I've always been inspired and intrigued by the films, art, writings, gardening and more of Derek Jarman, a kind of experimental harlequin genius person. He died in 1994, but periodically, you get revivals celebrating his unique vision and his popularity never has, and hopefully never will, truly wither.

2008 is another year of revival for Jarman fans, with a major retrospective at the Serpentine Gallery in London, curated by the brilliant (and appropriately maverick) artist Isaac Julien, who rather excitingly has also made a new documentary about the man, which screens on More 4 on February 19th at 10pm.

If you care about independent visionary filmmaking, you should definitely watch it - it will demonstrate just how much he was a one-off, shaking up UK filmmaking from the 1970s onwards by bringing a romantic and poetic sensibility fused in experimental films to the mainstream of film and television. Plus it'll stress how socially important he was too, not just for his pride in his sexuality, but also in his celebration of the need for a dynamic UK artistic community that nurtures mavericks, and his belief in the power of misfits and outsiders. You can get some really good background on these things in this article

And that's not all the excitement. C4 have also announced a new Jarman Award in association with the good people at Film London, which will be an annual prize of £20,000 "celebrating the spirit of experimentation, imagination and inspiration in the work of UK artist film-makers", along with a commission to make a week of 3 Minute Wonders - and I really can't wait to see them! We'll keep you updated on the 4 nominated artists (who'll all be profiled on channel4.com) and definitely let us know what you think of the Isaac Julien doc when it goes out on the 19th.