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Jennifer Baichwal

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{Jennifer Baichwal is a Canadian documentary filmmaker}, writer and producer.

Biography

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{Born in Montreal, Quebec and raised in Victoria, British Columbia,1] }

{Baichwal studied philosophy and theology[1] at McGill University, writing her Master's thesis on Reinhold Niebuhr} and receiving her master's in arts in 1994[2], before going into documentary filmmaking.}

At the age of 20 she traveled and lived on a farm in Morocco and was inspired to live there because of Paul Bowles' writing on whom she would make her first feature length documentary released to critical acclaim in 1998.[3][2]

In 1995, Jennifer's father had passed away and had 'requested' that his ashes be brought back to his homeland of India and be scattered in the Ganges river. This pilgrimage was documented by Baichwal and her husband Nick de Pensier as the film The Holier It Gets. In the film, we see the Baichwal children's attempt at fulfilling their father's request. (Varga + [3])

Career

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"Baichwal's films are not informational, although we learn plenty about the world through them; instead, they are immersive and embodied experiences in a didactic of thought and geography." (Varga 56)

Themes + Collaborations/adaptations with other artists + Stylistic tendencies + Philosophies

Baichwal:

Draft:

Jennifer had intentions of becoming a professor of theology and philosophy but found that exploring issues through academia was limiting and that the documentary form provided the right avenues to inquire about the world. [4] [1]Baichwal on her career choice: "I wanted to explore these questions of the human condition, but in a medium that was more lateral and more emotionally accessible than an academic paper.”[1] “I tend to see complexity. I think this comes from my philosophical background — I believe one can embrace complexity and sustain meditation.”[2]

Some of the questions she asks in her documentary, for example in the Bowles feature, the question would be "The impossibility of biography?", for Shelby "The problems of representation?", The Holier It Gets looks into "the problems of confessional work" and

She says that the documentary “allows you to reflect on ... things that are happening in the real world in a way that is creative,”[1]

Baichwal her husband cinematographer and director Nick de Pencier started a production company in 2000, first under the name Requisite Productions but now named Mercury Films. Together, they produced Baichwal's films along with other 'short and feature-length documentaries' including The Hockey Nomad.[5]

Many of Baichwal's films tend to either focus on or are made in collaboration with artists from other mediums. (Vargas,[4]) In fact, every film but The Holier It Gets, which focuses on her father's death, features an artist in some form. In an interview with the Seventh Art, Baichwal mentions how she is drawn to artists and art in general, she says: "There is something about art that can't be paraphrased and just living in the complexity of that world is very rich for me..."[4]

Baichwal’s films have won numerous awards and each have been nominated for some awards.  (citation to Awards and Noms section)

Summary of each film

Looking You in the Back of the Head (1997)

A short documentary feature produced in 1995 and broadcast on television where 13 Canadian women are interviewed on the subject of their own identity.[2][6]

Let it Come Down: The Life of Paul Bowles (1998)

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A feature length documentary biography on the American writer Paul Bowles. Made near the end of Bowles' life, Baichwal was able to screen the film for the author before his subsequent death in 1999.[3](Vargas 66?) She says of the experience viewing the film with her subject: "It was very important for me that he see [the film] before he died; he had just turned 88. I was petrified as to what he would think of it, he's a real misanthrope and recluse. I got to his place, and I wanted him to watch it after I left and then write to me. But he was insistent. So he put it on, and he has quite bad glaucoma, so he was sitting six inches from the screen. I shut the door, and I kind of panicked for 75 minutes while he was watching it. Then I gingerly walked in and he was totally complimentary. He said "I like it very much, it's the best so far and it was beautifully filmed.""[3] (temp. source)

-"Baichwal;s approach recalls Walter Benjamin's description of the spatial and temporal transformative potential of cinema..." (V66)

The Holier It Gets (2000)

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A personal documentary about last wishes, grief and mourning, and the afterlife. The film looks to inquire about the "problems of confessional work" in cinema.[4] It features Jennifer Baichwal, her siblings and her husband as they make their way to India to lay her father's ashes in the Ganges river.

The True Meaning of Pictures: Shelby Lee Adams' Appalachia (2002)

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A documentary on the work of renowned American photographer Shelby Lee Adams in the Appalachian region and his subjects of his controversial pictures. Baichwal states that this film remains her most controversial and receive the most response to, due to the already controversial matter of Shelby Adams' photogaphy. The film's title comes from one of Adam's subjects and defenders in the face of accusations of exploitation and stereotypes from the photographer. (Varga 61)

Manufactured Landscapes (2006)

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The most notable of Baichwal's features is the film Manufactured Landscapes which explores the work of Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky. The films chronicles one of his expeditions to China to photograph the effects that rapid and recent industrialization and globalization has had on the environment. (Bazok) "The film is interested in exploring the contradictions of scale with Burtynsky's focus on the grand gesture and Baichwal in search of the personal stories present within the landscape." (V65)

Act of God (2009)

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A documentary which interweaves different perspectives and stories of people who have been struck by lightning or witnessed its effects. This film deals with "metaphysics, relationship between meaning and randomness"[4] as well as religion.[7] The film features narration from writer Paul Aster as well as the music scoring of Fred Firth who composed the music with lightning in mind.

Payback (2012)

A documentary film adaptation of Canadian writer Margaret Atwood's novel Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth.

Watermark (2013)

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The second collaboration between Baichwal and Burtynsky which sees the photographer now co-directing the film alongside Baichwal. The documentary looks into the abuse of water, its effect and the dependence on life as water as its source. The film is accompagnied by Burtynsky's series titled Water which he produced while filming the documentary.[4]

Upcoming Work

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Baichwal and Burtynsky are currently in production for their third collaborative feature the documentary is Anthropocene slated for release in 2017.[2]

Jennifer Baichwal currently sits as a member of the TIFF Board of Directors as of 2016.[8][9]

Filmography

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•   Looking You in the Back of the Head (1997)[1]

Awards and Nominations

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•   Looking You in the Back of the Head (1997)[1]

•   Let it Come Down: The Life of Paul Bowles (1998)

-WON Hot Docs 1999: Best Biography[10]

-1999 international emmy for best arts doc

-NOM 1998 Genie: Best Feature Length Documentary

•   The Holier It Gets (2000)

-Best independent canadian film @ Hot Docs 2000[11]

-Best Cultural Documentary @ Hot Docs 2000[11]

-Gemini Best Editing ??

-WON Gemini 2000 : Best Writing in a Documentary Program or Series

-NOM Gemini 2000 : Donald Brittain Award for Best Social/Political Documentary Program

The True Meaning of Pictures: Shelby Lee Adams' Appalachia (2002)

WON Gemini 2003: Best Performing Arts Program or Series or Arts Documentary Program or Series

NOM Gemini 2003: Best Direction in a Documentary Program

•   Manufactured Landscapes (2006)

-WON Genie 2006: Best Documentary

-WON Toronto Film Critics Association: Rogers Best Canadian Film Award 2006 [12]

•   Act of God (2009)

•   Payback (2012)

Watermark (co-directed with Edward Burtynsky) (2013)[7][

-Won Canadian Screen Award 2014: Ted Rogers Best Feature Length Documentary

-WON Toronto Film Critics Association: Rogers Best Canadian Film Award 2013 [12]

-WON TIFF 2006 Best Canadian Film Feature award [13]

???

2000 TDF Project Selections APPALACHIAN JOURNEY (Jennifer Baichwal, Nick dePencier/ Requisite Productions)

"Her debut film, Let it Come Down: The Life of Paul Bowles, won a 1999 International Emmy for Best Arts Documentary; her next, The Holier It Gets, won Best Independent Canadian Film and Best Cultural Documentary awards at Hot Docs 2000, and Geminis for Best Editing and Best Writing.

She also won a 2007  Best Documentary  Genie for Manufactured Landscapes," (http://www.straight.com/article-224137/jennifer-baichwal-explores-lightning-strikes-act-god)

"Ted Rogers Best Feature Length Documentary: Watermark – Edward Burtynsky, Jennifer Baichwal, Nicholas de Pencier, Daniel Iron" (http://www.academy.ca/getmedia/1fbf7c91-e61f-431d-bab2-a231de8fe84a/ACADEMY_NEWS-Academy_Announces_CSA_WINNERS_Gala_3-Mar_2014.aspx)

"Best Direction in a Documentary Series" at the 2000 Geminis for View From Here

21 2006 Best Direction in a Performing Arts Program or Series [null OAC Compendium] [null Jennifer Baichwal]

http://www.academy.ca/About-the-Academy/Awards-Database?flow=person&step=1&byp-award-v=0&byp-winners-v=False&byp-name-v=baichwal

"Best Biography LET IT COME DOWN D: Jennifer Baichwal; P: Nick de Pencier, Jennifer Baichwal"[14] http://www.hotdocs.ca/archive/awards-1999

References

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Further Reading

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??? None???

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imdb + mercury links already on page

  1. ^ a b c d e f "ONF - Capturing Reality". films.nfb.ca. Retrieved 2016-11-03.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Documentary filmmaker to discuss her craft in 2015 Otis Lecture". 2015-09-18. Retrieved 2016-11-03.
  3. ^ a b c d "Bowles + Holier = National Post". search.proquest.com.proxy.library.carleton.ca. Retrieved 2016-11-03.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Baichwal, Jennifer. Nicholas Metivier Gallery. By Christopher Heron. National Film Board of Canada: The Seventh Art. 2013. 51 min. Canada, National Film Board of, Jennifer Baichwal Interview, retrieved 2016-11-02
  5. ^ http://collectionscanada.gc.ca/pam_archives/index.php?fuseaction=genitem.displayItem&lang=eng&rec_nbr=3807652&rec_nbr_list=3807652 ☁
  6. ^ mthiele. "Jennifer Baichwal Biography - - Cinedigm Entertainment". www.newvideo.com. Retrieved 2016-11-03.
  7. ^ Varga, Darrell. "On True Meaning(s) and The Impossibility of Documentary in The Films of Jennifer Baichwal". Brno studies in English. 2013, vol. 39. Issue 2.
  8. ^ 28, Regan Reid September; 2016. "TIFF shakes up Board of Directors". Retrieved 2016-11-04. {{cite web}}: |last= has numeric name (help)
  9. ^ "Jennifer Baichwal Joins TIFF Board of Directors – Point of View Magazine". povmagazine.com. Retrieved 2016-11-04.
  10. ^ "1999 Awards - Hot Docs". www.hotdocs.ca. Retrieved 2016-10-26.
  11. ^ a b "2000 Awards - Hot Docs". www.hotdocs.ca. Retrieved 2016-10-26.
  12. ^ a b "Rogers Best Canadian Film Award - Toronto Film Critics Association". Toronto Film Critics Association. Retrieved 2016-10-27.
  13. ^ "TIFF". www.tiff.net. Retrieved 2016-10-27.
  14. ^ "1999 Awards - Hot Docs". www.hotdocs.ca. Retrieved 2016-10-26.
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