New filmmaker: 8 works from Bill Basquin

Posted February 21st, 2020 in Announcements, New Acquisitions, New Films, News / Events

Bill Basquin has been making films since the late 1990s. His art crosses genre and mode in ways that are quiet and sometimes surprising. He likes to work outside, with his hands, in dim daylight. He also likes the lessons that come from working with people, living with a tiny grey cat, and continuing to attune to worlds both wild and cultivated.

He has exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, New York; Documenta in Kassel, Germany; and the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. He lives and works in San Francisco, California.

Death Valley Love Letter (2014 | 6 minutes | COLOR | SILENT) Comprised of a series of single-shot scenes photographed on 16mm film, while part of a group of students led by artists Anya Gallaccio and Kelly Eginton.

Deer Census (2009 | 8 minutes | COLOR | SOUND) Deer Census is composed entirely of digital still images. The images were recorded and given to me by Nathan Bridgeman, whose is the voice you hear speaking about tax code in Texas as it relates to deer hunting and deer leases.

Range (2005 | 8 minutes | B&W | SOUND) A quiet reckoning on family relationships and farming by the filmmaker’s father unfolds amidst images of teen-aged lambs and long-haired cattle. Shot on Super-8mm b/w film.

Martin (2004 | 5 minutes | B&W | SOUND) A portrait of New Zealand sheep shearer and farmer Martin Denton.
Shot on Super-8mm b/w film.

The Last Day of November (2001 | 4 minutes | B&W | SOUND) On a cold day in November, a family of deer hunters returns from the field to the barn – a cinematic poem about deer hunt-ing, masculinity, and a fresh kill. Shot on Super-8mm b/w film on location in Wisconsin.

The Ride (2000 | 9 minutes | COLOR | SOUND) Sexual suggestion, intimate bravado, and emotional ambiguity underlie this meditative adventure story where the up-for-grabs gender of a small town cab driver is the conversation piece.

14th and Valencia (1998/2005 | 3 minutes | B&W | SILENT)
A portrait of an intersection in the Mission neighborhood of San Francisco, photographed on Super-8mm b/w film by the filmmaker in October of 1998.

Mission Movie Theatres (1998/2005 | 3 minutes | COLOR | SOUND)
A portrait of the old movie theatres in the Mission neighborhood in San Francisco, photographed on Super-8mm film by the filmmaker in the Fall of 1998.