Jennifer Baichwal Interview

Jennifer Baichwal is a Canadian documentary director and producer whose films over the past 15 years often include artists as subjects, including Paul Bowles (Let It Come Down), Shelby Lee Adams (The True Meaning of Pictures), Paul Auster and Fred Frith (Act of God), Margaret Atwood (Payback) and Edward Burtynsky. In some cases they are profiled more directly, while in others they are part of a network of narratives pertaining to a larger topic.

 

Both approaches converge in her collaboration with photographer Edward Burtynsky, which has evolved from his role as subject in Manufactured Landscapes to co-director in her latest feature, Watermark. The film engages with the complex humans have with water, as well as Burtynsky creating a book on this topic.

 

Jennifer had just premiered the film, as well as two exhibitions stemming from it at Toronto’s Nuit Blanche, when we were fortunate enough to chat with her at Nicholas Metivier Gallery, who represent Burtynsky.