Damien Hirst turns film-maker for Venice show

The British artist Damien Hirst has turned underwater film-maker. To mark the staging of Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable, his colossal two-venue exhibition in Venice, Hirst will present a new documentary of the same name that tells the story of the mammoth undertaking, possibly inspired by the films of the late scuba-diving French oceanographer Jacques Cousteau. The 85-minute film, directed by Sam Hobkinson, features the artist and is expected to include scenes charting the recovery of sculptures included in the show, as well as footage of exhibition visitors. The aim is to unveil the film at the Venice Film Festival, which opens on 30 August, according to a spokeswoman for Damien Hirst’s company Science Ltd. The Venice exhibition, at Palazzo Grassi and Punta della Dogana (until 3 December), tells the fictional story of a freed slave who assembled sculptures and artefacts from around the world to decorate a new temple. But the ship transporting the treasures sank, to be discovered 2,000 years later and recovered by divers funded by Hirst.