‘A Bigger Splash - Jack Hazan’

A Bigger Splash is named after a 1967 painting by David Hockney. Part fiction, part documentary – a fascinating blend – the film offers an unprecedented glimpse into the story behind the painting, an oeuvre at the crossroads of pop art and hyperrealism.

Jack Hazan is an important figure of the 1970s independent British filmmaking scene. His portraits of David Hockney (A Bigger Splash, 1974) and The Clash (Rude Boy, co-d. David Mingay, 1980) fused documentary and fictional elements in a way that was highly controversial at the time. In 1970, his partner David Mingay showed him the David Hockney retrospective catalogue and its double portraits revealed to him the possibilities of juxtaposing real life and art. For four years, Hazan filmed Hockney and his entourage with his 35mm Cameflex. A Bigger Splash premiered in 1974 at the Cannes Film Festival where it received excellent reviews.