Julia Guest

I make documentaries on events and issues that deeply affect me. They are the world as I see it, what resonates for me at that moment in my life as the most important thing I can do with my time. As each film goes into the world, they take on their own meaning for other people and add another shade to how we understand ourselves in this complex world.

I have been telling stories with the use of a camera since 1994. As a photojournalist covering the environmental road protests between 1994-1997, becoming photographic assistant to Chris Steel-Perkins at Magnum Photos in 1996. I gained an interest in the Kurdish situation, by noticing it evident in the area I lived in London, which resulted in a three year long project documenting the experience of the Kurdish Diaspora across Europe and in Turkey. This led to a sustained interest in the Middle East and Mahgreb and in particular Iraq. During this time I worked for a number of magazine and newspaper publications from the Gaurdian, Corriera Della Sera, New Statesman and many others.

In 2000 I turned my attention to making films and allowing people tell their story in a more direct way. I have been able to make a number of short films for the BBC on a variety of issues, including low impact development in the UK, Factory Farming in Poland and the siege of Falluja in 2004. I have also made feature length films of my experiences in Iraq. The best known being "A letter to the Prime Minister, Jo Wilding's Diary from Iraq" Which won best international documentary from Al Jazeera in 2006 and has been screened all over the world.

I am currently in post production on a documentary on Women's Spirituality, the reclaiming of Goddess worship in the UK as a deeply explored spiritual practise and reclaiming of the true values of the feminine in our lives.