nightfall. A hunter lurks in the darkness, wandering further towards the impenetrable. Do the meanings lie in the stream, in the mountains, the stars, or in the death of things?

Hunter

2015

Hunter poster
7.7

It is nightfall. A hunter lurks in the darkness, wandering further towards the impenetrable. Do the meanings lie in the stream, in the mountains, the stars, or in the death of things?

Hunter

2015

Polytechnique poster
7.9

An audio-visual collaboration between Italian ambient/drone musician, Easychord and UK filmmaker, Scott Barley. Guided by Easychord's haunting, bodily piece, the Scott Barley's visuals explore and invoke the concepts of prisoner's cinema, stream of consciousness, repetition, the primordial body, fundamental entities, and astral planes.

Polytechnique

2014

Polytechnique poster
7.9

An audio-visual collaboration between Italian ambient/drone musician, Easychord and UK filmmaker, Scott Barley. Guided by Easychord's haunting, bodily piece, the Scott Barley's visuals explore and invoke the concepts of prisoner's cinema, stream of consciousness, repetition, the primordial body, fundamental entities, and astral planes.

Polytechnique

2014

Irresolute poster
6.7

The tension between the natural and industrialised world depicted through abrasive superimpositions.

Irresolute

2013

Irresolute poster
6.7

The tension between the natural and industrialised world depicted through abrasive superimpositions.

Irresolute

2013

Ille Lacrimas poster
7.5

Waves run across the surface of the sea. A blanket of fog has descended, shrouding the far side of the water in dark mist. We hear a disturbance in the sea's surface, out of our line of sight. A man staggers into view. He is stranded. Alone. He searches for answers; in the water, in the woodland, in the hills. He finds none. As he wanders deeper into the darkness of the forest, questioning his fate and destiny, he thinks back and reminisces over fragments of his life, and what has been lost. As time passes, the man finds a cabin. He feels uplifted at the thought of shelter from exposure to the elements that he has endured. Inside the shack he encounters a book that he had lost days before. He attempts to find solace in the book's pages; memories of days passed by. It consumes him. He accepts his spiritual end. It comes full circle.

Ille Lacrimas

2014

Ille Lacrimas poster
7.5

Waves run across the surface of the sea. A blanket of fog has descended, shrouding the far side of the water in dark mist. We hear a disturbance in the sea's surface, out of our line of sight. A man staggers into view. He is stranded. Alone. He searches for answers; in the water, in the woodland, in the hills. He finds none. As he wanders deeper into the darkness of the forest, questioning his fate and destiny, he thinks back and reminisces over fragments of his life, and what has been lost. As time passes, the man finds a cabin. He feels uplifted at the thought of shelter from exposure to the elements that he has endured. Inside the shack he encounters a book that he had lost days before. He attempts to find solace in the book's pages; memories of days passed by. It consumes him. He accepts his spiritual end. It comes full circle.

Ille Lacrimas

2014

Passing poster
6.5

A Silence. Two deer. Mother and child. Curiosity and the World. Being and responding. Love and courage. A gesture. Alone in the woods inside an imperfect image. A film of three shots. A passing.

Passing

2017

Passing poster
6.5

A Silence. Two deer. Mother and child. Curiosity and the World. Being and responding. Love and courage. A gesture. Alone in the woods inside an imperfect image. A film of three shots. A passing.

Passing

2017

Womb poster
6.5

The Mouth screams. It swells, hunting the night like a snake in the dark. The laceration tears through the stars, devouring its meal. In an infinite womb, limbs drift suspended, like flies in a giant spider web. An infinite sea of pale flesh. Death’s renewal awaits, as the bodies pass into the void.

Womb

2017

Womb poster
6.5

The Mouth screams. It swells, hunting the night like a snake in the dark. The laceration tears through the stars, devouring its meal. In an infinite womb, limbs drift suspended, like flies in a giant spider web. An infinite sea of pale flesh. Death’s renewal awaits, as the bodies pass into the void.

Womb

2017

No artwork available
NR

A thirty second tracking shot, moving toward, beneath, and away from a large tree at night is abstracted by slowing the original footage down to 360 minutes, rendering the movement in the shot imperceptible to the naked eye. "I wanted to undo all that is conventionally considered cinema, to reveal the tensions between still image and moving image, stasis and movement, space and temporality, the perceptible and the imperceptible." — Scott Barley

Painting (I)

2017