San Francisco Cinematheque Digital Archives

Bruce Baillie Artist Files

Title

Bruce Baillie Artist Files

Subject

Bruce Baillie

Description

Bruce Baillie (1931–2020) was an American filmmaker widely hailed as a master of 16mm personal filmmaking, whose works epitomize the “lyrical” mode of filmmaking strongly identified with ‘60s era northern California counterculture. In 1961 Baillie staged an impromptu film screening in his mother’s front yard in the rural community of Canyon CA. This screening—dubbed Canyon Cinema—was followed by more and eventually grew into a peripatetic film series, filmmaker support organization, publisher (of Canyon Cinema News) and avant-garde film distributor. To this day both San Francisco Cinematheque and Canyon Cinema trace their origins to the visionary moment of Baillie’s 1961 screening.

The Bruce Baillie Artist Files collection contains primary and secondary documents relating to the life and work of Bruce Baillie drawn from the Artist Files of San Francisco Cinematheque and Canyon Cinema. The collection includes notes on Baillie’s films, letters to the staff of Cinematheque and Canyon, press clippings and reviews, press releases and program announcements, photocopied photos of Baillie and his family members and friends, interviews, filmographies, biographical info and critical essays. Collection also includes Bruce Baillie: Life/Work, a commemorative zine created by Timoleon Wilkins 1995 and Filmmakers Filming: Bruce Baillie, published by Film in the Cities/the Walker Art Center in 1979. Please see item descriptions for more information on contents.

NOTES ON BROWSING: Items (other than booklets/zines) in this collection have been scanned, grouped and described at the “folder level.” Thereby, each “item” consists of multiple pages of disparate materials relating to the life and work of the subject. Browsing within each item is encouraged!

This digital collection was created in partnership with Canyon Cinema and California Revealed.

Creator

San Francisco Cinematheque; Canyon Cinema; Bruce Baillie

Date

c. 1960-2010

Rights

Rights to these materials are held by San Francisco Cinematheque and Canyon Cinema. Cinematheque encourages the use of copyrighted materials in accordance with fair use, as defined by copyright law. For materials created or co-created by others, reasonable effort has been made to determine authorship and in cases in which this was determined, these creators have been identified. We seek more information on materials in this collection however so if you feel that you are the author or creator of any item in this collection, please contact Cinematheque staff at sfc@sfcinematheque.org to discuss proper attribution.  Permission to use material: To request material from Cinematheque’s online collections for use in publications (including use in books, periodicals, films, exhibitions, websites and other uses), please contact Cinematheque staff at sfc@sfcinematheque.org. Note that further copyright clearance may be needed in order to use material in this manner and would therefore require negotiation with rights holders as well as from Cinematheque for such use. Associated access fees may apply to requests for use of material from Cinematheque’s Archives.

Collection Items

  • casfc_000001_access_0000.jpeg

    Limited edition zine, created in honor of Bruce Baillie's return to the Bay Area and in conjunction with a week-long series of screenings, talks, and other activities by and for the artist, April 17-22, 1995. This zine was published by the San Francisco Cinematheque and very few copies exist. Contains photographs, journals, letters, and criticism, including original writing. Edited by Timoleon Wilkins.
  • casfc_000002_access_0000.jpeg

    Monograph, dedicated to the work of Bruce Baillie. Created by Film in the Cities and Walker Art Center as part of this Filmmakers Filming booklet series. Includes in-depth critical analysis of Baillie's filmmaking. Limited printing.
  • casfc_000003_access_0000.jpeg

    Primary and secondary documents relating to the life and work of filmmaker Bruce Baillie, co-founder of San Francisco Cinematheque and Canyon Cinema. Folder includes program notes (for screenings at the Whitney Museum, San Francisco Cinematheque, and elsewhere), letters to SF Cinematheque staff, press clippings and reviews, press releases and program announcements, photocopied photos of Baillie and his family members and friends, published, interviews, filmography and biographical info, and critical essays.
  • casfc_000004_access_0000.jpeg

    Primary and secondary documents related to the life of Bruce Baillie. Folder contains photocopied and original photographs, letters to Cinematheque staff, newspaper clippings and reviews, program notes, email correspondence, press releases and screening fliers, resumes, postcards and hand-written letters.
  • casfc_000005_access_0000.jpeg

    Primary and secondary documents related to the life and work of Bruce Baillie. Folder contains correspondence (hand-written letters, greeting cards, postcards), photocopies photos of Baillie and family, travel information, screening posters and program notes, original typescript of Michael Wallin's essay "For Bruce Baillie: Canyon Cinema's Father, My Dad" (1995), correspondence from Chick Strand, email correspondence, an illustration of Canyon Cinema's first logo, a letter from Baillie to President Bill Clinton (1993), a notice of Baillie's convocation screening at UC Berkeley (1971), grant proposal to the Ford Foundation (1963), film descriptions (including for unfinished films).

Proudly powered by Omeka.