Mark Cousins climbs inside the creative mind of British modernist artist Wilhelmina Barns-Graham

Cousins’ (A Story of Film: An Odyssey) characteristic lilting Irish brogue takes us into the neglected life and creative mind of “Willi”, who never received the recognition she deserved in her lifetime (mostly because of her gender) but is now regarded as a pioneer of the Modernist movement. In 1949, she visited the Grindelwald glacier and experienced an epiphany that rewired her brain and forever changed her approach to her art. 

Cousins’ insightful, poetic narration, along with diary readings from Tilda Swinton, links her life, loves and travels with her distinct way of seeing the world due to the rare condition of synaesthesia, where people, numbers and letters are perceived as colours. Cousins gives us plenty of time to contemplate her paintings, alongside some beautifully immersive imagery to represent her internal world. 

Director: Mark Cousins
Cast: Mark Cousins, Tilda Swinton, Wilhelmina Barns-Graham