Philip Hoffman (filmmaker)
Philip Hoffman | |
|---|---|
| Born | December 10, 1955 |
| Occupation | Filmmaker |
Philip Hoffman (born December 10, 1955) is a Canadian filmmaker and a member of the faculty of York University.
Hoffman was born December 10, 1955 in Kitchener, Ontario. He studied at Sheridan College, where he received a diploma in media arts in 1979, and Wilfrid Laurier University, where he received a B.A. in English literature in 1987. While a student at Sheridan College he became associated with a group of filmmakers known as the Escarpment School, other members of which included Richard Kerr and Mike Hoolboom.[1]
In 1986 he became an instructor at Sheridan College. In 1994, he started operating a summer film workshop, the Film Farm Retreat, at Mount Forest, Ontario, initially with support from Sheridan College. In 1999 he joined the York University Film and Video Department as a faculty member.[1][2] He also has been a visiting professor at the University of Helsinki and University of South Florida.[3]
Hoffman has been described as "filmmaker of memory and association" whose "highly personal" work blends fiction and documentary and "contests the claim to the truth" that characterizes conventional documentary film.[1][4]
The San Francisco Cinematheque presented a retrospective of Hoffman's work in 2004, entitled "Passing Through: A Philip Hoffman Retrospective". The Canadian Film Institute presented a retrospective showing of his works in Ottawa in March and April 2008. A book, entitled Rivers of Time and consisting of an interview with Hoffman, "essays and reflections" on the filmmaker and his work, and images from his films, was issued to coincide with the retrospective.[4]
In 2016, Hoffman was awarded a Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts.[5]
Works
- On the Pond, 1978 (director and co-cinematographer)
- Dogs Have Tales, 1979 (actor)
- Freeze-up, 1979 (director; co-writer; cinematographer; editor)
- Krieghoff, 1980 (cinematographer)
- Megan Carey, 1981 (cinematographer)
- The Road Ended at the Beach, 1983 (director; writer; cinematographer; editor; producer)
- On Land Over Water, 1984 (co-cinematographer)
- Prologue: Infinite Obscure (Narratives of Egypt series), 1984 (cinematographer)
- Somewhere Between Jalostotitlan and Encarnacion, 1984 (director; producer); 6 minutes. A "cinematic travelogue" set in Mexico, Toronto and Colorado.[4]
- ?O, Zoo! (The Making of a Fiction Film), 1986, 23 minutes. A "subversive engagement with documentary convention" centered on the production of Peter Greenaway's film A Zed and Two Noughts.[4]
- Choral Fantasy, 1986 (cinematographer)
- From Home, 1988 (co-cinematographer)
- Svetlana, 1988 (co-cinematographer)
- river, 1979-1989 (director), 15 minutes.
- Kitchener-Berlin, 1990 (director; producer); 34 minutes. Portrays the Canadian and German cities named in the title as "united in repressed history and the question of home"; includes home movies, archival film and television footage.[4]
- Opening Series 1, 1992 (director; producer), 10 minutes.
- Opening Series 2, 1993 (director)
- Technilogic Ordering, 1994 (director; editor; producer), 30 minutes. A composite of television footage of the Gulf War.[4]
- Opening Series 3, 1995 (co-director)
- Sweep, 1995 (co-director)
- Chimera, 1996 (director; producer), 15 minutes. An "experimental travelogue" consisting of material from London, Helsinki, Egypt, Leningrad, Uluru and Sydney.[4]
- Destroying Angel, 1998 (co-director, co-writer, co-cinematographer and co-editor with Wayne Salazar; producer), 32 minutes. The film celebrates co-director's Salazar’s gay marriage in the face of his continuing battles with AIDS, but is punctuated by Hoffman's being called away to the bedside of his long-time companion Marian McMahon, who was dying from cancer.[1]
- Kokoro Is for Heart, 1999 (director; co-writer; cinematographer; editor), 7 minutes.
- Opening Series 4, 2000 (director)
- What These Ashes Wanted, 2001 (director; cinematographer; editor; producer), 55 minutes. An exploration of Hoffman's relationship with McMahon and its sudden ending with her death. The Canadian Film Encyclopedia quotes Hoffman as saying that he wanted the film “to illuminate the conditions of her death… the mystery of her life and the reason why, at the instant of her passage, I felt peace with her leaving… a feeling I no longer hold.”[1]
- ever present going past, 7 minutes. A "cine-poem" connecting gardens, films and poems.[4]
- Slaughterhouse, 2014, 15 minutes.[6]
- Aged, 2014 (director), 45 minutes.[7]
- By the Time We Got to Expo, 2015, 9 minutes.[6]
References
- ^ a b c d e "Philip Hoffman", Canadian Film Encyclopedia
- ^ http://www.philiphoffman.ca/filmfarm/history.htm
- ^ http://www.philiphoffman.ca/film/bio.htm
- ^ a b c d e f g h "York film professor is the subject of a five-part retrospective" (press release). York University. Retrieved May 9, 2012.
- ^ "Eclectic Canadian artists honoured by Governor-General's Awards". The Globe and Mail. 7 March 2016. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
- ^ a b "Café Ex: The Films of Philip Hoffman". Canadian Film Institute. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
- ^ "The Gift of Dying with Philip Hoffman". No more potlucks. Retrieved 28 April 2016.