From The
Knitting Circle
Excerpt:
His original name was Michael Jarman.
His father was a New Zealander who had a career
in the RAF, and Derek's childhood was spent at a succession of RAF
bases, including RAF Merryfield in Somerset.
Derek Jarman and his family moved to Italy for a
while. They then went with his father when he was also posted to
India and was then seconded to establish the Pakistan Air Force
after independence in 1947.
He completed a degree in history, English and
art at King's College London. He then studied painting at the
Slade School, London (1963-67). He exhibited in the Young
Contemporaries at the Tate Gallery in 1967, and he had a one-man
show at the Lisson Gallery in 1968. He also had his work exhibited
at the John Moores exhibition.
He then moved into costume and set design for
the Royal Ballet. However, the poor reception of his designs for
the ENO Don Giovanni at the Coliseum in 1968 led to him to moving
away from this type of work.
His first work for the cinema was as production
designer for Ken Russell's The Devils, (1970).
He began making his own films with Sebastiane
in 1976. He transferred his painterly skills to the cinema.
He also directed pop videos and continued to
design for the opera and ballet.
On 22nd. December 1986 Derek Jarman was
diagnosed as HIV positive, and he revealed his condition a month
later. He became a rare public figure to talk openly about his own
AIDS illness.
At the Tyneside Film festival in 1987 he met
Kevin Collins who was then 21. He had recently graduated and was
writing software for the Government. He had been brought up in a
village near Newcastle by parents who were socialists and devout
Methodists. Derek Jarman pursued Kevin Collins by letter and
within a few months Kevin Collins went to London and moved in with
Derek Jarman. They both were committed campaigners with OutRage!.
Kevin Collins nursed Derek Jarman for the final
seven years of his life...
Kicking
the Pricks 
By
Angels Driven 
