Jennifer Baichwal

Directing

Jennifer Baichwal

Born January 1, 1965 · Montreal, Quebec, Canada (age 61)

Jennifer Baichwal, director and producer, was born in Montréal and came to documentary filmmaking through studies in philosophy and theology at her hometown’s McGill University. She debuted 15 years ago with Looking You in the Back of the Head. Her first feature-length film, Let It Come Down: The Life of Paul Bowles (1998), was screened at a number of festivals and took Best Biography at the 1999 …

Known For

Anthropocene: The Human EpochAnthropocene: The Human Epoch · 2018
Anthropocene: The Human Epoch
★ 7.02018
MovieDocumentary
Documentary on psychedelic potash mines, expansive concrete seawalls, mammoth industrial machines, and other examples of humanity’s massive, destructive reengineering of the planet.
Swan SongSwan Song · 2023
Swan Song
★ 8.52023
MovieDocumentary
An immersive, behind-the-scenes look at one of the world’s leading ballet companies as it mounts a new production of Swan Lake. Ballet icon Karen Kain, on the eve of her retirement, directs the National Ballet of Canada. The film weaves together intimate scenes of the creative process and the dancers’ personal lives. Executive Produced by Neve Campbell.
Manufactured LandscapesManufactured Landscapes · 2006
Manufactured Landscapes
★ 7.22006
MovieDocumentary
MANUFACTURED LANDSCAPES is the striking new documentary on the world and work of renowned artist Edward Burtynsky. Internationally acclaimed for his large-scale photographs of “manufactured landscapes”—quarries, recycling yards, factories, mines and dams—Burtynsky creates stunningly beautiful art from civilization’s materials and debris.
Kandahar JournalsKandahar Journals · 2015
Kandahar Journals
★ 6.02015
MovieDocumentaryHistory
Kandahar, Afghanistan, April 2006. Photojournalist Louie Palu, who is covering a suicide bombing, suddenly finds himself in the middle of a pile of corpses, shocked by the smell of burning flesh. Louie does not yet know that he will spend the next five years documenting the tragedy of war.
The Tragically Hip - Long Time RunningThe Tragically Hip - Long Time Running · 2017
The Tragically Hip - Long Time Running
★ 7.42017
MovieDocumentaryMusic
A documentary chronicling The Tragically Hip during the emotional lead up through to the epic last show of the iconic Canadian band's now legendary 2016 tour.
Let It Come Down: The Life of Paul BowlesLet It Come Down: The Life of Paul Bowles · 1999
Let It Come Down: The Life of Paul Bowles
★ 3.61999
MovieDocumentary
One of the most enigmatic artists of the 20th century, writer, composer and wanderer Paul Bowles (1910-1999) is profiled by a filmmaker who has been obsessed with his genius since age nineteen. Set against the dramatic landscape of North Africa, the mystery of Bowles (famed author of The Sheltering Sky) begins to unravel in Jennifer Baichwal's poetic and moving Let It Come Down: The Life of Paul Bowles. Rare, candid interviews with the reclusive Bowles--at home in Tangier, as well as in New York during an extraordinary final reunion with Allen Ginsberg and William Burroughs--are intercut with conflicting views of his supporters and detractors. At the time in his mid-eighties, Bowles speaks with unprecedented candor about his work, his controversial private life and his relationships with Gertrude Stein, Tennessee Williams, Truman Capote, the Beats, and his wife and fellow author Jane Bowles.
Into the WeedsInto the Weeds · 2022
Into the Weeds
★ 5.02022
MovieDocumentary
Dewayne Johnson, a Bay Area groundskeeper, suffered from rashes in 2014 and wondered if they were caused by the herbicide he'd been using for the past couple years. As his health deteriorated, Johnson became the face of a David-and-Goliath legal battle to hold a multi-national agrochemical corporation accountable for a product with allegedly misleading labelling.
PaybackPayback · 2012
Payback
★ 5.82012
MovieDocumentary
An adaptation of Margaret Atwood's book examining the metaphor of indebtedness.

Filmography

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Let It Come Down: The Life of Paul BowlesLet It Come Down: The Life of Paul Bowles · 1999
Let It Come Down: The Life of Paul Bowles
★ 3.61999
MovieDocumentary
One of the most enigmatic artists of the 20th century, writer, composer and wanderer Paul Bowles (1910-1999) is profiled by a filmmaker who has been obsessed with his genius since age nineteen. Set against the dramatic landscape of North Africa, the mystery of Bowles (famed author of The Sheltering Sky) begins to unravel in Jennifer Baichwal's poetic and moving Let It Come Down: The Life of Paul Bowles. Rare, candid interviews with the reclusive Bowles--at home in Tangier, as well as in New York during an extraordinary final reunion with Allen Ginsberg and William Burroughs--are intercut with conflicting views of his supporters and detractors. At the time in his mid-eighties, Bowles speaks with unprecedented candor about his work, his controversial private life and his relationships with Gertrude Stein, Tennessee Williams, Truman Capote, the Beats, and his wife and fellow author Jane Bowles.

Director