Bill Viola is widely regarded as one of the world's leading visual artists. He has been a pioneer of video art since its early days in the 1970s. He has constantly pushed the limits of technology, but has also been inspired by traditional art and the mysticism of East and West. His work draws on intimate personal experiences, but has universal resonance.

In this exclusive look at the artist's private world, Bill Viola talks with remarkable honesty. Director Mark Kidel followed Bill Viola for over two-and-a-half years and accompanied him to places of particular personal significance: the Californian desert and the Basilica di San Francesco in Assisi. The film, which includes carefully chosen extracts from many of Viola's essential works, offers a unique perspective on the artist's work and his sources of inspiration.

• Bill Viola was born in New York and studied art at Syracuse University
• Having filmed the death of his mother as a way of coming to terms with his grief, Viola used the footage in his works The Passing and Nantes Triptych
• The Passions exhibition at the National Gallery in London is the first by a solo contemporary artist in the gallery's history
• The Passions are a series of 20 video works exploring the complexity of human emotion