About the programme
Recent
Artists' Film International 2025
Dream States
3 March - 31 December 2025
Artists' Film International 2024
Solidarity
4 July 2024 - 4 April 2025
Previous programming
Diaspora (2023), Climate (2022), Care (2021), Language (2020), Gender (2019), Truth (2018), Collaboration (2017).
Artists’ Film International is a prestigious global film programme, which is collectively curated and presented by a network of arts organisations from around the world. Originally founded in 2008 by Whitechapel Gallery, London, since 2024 the programme has been convened by Forma.
Each year the programme is uniquely selected, curated and presented across the partner network in an ever shifting format, from large scale gallery exhibitions to film festivals and online screenings. This gives way to distinct and exciting presentations of the line-up across the world, and the resulting conversation between works plays out across months and years, providing a legacy to each new cohort of artists and nurturing new creative collaborations. As of 2025, the programme has seventeen partners across four continents.
Artists' Film International is an alternative, lateral programme that exemplifies non-hierarchical, borderless and collaborative curatorial models. Responding to urgent global topics, the programme cultivates collective practice and cross-cultural dialogue, fosters the exchange of ideas and perspectives, and provides wide reaching visibility for artists.
Installation view of R.I.P. Germain, 'Everything's For Sale & Everyone's Welcome To Buy', 2023. Courtesy the artist. Commissioned by Forma for Artists' Film International 2023. Photography: Katarzyna Perlak
Installation view of R.I.P. Germain, 'Everything's For Sale & Everyone's Welcome To Buy', 2023. Courtesy the artist. Commissioned by Forma for Artists' Film International 2023. Photography: Katarzyna Perlak
Installation view of R.I.P. Germain, 'Everything's For Sale & Everyone's Welcome To Buy', 2023. Courtesy the artist. Commissioned by Forma for Artists' Film International 2023. Photography: Katarzyna Perlak
Installation view of R.I.P. Germain, 'Everything's For Sale & Everyone's Welcome To Buy', 2023. Courtesy the artist. Commissioned by Forma for Artists' Film International 2023. Photography: Katarzyna Perlak
Bahar Arfan, selected for AFI’24 by Center for Contemporary Arts Afghanistan in eXiLe e.V. (CCAA in eXiLe):
As an artist, a democratic international platform like AFI represents an invaluable opportunity to engage with a global audience and exchange creative ideas across diverse cultures. It provides a space where artistic expression is celebrated free from geographical and cultural boundaries, fostering a sense of unity and shared human experience. Moreover, it allows for the exploration of universal themes through various artistic lenses, enriching both the creator and the viewer by highlighting the interconnectedness of our world. Such platforms not only amplify diverse voices but also encourage a deeper understanding and appreciation of different perspectives, which is crucial in a globalised society.
Antonia Shaw, Head of Programmes, Forma:
Forma is incredibly proud to continue the legacy of Artists’ Film International, founded over fifteen years ago by our colleagues at London’s Whitechapel Gallery.
Film, as a powerful and versatile medium, has always been championed by Forma. It has the unique ability to transcend borders and contribute to a more inclusive and dynamic global art community. AFI is a collective endeavour that amplifies diverse voices and connects international artists, organisations and audiences. Countering the fractured nature of our world, often beset by politics, conflict, disaster, and technological and industrial upheaval, AFI reminds us that by working together, we can envision and create alternative futures.
We are deeply grateful to Whitechapel Gallery and the AFI partners for entrusting Forma to nurture and advance this unique and vital film programme.
Previous AFI iterations have considered the ways in which solidarity can be enacted on macro and micro scales, how we care for one another; highlight the environmental crisis; explore the impact of technology; investigate the debate surrounding truth and fake news; and ponder on what it means to collaborate.
Previous artists in the programme include: Nadeem Din-Gabisi (AFI2024); R.I.P Germain (AFI 2023); Lithuanian artist Agnė Jokšė (AFI 2021), winner of the JCDecaux Emerging Artist Award in 2019; Indian writer and artist Himali Singh Soin (AFI 2022); Swedish filmmaker John Skoog (AFI 2018), winner of the 2015 Goteborg Festival’s Startsladden; Afghan artist Sajia Sediqi (AFI 2022); Filipino artist Kiri Dalena(AFI 2022), founder of the filmmaking collective Southern Tagalog Exposure; American artist Danielle Dean (AFI 2018); German-Italian visual artist Rosa Barba (AFI 2018); Colombian-British and current Getty Research Institute artist in residency Carolina Caycedo (AFI 2020); Scottish artist Rachel Maclean (AFI 2020); Turkish artist, activist and director Zeyno Pekünlü (AFI 2016).
Recent
Artists' Film International 2025
Dream States
3 March - 31 December 2025
Artists' Film International 2024
Solidarity
4 July 2024 - 4 April 2025
Previous programming
Diaspora (2023), Climate (2022), Care (2021), Language (2020), Gender (2019), Truth (2018), Collaboration (2017).