Dr Arran Tenzin Bradstock is an Irish filmmaker and musician who is interested in exploring and re-examining the audio-visual relationship, meaninglessness, and randomness through experimental filmmaking. He holds a PhD in Original Composition, received for his creative practice-based research developing his experimental filmmaking practice and philosophy.
He began making films at age 9 and has since produced over 40 short films. Over the years he has moved away from his traditional filmmaking beginnings towards a non-narrative approach largely inspired by the field of experimental music. Arran's ultimate goal is to develop a style of filmmaking that allows sounds and images to exist as independent equals, neither audio nor video track relying on the other and neither being more important to the piece. He often takes a process-first approach when developing his films and commonly implements chance-operations into these processes, for example using random number generators to determine the editing order or treating the material gathering stage as an act of improvisation. He is not interested in using audiovisual material to tell stories or explore themes, and instead his work stems from the idea that when a film is made without meaning it can in fact lead to deeper, richer experiences as the viewer-listener has the freedom to create their own meaning through their interpretations, all of which are equally valid when the film has no inherent meaning to be grasped. In this sense, meaning can organically grow from the combination of the (meaningless) audio and visual material in the mind of each individual viewer-listener.
After completed an MA in 'Experimental Sound Practice' in University College Cork, Arran turned his focus to a practice-based PhD in Composition where he developed his experimental filmmaking practice and philosophy. His work was presented in the form of a portfolio of 10 original experimental film projects and a written thesis titled 'Unknowable Audiovisual Results: The Development of an Experimental Filmmaking Practice and Philosophy'. His thesis is available to read here, and his films are being made available on his YouTube channel.
He has had work screened at numerous film festivals such as Bloomsday Film Festival, Fastnet Film Festival, Kerry Film Festival, Luminous Void Experimental Film Festival, Experimental Film Odyssey, Octopus Marquee Independent Film Festival and art(ist)FILM. Recently, Arran was the Artist in Focus CineSalon Experimental Film Festival 2024 where a programme of 7 of hs film's was shown along with a conversation with the filmmaker. Other notable screenings include IndieCork Film Festival 2021, which included a Special Programme which focused exclusively on Arran’s work, featuring 4 of his films. In 2019 he became a member of LUX Critical Forum Cork, a discussion group for artists, critics and curators who have an investment in the future of the moving image.
In August 2022, Arran released Film Album no.1: An immersive audiovisual experience spanning 7 films, all of which explore experimental approaches to filmmaking and composition through unique processes that embrace elements of chance and improvisation. By presenting sound and video as independent equals, without using either to convey any underlying or abstract meaning, this substantial work continuously questions and challenges the viewer-listener’s conception of the sound-image relationship in film and opens the doors to a meditative viewing emanating from the awareness of experience. Made in 2020 before starting his PhD research, Film Album No.1 serves as an excellent introduction to the experimental film practice Arran is developing. (Click here to watch Film Album no.1). In late 2025, after submitting his PhD portfolio, Arran returned to this format to make Film Album no.2, which premiered at Bloomsday Film Festival 2025.
Music also makes up an important part of Arran's creative practice, both in terms of original music and sound pieces composed for films and the experimental music released under his music project Don't Think. While the style and genre vary greatly between releases, the sound revolves around a mix of hypnotic drones, deep ambient passages and harsh noisescapes. 11 releases are currently available on Bandcamp, 2 of which have been released on limited edition cassette by Vibrio Cholerae Records, for sale through the Depressive Illusion Records online store. Don't Think debut album Into The Storm is also available on limited edition CDs, for slae on Bandcamp and in select stores in Ireland including Tower Records Dublin.
For more details on Arran's practice and ongoing research, click here.
For a list of relavent links, click here.
(Updated: June 2025)
