Bruce Baillie (September 24, 1931 – April 10, 2020) was an American

experimental film Experimental film or avant-garde cinema is a mode of filmmaking that does not apply standard cinematic conventions, instead adopting Non-narrative film, non-narrative forms or alternatives to traditional narratives or methods of working. Many e ...

maker.

Early life

Baillie was born in

Aberdeen, South Dakota Aberdeen () is a city in and the county seat of Brown County, South Dakota, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 28,495. making it the third-most populous city in the state. Aberdeen is home of Northern State University. ...

on September 24, 1931. to Gladys and E. Kenneth Baillie. His father, E. Kenneth Baillie, was a sculptor who taught at Northern State Teachers College. After graduating high school, Baillie served in the

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

during the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

. He studied art at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

and

UC Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkele ...

before studying filmmaking at the London School of Film Technique.

Career

Baillie moved to Canyon, California in 1960, working as a longshoreman and making short films. He got a projector and

army surplus Military surplus is goods, usually materiel, that are sold or otherwise disposed of when held in excess or are no longer needed by the military. Entrepreneurs often buy these goods and resell them at surplus stores. Usually the goods sold by th ...

screen to put on shows in his backyard.

Chick Strand Mildred "Chick" Strand (December 3, 1931 – July 11, 2009) was an American experimental filmmaker, "a pioneer in blending avant-garde techniques with documentary".Diana Burgess Fuller, Daniela Salvioni, ''Art/Women/California 1950-2000: Paralle ...

and

Ernest Callenbach Ernest William Callenbach (April 3, 1929 – April 16, 2012) was an American author, film critic, editor, and simple living adherent. Having many connections with a group of noted creative individuals in Northern California, Callenbach's influen ...

became involved with the exhibition program, known as

Canyon Cinema Canyon Cinema is an American nonprofit organization for distributing independent, avant-garde, and artist-made films. After starting in the 1960s as an exhibition program, it grew to include a nationwide newsletter and a distribution cooperative. ...

, and eventually they began holding screenings around the

Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose. The Association of Bay Area Governments ...

. Also, in 1961, Baillie, along with friend and fellow cinematic artist

, founded

San Francisco Cinematheque San Francisco Cinematheque is a San Francisco-based film society for artist-made cinema. It was created in 1961 by a group of filmmakers, including Bruce Baillie and Chick Strand. This screening program grew into Canyon Cinema before being split ...

.Ray, Elaine: STANFORD UNIVERSITY NEWS, "Archives of experimental filmmaker Bruce Baillie now in Stanford University Libraries", September 12, 2012
Accessed online, May 27, 2015 His body of cinematic work includes ''Quick Billy'', ''To Parsifal'', ''Mass for the Dakota Sioux'', '' Castro Street'', '' All My Life'', ''Valentin de las Sierras'', and ''Tung''.

Personal life

Baillie married Lorie Apit in 1986. They had two children, Wind Gwladys Baillie and Keith Kenneth Baillie. Baillie died on April 10, 2020, in

Camano Island, Washington Camano Island is a large island in Possession Sound, a section of Puget Sound. It is part of Island County, Washington, and is located between Whidbey Island and the mainland (Snohomish County) by the Saratoga Passage to the west and Port Susan ...

Legacy

In 1991, he was the recipient of AFI's Maya Deren Independent Film and Video Artists Award. His 1966 short film ''Castro Street'' was selected in 1992 for the United States

National Film Registry The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation (library and archival science), preservation, each selected for its cultural, historical, and aestheti ...

. In 2012, Stanford University acquired Baillie's archives and the archives of Canyon Cinema. The

Academy Film Archive The Academy Film Archive is part of the Academy Foundation, established in 1944 with the purpose of organizing and overseeing the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' educational and cultural activities, including the preservation of mot ...

has preserved a number of Bruce Baillie's films, including ''Castro Street'', ''Still Life'', ''Cherry Yogurt'', ''Little Girl'', ''Roslyn Romance (Is It Really True?)'', and ''Quick Billy Rolls''. His films influenced

George Lucas George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an American filmmaker and philanthropist. He created the ''Star Wars'' and ''Indiana Jones'' franchises and founded Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as chairman ...

, who would attend screenings of Canyon Cinema in his youth.

Filmography

* ''On Sundays'' (1960–1961) * ''David Lynn's Sculpture'' (1961, unfinished) * ''Mr. Hayashi'' (1961) * ''The Gymnasts'' (1961) * ''Friend Fleeing'' (1962) * ''Everyman'' (1962) * ''News #3'' (1962) * ''Have You Thought of Talking to the Director?'' (1962) * ''Here I Am'' (1962) * ''A Hurrah for Soldiers'' (1962–1963) * ''To Parsifal'' (1963) * ''Mass for the Dakota Sioux'' (1964) * ''The Brookfield Recreation Center'' (1964) * ''Quixote'' (1964–1965, revised 1967) * ''Yellow Horse'' (1965) * ''Tung'' (1966) * '' Castro Street'' (1966) filmed on Castro Street in

Richmond, California Richmond is a city in western Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city was municipal corporation, incorporated on August 3, 1905, and has a Richmond, California, City Council, city council.

* '' All My Life'' (1966) * ''Still Life'' (1966) * ''Termination'' (1966) * ''Port Chicago Vigil'' (1966) * ''Show Leader'' (1966) * ''Valentin de las Sierras'' (1971) * ''Quick Billy'' (1971) * ''Roslyn Romance (Is It Really True?): Intro. 1 & II'' (1978) * ''Roy Eldridge'' (1987) * ''The P-38 Pilot'' (1990) * ''The Holy Scrolls'' (completed 1998) * ''Pietà'' (1998) * ''Salute'' (1999) * ''Robert Fulton'' (2011) * ''Don Larson'' (2014) * ''Les Memoires d'un Ange (Remembering Life)'' (2014) Video work unfinished. * ''"Dr Bish's Birthday", by Yeh Tung'' (2015) * ''Little Girl'' (Released in 2014, made in 1966) * ''I Wish I Knew'' (Released in 2015, original VHS from 1989) * ''Commute'' (2015) with Lorie Baillie. * ''To the Women Soldiers of Kobani & Damascus'' (2015) Video by Bill McLane, poem by Bruce Baillie & Eliza McLane.

References

External links

Bruce Baillie's official websiteBruce Baillie
at

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Baillie, Bruce 1931 births 2020 deaths People from Aberdeen, South Dakota American experimental filmmakers Film directors from South Dakota Bard College faculty