Kasimir Burgess

From scratch animation to installation film, documentary and narrative film, Kasimir's inquisitive and searching nature has led him to explore many forms of filmmaking, in particular filmmaking that mines the territory between art, music and film. He has collaborated with painters, sculptors, philosophers and writers. His collaboration with musicians including The Black Chords and Missy Higgins has led to dynamic music videos that have received awards in Australia and the US. Kasimir's debut feature film, FELL, premiered in official competition at the 2014 Sydney Film Festival, produced by veteran producer John Maynard (The Bank, The Boys, Romulus My Father, Balibo) and written by Natasha Pincus, starring Matt Nable and Daniel Henshall. The film also screened at the Melbourne International Film Festival. The film had its European premiere at Glasgow Film Festival this year. Heightened and at times fantastical, Kasimir's narrative short films tend to embrace marginalised characters who often discover hope in the darkest of places. His films explore universal themes that resonate with people from all cultures and walks of life and have screened in over thirty countries and won twenty-five awards - including the Crystal Bear for best short film at the 2011 Berlin International Film Festival for LILY. In 2005 a jury made up of Lou Reed, Dame Judy Dench and Anton Corbijn awarded Booth Story the Film of The Festival at Raindance Film Festival (UK). George Lucas awarded DIRECTIONS Best Short at the Tiburon Int'l Film Festival (US) in 2008. In 2009 the Sapporo Film Festival, (Japan's leading short film festival), held a retrospective of Kasimir's films, an indicator to his reach and dedication to the form. In 2012 his film THE MAN WHO COULD NOT DREAM, a dark comedy short film featuring Geoffrey Rush and Alan Brough, premiered at the Melbourne Int'l Film Festival. His interest in other cultures has lead him to PNG to direct a documentary on children affected by AIDS, to remote indigenous communities to teach filmmaking and to the Torres Straight Islands to record important cultural songs that might otherwise be forgotten. These films, along with his collaborative work with artists have been screened and collected by The National Gallery of Victoria, Heidi Centre for Contemporary Art, The Melbourne Arts Centre and The Australian Centre for The Moving Image.