__NOTOC__ David Rimmer (20 January 1942 – 26 January 2023) was a Canadian

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when ...

filmmaker and university instructor. His works came to prominence in the Underground Film community in the 1970s. In 2011, he was awarded a

Governor General's award The Governor General's Awards are a collection of annual awards presented by the Governor General of Canada, recognizing distinction in numerous academic, artistic, and social fields. The first award was conceived and inaugurated in 1937 by the ...

for his lifetime achievements in the arts.

Biography

Rimmer was born in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. Th ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include ...

and studied economics and mathematics at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

(UBC), before graduating in 1963. For the next two years he traveled around the world, which led him to decide that he was not interested in pursuing a career in business. Returning to Canada in 1965, he did a make-up year at the UBC to receive a degree in English. In 1967 he took a short filmmaking course from Stan Fox, a producer at the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the governme ...

(CBC). Rimmer dropped out of graduate school at

Simon Fraser University Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a public research university in British Columbia, Canada, with three campuses, all in Greater Vancouver: Burnaby (main campus), Surrey, and Vancouver. The main Burnaby campus on Burnaby Mountain, located ...

(SFU) in 1968 to become an artist. With Fox's support and a supply of rough film stock from the CBC, he made his first film, ''Knowplace'', which was broadcast on the CBC. Inspired by

Stan Brakhage James Stanley Brakhage ( ; January 14, 1933 – March 9, 2003) was an American filmmaker. He is considered to be one of the most important figures in 20th-century experimental film. Over the course of five decades, Brakhage created a lar ...

's films and writings, he made his first important experimental films, ''Square Inch Field'' and ''Migration'', in 1968 and 1969 respectively. Rimmer moved temporarily to New York City from 1971 to 1974, and worked with such vanguard artists as

Yvonne Rainer Yvonne Rainer (born November 24, 1934) is an American dancer, choreographer, and filmmaker, whose work in these disciplines is regarded as challenging and experimental.

. When he returned to Canada in 1974 he created the two landmark films ''Canadian Pacific'' (1974) and ''Canadian Pacific II'' (1975). Since 1979, with the release of ''Al Neil / A Portrait'', he has made innovative documentaries sometimes in film and sometimes in video. In the early eighties, Rimmer took a four-year hiatus from filmmaking to teach film and video at SFU. Rimmer has worked extensively with contact and optical printing as well as videographics. Gene Youngblood of ''ArtsCanada'' magazine has said "''Surfacing on the Thames'' is a brilliant film which, in its way, belongs in the same class as Snow's ''

Wavelength In physics, the wavelength is the spatial period of a periodic wave—the distance over which the wave's shape repeats. It is the distance between consecutive corresponding points of the same phase on the wave, such as two adjacent crests, tr ...

''. I've never seen anything like it ... the ultimate metaphysical movie." In 2011 David Rimmer won the

Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts The Governor General's Awards in Visual and Media Arts are annual awards for achievements in visual and media arts in Canada. Up to eight awards are presented annually with the prize amount is $25,000 Created in 2000 by then Governor General Ad ...

. Rimmer died in Vancouver on 27 January 2023. The

Canada Council The Canada Council for the Arts (french: Conseil des arts du Canada), commonly called the Canada Council, is a Crown corporation established in 1957 as an arts council of the Government of Canada. It acts as the federal government's principal in ...

for the Arts described him as “one of the finest technicians of Canada’s avant-garde film movement.”

Archiving

Since 2012, Rimmer's extant film originals have been housed in the collection of 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 m ...

in Los Angeles, where many of his works have been preserved and restored.

Filmography

*''Knowplace'' (Co-Directed with Sylvia Spring and Bob Herbison, 1967) *''Head/End'' (1967) *''Square Inch Field'' (1968) *''Migration'' (1969) *''Landscape'' (1969) *''Surfacing on the Thames'' (1970) *''Variations on a Cellophane Wrapper'' (1970) *''Blue Movie'' (1970) *''The Dance'' (1970) *''Forest Industry'' (Feature length, 1970) *''Treefall'' (1970) *''Seashore'' (1971) *''Real Italian Pizza'' (1971) *''Watching for the Queen'' (1973) *''Fracture'' (1973) *''Canadian Pacific'' (1974) *''Canadian Pacific II'' (1975) *''Al Neil / A Portrait'' (1979) *''Narrows Inlet'' (1980) *''Shades of Red'' (Co-Directed with Paula Ross, 1982) *''Bricolage'' (1984) *''Sisyphus'' (1984) *''Along the Road to Altamira'' (1986) *''As Seen on TV'' (1986) *''Roadshow'' (1988) *''Divine Mannequin'' (1989) *''Black Cat, White Cat It's a Good Cat if it Catches the Mouse'' (1989) *''Beaubourg Boogie-Woogie'' (1992) *''Local Knowledge'' (1992) *''Perestroyka'' (1992) *''Tiger'' (1994) *''Under the Lizards'' (Feature length, 1994) (aka ''Pod Jaszczurami'') *''Codes of Conduct'' (1997) *''Jack Wise – Language of the Brush'' (1998) *''Traces of Emily Carr'' (1999) *''Early Hand-Painted'' (Series of 10 shorts, 2002) *''An Eye for an Eye'' (2003) *''Gathering Storm'' (2003) *''On the Road to Kandahar'' (2003) *''Padayatra: Walking Meditation'' (2005) *''Digital Psyche'' (2007) *''Collective'' (2008)

References

External links

*
David Rimmer Official Website
at

UbuWeb UbuWeb is a web-based educational resource for avant-garde material available on the internet, founded in 1996 by poet Kenneth Goldsmith. It offers visual, concrete and sound poetry, expanding to include film and sound art mp3 archives. Phil ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rimmer, David 1942 births 2023 deaths Film directors from Vancouver Canadian experimental filmmakers Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts winners Artists from Vancouver Simon Fraser University alumni Canadian film educators

Biography

Archiving

Filmography

See also

References

External links