Rick Raxlen

Rick Raxlen

Rick Raxlen has been working as an artist and filmmaker since the late '60s. He began as a filmmaker with the NFB alongside Arthur Lipsett and Norman McLaren in Montreal, and was awarded one of only two Genies (Canadian Film Award) ever given for Best Experimental Film ("Legend," 1970). After a stint teaching at Concordia University and many short films, he went on to make the feature film "Horses in Winter" (1988), named as one of the best films of the eighties by Cinematheque Quebecois. After many more short works and another award-winning feature ("The Strange Blues of Cowboy Red," 1995), Rick abandoned the long form out of frustration with the impersonal nature of the process, and turned in earnest to a new obsession: the animated short form. This has been his primary moving image-based artwork for the past 25 years since he relocated to Victoria, BC. Rick is a strong proponent of non-institutionalized art-making practices and largely works outside of the system, producing and exchanging Mail Art and an incredible output of drawing and printmaking work presented in galleries and alternative venues worldwide.

Movies for Rick Raxlen...

Think Before You Think: A Portrait of Rick Raxlen
Title: Think Before You Think: A Portrait of Rick Raxlen
Character: Self
Released: October 17, 2020
Type: Movie
"Think Before You Think" is a portrait of film poet, animator and artist Rick Raxlen. Shot on 16mm film and digital video at his Victoria, BC home and studio over the course of a year, the film follows Raxlen’s daily practice, uncovering the rituals and gestures of a creative process. Mining the highly specific and personal nature of this life-sized project, excerpts from Raxlen’s films, drawings, paintings and mark-making from a 50+ year art practice combine with hand-processed and manipulated film materials to play off the rites and relaxed rigour of his unique approach to making a life.
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Running Time
Title: Running Time
Character: Detective
Released: January 1, 1974
Type: Movie
This feature film is an exotic romp through the ’60s in song and dance. A fantasy that pokes fun not only at some hallowed institutions but at itself as well.