Craig Baldwin1997

Craig Baldwin is an independent filmmaker, programmer and media archaeologist. Pirating footage from both the mass media and "found" marginalia, Baldwin subverts conventional documentary form with satiric commentary and wildly energized montage. Whether he is parodying the sordid history of U.S. imperialism through the cinematic language of science fiction, or playing with issues of intellectual property by ’jamming’ the corporate owners of copyright, his unique crossing of experimental audio-visual strategies with trenchant cultural critique yields a hilariously provocative body of work.

"Yes, I'm interested in black-comic social critique, and yes, simultaneously, I'm interested in graphic montage, rhythm, and acceleration; but above it all, I’m interested in the mobilization and manipulation and manic play with old and new meanings, as ’found’ footage is re-contextualized with newly-produced sound and imagery, documentary testimony, and collateral text. Yes. This polymorphous collage-essay form I suppose represents an effort to create an audio-visual language -- or at least phraseology --that has the same abstract, metaphoric and punning qualities as spoken language; clusters of signifiers in provisional constructs cobbled together. The flotsam and jetsam of film culture can serve to stage a review of the carnival acts of history.”