Barbara Sternberg (born in 1945) is a Canadian film director known for her experimental films. She directed films such as Opus 40 (1979), Transitions (1982), At Present (1990), Through and Through (1992), and Midst (1997).
Early life Sternberg was born in Toronto, Ontario on April 24, 1945. In her youth, she created art by writing books for her family members. She has said that her use of photos and text in these books is "similar to the way I work now." She created her first film using her father's 16 mm camera in order to make a gift for her husband. Sternberg said, "My husband at the time didn't have any home movies and barely any photographs from his growing-up; so I wanted to make him this home movie, to create a past for him."
Although she did not initially consider her films works of art, she eventually began to take them seriously. Sternberg attended Ryerson Polytechnic University to learn how to make films, but she ignored the teachings in order to make experimental films. "I didn't think at all about industrial film," she said. "I just started making stuff in a way I would later learn to call 'experimental.'"
Career Sternberg began her career in filmmaking during the mid-1970s and was one of the few female directors in Canada working in the avant-garde genre at the time. She has received significant national attention in Canada. The National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario, Queen's University, and York University have all acquired her films for their collections.
Aside from her national recognition, Sternberg's films have also been featured in various international institutions, such as Museum of Modern Art in New York City and the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris.
Directing techniques When she began her career, Sternberg transferred Super 8 images onto 16mm in order to modify the original image to give her films an imperfect finish. This distinguishing filming technique was used to give authenticity to her films. By making her films look like moving photographs, she was able to "turn reality into image".
Due to her interest in "images that bear the traces of life, body, and the materiality of film", Sternberg's films blurred the line between reality and fiction. Although Sternberg's films were initially characterized by her unique filming technique, she eventually began to utilize modern technology and incorporate it into her directing. By switching from "single channel video, to installation, to hand processed 16mm, to digital media and performance", Sternberg is thoroughly "engaged in finding the links between technological process and aesthetic production."
Contribution to the Canadian experimental film scene Through her contribution to the Canadian experimental film scene, Sternberg helped pave the way for other experimental female directors in Canada. As William Wees notes, "Women were, at best, marginally represented in the world of Canadian experimental film when Sternberg started making films. The recognition they received was instrumental in opening a predominantly male preserve to the work of female film and video-makers, many of whom have profited from her trail-blazing efforts without, I suspect, realizing who helped to open the way for them".
Sternberg also contributed to the Canadian experimental film scene by incorporating "a female aesthetic sensibility" into her films. As a result, Sternberg was able to bring a female perspective to Canadian experimental cinema that was not present before.
Filmography YearTitle1974The Good Times1976A Study in Blue and Pink1979The Cuten Spielers1979Opus 401980' ... The Waters Are the Beginning and the End of All Things'1981(A) Story1982Transitions1985A Trilogy1989Tending Towards the Horizontal 1990At Present1991Through and Through1995Beating1996What Do You Fear?1997C'est la vie1997Midst1997Past/Future2000Awake2000For Virginia2000Like a Dream that Vanishes2000Off the 40120014 Women2001Breaking Out of the play2002Burning2002New York Counterpoint2002Sunsets2003Glacial Slip2003Jakarta2003(Rome) Skyling2003Tabula Rasa2004In the Garden2004So What?2005Dark2005Praise2005Surfacing2007Once2007Time Being I2007Time Being II2007Time Being III2007Time Being IV2008After Nature2008Beginning2010Love, Winnipeg2011In the Nature of Things2011(Vers)ing2013Reading Thomas Bernhard2020Once I Am
Accolades YearAwardFestivalNominated workResult1980Best Experimental FilmInternational Super 8 FestivalOpus 40Won1982Best Experimental FilmAtlantic Film FestivalTransitionsWon1982Best SoundAtlantic Film FestivalTransitionsWon1993Award of ExcellenceAnn Arbor FestivalThrough and ThroughWon2011Governor General's Award in Visual and Media ArtsWon
References
External links Barbara Sternberg archives are held at the Clara Thomas Archives and Special Collections, York University Libraries, Toronto, Ontario Official website of Barbara Sternberg