Ross McLaren

Ross McLaren Biography

Ross McLaren is a Canadian artist and filmmaker based in New York City.

Biography

McLaren was born in 1953 in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada and graduated with honors from Ontario College of Art, where he also did post-graduate work. Currently, he teaches film and video courses at Cooper Union, Fordham University, Pratt Institute, and Millennium Film Workshop in New York City.

Work

Advocacy

For the last 30 years, McLaren has worked as a filmmaker, scholar, teacher, curator, critic, and community organizer. He founded and was first director of the Funnel Film Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, an institution devoted to the production, exhibition, and distribution of film. As founder/director, McLaren encouraged continued recognition of film"?particularly Super 8"?in his native country.

Films

His films include: Crash 'n' Burn: the "self-destructive document of Toronto"?s eponymous punk club," Wave, Weather Building, Dance of the Sacred Foundation Application (feat. Jack Smith), Sex Without Glasses, and the Ann Arbor Film Festival award-winning sensation Summer Camp.

A recipient of such prestigious grants as Ontario and Canada Council awards, McLaren has shown his works worldwide. His films screened at MoMA, Anthology Film Archives, the Menil Collection, the National Film Theatre in London, the Centre Georges Pompidou, the Biennale du Paris, Documenta VI, Jyvskyl University in Finland, and ARKEN Museum of Modern Art in Denmark. His work, which was presented in such esteemed venues as the Edinburgh, Toronto, and Oberhausen Film Festivals, is found in several permanent collections, including that of the American Federation of Arts, New York, the Arts Council of Great Britain, the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Ottawa"?s National Film Archives and the National Gallery of Canada.

Selected filmography

Winning, 40 min (2005)
Wave, 5 min. (2004)
Dance of the Sacred Foundation Application (feat. Jack Smith), 15 min. (2003)
Lapland, 3 min. (2002)
Muted Horn, Squeaky Stool, 9:11 min. (2001)
Another Story, S-8, 5 min. (1988)
Spin, 16mm, 1 min. (1987)
Warehouse Eyes, S-8 & 16mm, 13 min. (1986)
Tilt, S-8, 3 min. (1985)
Let's Run Amok, S-8, 3 min. (1984)
Sex Without Glasses, 16mm 12:30 min. (1983)
Calgary Girls, S-8, 5 min. (1983)
Launch 5ive, S-8, 2:38 min. (1982)
9 X 12, 16mm, 1 min., (also microfiche insert for Impulse Magazine) (1979-81)
Wednesday, January 17, 1979, 16mm, 4:40 min. (1979)
Snorkel, 16mm. 10:10 min. (1976-79)
Summer Camp, 16mm, 60 min. (1978)
Crash 'n' Burn, 16mm, 27:45 (1977)
I.E., 16mm, 14:45 min. (1976)
Weather Building, 16mm, 10:15 min. (1976) (features weather beacon on the Canada Life Building)
Baby Green, S-8, 10:15 min. (1974)

Academic appointments

Ontario College of Art, Toronto
The Funnel Film Theatre, Toronto
Fanshawe College, Fine Arts Dep"?t., London
The Cooper Union School of Art, New York
Millennium Film Workshop, New York
Fordham University: College at Lincoln Center, New York
Koulu Lapland, Finland
Pratt Institute, Brooklyn

Selected awards and distinctions

Albert Frank Toronto - Amsterdam Artist's Award
Ann Arbor Film Festival Award (multiple)
Black Maria Film Festival - Director's Citation
Canada Council Grant, London Film Festival
Canada Council Film Production Grant
Ontario Arts Council Film Production Grant
Ontario Arts Council Visual Arts Grant
Parabola Arts Foundation Film Distribution Project

References and sources

Allan, Blaine. "Toronto: A Play of History," 1987
Allan, Blaine. "The Funnel," NFT, Kingston, 1981
Birnie. "Canadian Experimental Film in the 70's," 1978
Bruce, B. "Cinema of Transgression," Cine Action 5, 1986
"En Garde,"? The Independent Eye, vol.10 #3, 1989
Ensom. "Toronto Festival Celebrates Super 8," 1977
Fleming. "Filming Buildings, Building Films," Parachute, 1981
Fleming. "Light at the End of the Funnel," Fuse, vol. 4, 1980
Gronau. "Magic, Witchcraft and Film", Parallelogram, 1982
Hall. "A Funnel for Talent," Cinema Canada, #52, 1979
Kelly, B. "Punk At The Movies," Graffiti #2, vol.#4, 1986
London Art Gallery. "Uncommon Language." London Art Gallery: London, 1984
MacDonald, Scott. "A Critical Cinema 3: Interviews With Independent Filmmakers,"? University of California, 1998
Marchessault, Janine. "Film Scenes: Paris, New York, Toronto,"? Public, Issue 22/23, York University Press, Toronto, 2003
Marras. "McLaren's Films," Art Communication #4, 1977
Mays, J. B. "Cache Du Cinema," Toronto Globe & Mail, 1985
McBride-Glassman. "The Displaced Narrator," 1985
National Gallery of Canada. "Filmmakers Series IV," National Gallery: Ottawa, 1980
O"?Connor, Alan. "Local Scenes and Dangerous Crossroads: Punk and Theories of Cultural Hybridity,"? Popular Music Vol. 21/2, Cambridge University Press, London: 225-36, 2002
Povere. "Moving Pictures In A Gallery," Ottawa Revue, Ottawa, 1980
Savage & Berlin. "McLaren at the Funnel," Hide, #3, 1983
Scott, Jay. "Movies Made Personal," Toronto Globe & Mail, 1979
Springer. "Creemedia," Creem vol. 10, #4, 1978
Wado. "Ontario Film Series," Cinema Parallele, 1980
Wlaschin, K. "Rock Movies in the 70's," British Film Institute: London, 1978

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