Robert C. Banks, Jr. (born September 7, 1966) is an American

experimental filmmaker 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 ...

Biography

Banks attended the Cleveland School of the Arts and has taught film at

Cuyahoga Community College Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C) is a Public college, public Community colleges in the United States, community college in Cuyahoga County, Ohio. Founded in 1963, it is the oldest and largest public community college within the state. Not unti ...

, the

Cleveland Institute of Art The Cleveland Institute of Art, previously Cleveland School of Art, is a private college focused on art and design and located in Cleveland, Ohio. History The college was founded in 1882 as the Western Reserve School of Design for Women, at f ...

, and

Cleveland State University Cleveland State University (CSU) is a public research university in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It was established in 1964 and opened for classes in 1965 after acquiring the entirety of Fenn College, a private school that had been in oper ...

. His best known work is the 1992 the

mixed media In visual art, mixed media describes work of art, artwork in which more than one Art medium, medium or material has been employed. Assemblages, collages, and sculpture are three common examples of art using different List of art media, media. M ...

film essay A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, since ...

, ''X: The Baby Cinema'', a 4.5 minute,

16 mm 16 mm film is a historically popular and economical Film gauge, gauge of Photographic film, film. 16 mm refers to the width of the film (about inch); other common film gauges include 8 mm film, 8 mm and 35mm movie film, 35 mm. It ...

short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

which chronicled the commercial appropriation of the image of

Malcolm X Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little, later el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz; May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965) was an African American revolutionary, Islam in the United States, Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a prominent figur ...

. It was met with disdain from director

Spike Lee Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee (born March 20, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and author. His work has continually explored race relations, issues within the black community, the role of media in contemporary ...

who made the biopic that same year. The 1994 feature documentary film, ''You Can't Get a Piece of Mind'' explores the world of Cleveland musician and Vietnam veteran, Dan "Supie T" Theman. Banks has had his films shown at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

, was named Filmmaker of the Year at the Midwest Filmmakers Conference, and in 2000, he was the honored guest filmmaker in London at the BBC British Short Film Festival. Banks lives in

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

, Ohio.

Filmography

* (1989) ''Untitled'' (16 mm) * (1990) ''Froggy Central'' (16 mm) * (1992) ''Eyes'' (16 mm) * (1993)
X The Baby Cinema
' (16 mm) * (1994) ''My First Drug....The Idiot Box'' (16 mm) * (1996) ''You Can't Get a Piece of Mind'' (16 mm) * (1997) '' MPG: Motion Picture Genocide'' (35 mm) * (1998) ''Jaded'' (35 mm) * (1999) ''Outlet'' (35 mm) * (1999) ''Embryonic'' (35 mm) * (1999) ''Gold Fish Sunflowers'' (35 mm) * (1999) ''Bone Face'' (35 mm) * (1999) ''Love Rusty'' (8 mm/16 mm/35 mm) * (2000) ''Rage Against the Dying Light'' * (2002) ''Autopilot'' * (2003) ''The Devil's Filmmaker: Bohica'' (cinematographer only) * (2004) ''A.W.O.L.'' (35 mm) * (2004) ''Banks vs. Barney'' (parody of

Matthew Barney Matthew Barney (born March 25, 1967) is an American contemporary artist and film director who works in the fields of sculpture, film, photography and drawing. His works explore connections among geography, biology, geology and mythology as well ...

's '' Cremaster'') * (2006) ''Cordoba Nights'' (A.K.A. 'A Corboba in Bronston') Directed by Luke and Andy Campbell-(16 mm) (co-director of photography only) * (2019) ''Paper Shadows'' (16 mm)PAPER SHADOWS, Cleveland Institute of Art College of Art
/ref> * (2022) ''Color Me Bone Face''

Awards

* ''Filmmaker of the Year'' (2001), Midwest Filmmakers Conference * ''Jury Citation Award'' for ''Outlet'', Black Mariah Film Festival * ''Prize Pieces Award'', National Black Programming Consortium * ''Best Experimental'' for ''X-The Baby Cinema'' (1993), The First NY Underground Film Festival * ''Won Audience Choice Award'' for ''Paper Shadows'' (2019), at the Chicago Underground Film Festival 2020

References

External links

Bio: Moovlab

{{DEFAULTSORT:Banks, Robert 1966 births American cinematographers American experimental filmmakers Film directors from Ohio Cleveland State University alumni Living people Collage filmmakers African-American film directors

Biography

Filmography

Awards

See also

References

External links