LIFT co-presents “Man with a Small-Gauge Movie Camera” program at the 8 Fest




LIFT co-presents at the 2016 8 Fest.

Man with a Small-Gauge Movie Camera: Spotlight on the Small-Gauge Films and Diary Sketchbook Films of Keith Lock





LIFT co-presents at the 2016 8 Fest.



Keith Lock in attendance


Keith Lock holds a unique position in the landscape of Canadian Cinema, traversing both the Industry and Indie filmmaking in addition to being the first Canadian-Chinese filmmaker. He has worked with some of the masters such as Claude Jutra, Michael Snow and Joyce Wieland, yet even filmmakers start small. Beginning to make movies as a teenager in high school, Keith collaborated in his early films with his pal, Jim Anderson. super 8 was new cutting edge technology in the 60s. Later while working on a 35mm camera crew in the film industry, 8mm meant freedom to Keith. Dziga Vertov’s credo “life as it is” describes the small-gauge filmmaking of Keith Lock. Yet his unique life (going back to the land, building a tipi, etc.) invigorates his images with his passion for the Canadian landscape.

Waiting For…

(co-directed with Jim Anderson, 1969, Regular 8, silent, 4 min.)
Waiting For… was originally part of a three-screen Regular 8 extravaganza. This film was shot on rare Regular 8 black and white film stock that is not widely available. Waiting For… was my first or second film. I really like the early Warhol films and wanted to make something with the subject matter that was intentionally ordinary and a little boring. With Regular 8 cameras there is no electric motor, just a wind up motor that runs the camera for half a minute or so. Then after a minute or two, you have to stop the camera and turn the film over, the way you turn over a vinyl record. So getting long takes requires some ingenuity.


Geometric Animation

(co-directed with Jim Anderson, 1969, super 8, silent, 1 min.)


Airplane & Barn

(1976, super 8, silent, 1 min.)
Buck Laker Tom Brouillette had a pilot’s license and he took me flying over Buck Lake in a small plane. I was terrified the entire time, and barely managed to film anything. In one brief shot you can see the barn that we just built from the air.

Buck Lake Video

(1976, super 8, silent, 3 min.)
Portrait of an art collective shovelling snow for a skating rink. Those present that day included: Patrick Lee (founder of Toronto Filmmaker’s Co-op), Tom Urquhart (CFMDC), Charles Bagnall (indie film optical studio), Artists: Peter Dudar, Lynn Urquhart (singer in all girl rock groupThe Spectrum), Leslie Padorr, Marsha Kirzner, David Anderson.

Flights of Frenzy

(co-directed with Jim Anderson, 1969, super 8, sound, 8 min.)
Flights of Frenzy won the Best Super 8 Award at the UNESCO 10th Muse International in Amsterdam in 1969. Their award was accepted by the Canadian Ambassador to The Hague. In those days there was no such thing as a macro lens, so we created a new look by taping a magnifying glass over the front element.

Joe Lichwa Clouds

(1975, Regular 8, silent, 3 min.)
One of the beautiful things about Regular 8 was that you could make double exposures. Sometimes it was accidental, sometimes I would do it on purpose, to get more images from a roll of film. It was a way to keep shooting after you had run out of film.

London Train 1

(1974, Regular 8, 3 min.)
Filmed on the way to London for the AGO extension services “Artists and Their Work”.

Sister’s farm in Guelph

(1970, Regular 8, silent, 3 min.)
My sister was attending the University of Guelph. Jim Anderson and I visited the farmhouse she lived in.


(1975, Regular 8, sound, 3 min.)
At Buck Lake, we decided to have a party to celebrate the coming of Spring. Anna Gronau made a humorous invitation and distributed it to the indie film scene people and artists’ community. Audio is from the cassette recorder seen swinging from a rope.

Buck Lake on way to Kleinburg

(1975, Regular 8 transferred to 16mm, sound, 3 min.)
I think this was partly filmed while on a pilgrimage to see paintings by the Group of Seven.


(1973-1976, Regular 8 transferred to 16mm, sound, 6 min.)
Going is a road movie. Inspired by our discussions about the idea of the North and what it means to Canadians, the Anderson brothers (Jim and David), myself and my mother travelled from Toronto to Moose Factory. Prior to shooting Going, I worked on the crew of Ed Hunt’s nudie skin flick, Diary of a Sinner. Setting up and breaking down the hulking 35mm camera weighing 75 pounds took a long time for the crew. Whereas shooting Going was like an antidote to this. Having the small gauge camera in the palm of my hand gave me a feeling of being completely free. Original musical soundtrack by composer/musician Roy Patterson.

Labour Day Montreal

(1976?, Regular 8, silent, 3 min.)
This roll starts on the road to Montreal and finishes with the journey back home. You can see a brief scene picking up hitchhikers. We always stopped for them since, in those days, we hitchhiked a lot ourselves.


(1977, super 8, silent, 3 min.)
Shot while visiting my partner Leslie’s parents in the suburbs of Chicago.

Frijole & Metro

(Feb 14, 1976, super 8, silent, 2.5 min.)
Being alone at Buck Lake was a profound experience of solitude. I chose to film the Irish setter, Frijole, and the cat, Metro.

Eglinton 1967

(co-directed with Jim Anderson, Regular 8, sound, 3 min.)
Jim and I decided to go to the corner of Eglinton and Yonge to film whatever we saw there. Sound is from a cassette recording of a musician at Yonge and Bloor in 1976.

Driving with Beaver, AGO Opening

(1975?, super 8, sound, 3 min.)
Beaver Brouillette was really into cars, and driving around the city with him was a special experience. I don’t remember what the AGO opening was, perhaps a new space or artist’s opening. The sound was recorded in 1976. I was someplace, possibly Mike and Joyce’s house, when someone started playing the piano.

9 St Patrick Square Chickens

(1978, super 8, silent, 3 min.)
I lived with my partner Leslie and my stepdaughter Ramona in a house at Queen and John behind what is now a chic upscale market, but it used to be a chicken slaughterhouse.

Betty’s–The Far Shore Rehearsal

(1975, super 8, silent, 3 min.)
Joyce Wieland had rehearsals for The Far Shore at Betty’s. When I wasn’t recording the rehearsals, I picked up my super 8 camera and shot bits of off-screen life. Shown: Joyce Wieland, Celine Lomez, Frank Moore, and Betty, Alison and Munro Ferguson.

This Building Has Just Been Sold

(1974, super 8, 4 min.)
I sometimes crashed at David Anderson’s studio when I came into town. It was in a historic building at Adelaide and George Street, which was for sale. Right after the building was sold, a suspicious fire broke out.



Friday 29 January 2016 21:00  

Non-members: $5.00
Members: $5.00

Polish Combatants' Hall (SPK) 
206 Beverley Street 
Toronto ON Canada