Filmmaker Biographies

LAURAINE ANDRÉ-G.
(Si Sullivan m’était cotée, colour, 85 min, English and French with English subtitles, 2007)

An artist, screenwriter and independent director and producer, Lauraine André-G. studied visual arts, political science, history, education and information technology. Besides producing art videos, she has scripted and directed documentary series for Téluq and was head of multimedia teams at LICEF Research Centre in Montreal and ICTT Laboratory in Lyon.

MICHAEL BLACKWOOD
(Two Artists: Andrea Zittel and Monika Sosnowska 1:1, colour, 58 min, English, 2009)

Independent documentarian Michael Blackwood has produced and directed more than 100 films during the course of his career, aiming to create a permanent record of the leading figures in the cultural landscape of our time. His interests span architecture, art, music and dance. Blackwood’s films have been aired around the globe, and are in many museum collections.

MARION CAJORI
(Chuck Close, colour, 116 min, English, 2007)
(Louise Bourgeois: The Spider, the Mistress and the Tangerine, colour, 99 min, English, 2008)

The late Marion Cajori was an independent filmmaker who founded the non-profit Art Kaleidoscope Foundation in 1990 to produce in-depth cinematic portraits of individual creators and their art. Her film Joan Mitchell: Portrait of an Abstract Painter won the Pratt-Whitney Grand Prize at the International Festival for Films on Art in Montreal and was cited as “One of the Ten Best Films of 1993.”

CATHARINE CHESTERMAN
(Takao Tanabe: A Work of Art, colour, 48 min, English, 2009)

Catharine Chesterman hails from Vancouver. After living and working in London for 12 years as a commercial-spot producer, she returned to her hometown in 2003. While living in London, she collaborated with Prometheus Films and her father, Robert Chesterman, on many accomplished documentary features. Takao Tanabe: A Work of Art is her first documentary as a director/producer.

TAMRA DAVIS
(Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child, colour, 88 min, English, 2009)

Born in California, Tamra Davis studied filmmaking at the Los Angeles City College Cinema. She began her career directing music videos for artists including Hanson, Luscious Jackson and Sonic Youth, and directed her first feature, Gun Crazy, in 1992. Other features include Billy Madison, Half Baked and Crossroads. Davis has also directed documentaries like Mi Vida Loca and short films To the Curb and Sophie Goes to the Beach. She has helmed a concert feature for the Indigo Girls and has travelled to Africa, where she directed a film for the United Nations about Bill Clinton’s land mines initiative.

THOMAS ISLER
(Ernst Beyeler: Art Dealer, colour, 66 min, English, French and German with English subtitles, 2007)

Thomas Isler works as an independent filmmaker and artist. He was born in Basel in 1967, and in 1998 he received a degree in film and video from the Hochschule für Gestaltung und Kunst Zürich. Since 2006 he has taught film at Haute école d’art et de design Genève and at École cantonale d’art Lausanne.

KATHERINE KNIGHT
(Pretend Not to See Me, colour, 52 min, English, 2009)

Artist and filmmaker Katherine Knight teaches photography at York University. She is founder of Site Media, a Toronto film company producing portraits of creative artists in extraordinary places. Knight’s works are held in many collections, including those of the Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography. In 2000, she was awarded the Duke and Duchess of York Prize. In 2006, Knight produced Annie Pootoogook, a half-hour television documentary for Bravo! and APTN.

TAKAKO MATSUMOTO
(Yayoi Kusama: I Love Me, colour, 102 min, Japanese with English subtitles, 2008)

While studying at Tokai University, Takako Matsumoto’s independent film was selected for the sixth Pia Film Festival, which led to her career in the film industry. Currently, she works as a freelance director in television documentaries. She received the Takayanagi Award in Scientific Broadcasting for “Saving the Earth: Microorganism Hunters,” an episode of Spaceship Earth.

KOJI SAKABE
(Traveling with Yoshitomo Nara, colour, 93 min, Japanese with English subtitles, 2007)

Born in 1973 in Fukushima, Japan, Koji Sakabe began working as an assistant director for informational television in 1993. He has been affiliated with Tohokushinsha Film Corporation since 1998, mainly working with documentaries and acting as producer and filming director. Traveling with Yoshitomo Nara is his first major release as a director.

ANDREAS SCHULTZ
(Colville, colour, 67 min, English, 2008)

Andreas Schultz is a writer and director living and working in Berlin. Born in 1966 in Stuttgart, Germany, Schultz studied fine arts at the Hochschule der Künste in Berlin and then attended the Konrad Wolf Film and Television Academy in Potsdam-Babelsberg.

SUSAN VOGEL
(Fold, Crumple, Crush: The Art of El Anatsui, colour, 53 min, English, 2009)

Susan Vogel grew up in Beirut, has lived in Ivory Coast and now resides in New York City. She is a publisher, writer, filmmaker and internationally recognized curator of and expert on African art. Vogel has held many related positions at respected institutions including the Museum for African Art, which she founded, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Columbia University, where she is currently a professor.

AMEI WALLACH
(Louise Bourgeois: The Spider, the Mistress and the Tangerine, colour, 99 min, English, 2008)

Amei Wallach is an art critic, commentator and curator. She was for many years chief art critic for New York Newsday and arts commentator for MacNeil/Lehrer Newshour. Her articles have appeared in such publications as The New York Times Magazine, The Nation, Vogue and Vanity Fair.

JOHN WYVER
(Antony Gormley and the 4th Plinth, colour, 48 min, English, 2009)

A screenwriter and producer, John Wyver is president of Illuminations, a production company founded in 1982. Specializing in cultural subjects, it produces documentaries for television, video, DVD and the Internet.

Media Contact:
Andrea Carson
Marketing and Communications Coordinator
Canadian Art Foundation
(416) 368-8854 ext. 116
acarson@canadianart.ca

Or: Ann Webb
Executive Director, Canadian Art Foundation
(416) 368-8854 ext. 110
awebb@canadianart.ca