Robert C. Banks

Birth : 1966-09-07, Cleveland, Ohio, USA

History

Robert C. Banks, Jr. (born 1966) is an American cinematographer and film artist. Banks attended the Cleveland School of the Arts, and has taught film at Cuyahoga Community College, the Cleveland Institute of Art, and Cleveland State University. His best known work is the 1992 film, "X: The Baby Cinema", a 16mm short film which chronicled the commercial appropriation of the image of Malcolm X. The movie appeared on the compilation video The Best Of The New York Underground - Year One. The 1994 feature documentary film, "You Can't Get a Piece of Mind" explores the world of Cleveland musician and Vietnam veteran, Dan "Supie T" Theman. Banks has had his films shown at the Sundance Film Festival, was named Filmmaker of the Year at the Midwest Filmmakers Conference, and in 2000, he was the honored guest filmmaker in London at the BBC British Short Film Festival. He lives in Cleveland, Ohio.

Movies

Doctor Hypnosin, or the Technique of Living

Editor

Experimental film inspired by a 1923 scenario written by Serbian poet Salomon Monny de Boully, with a musical score composed and performed by Tad Mike.

Doctor Hypnosin, or the Technique of Living

Cinematography

Experimental film inspired by a 1923 scenario written by Serbian poet Salomon Monny de Boully, with a musical score composed and performed by Tad Mike.

PAPER SHADOWS

Director

“Paper Shadows” is a surrealist, nonlinear satire about the creative & emotional angst shared by an elderly black man and a young white female art student. Shot on 35mm black and white film using anamorphic optics for the 2:35.1 aspect ratio, the central characters represent the racial, class, gendered, and generational gaps and complexities in society. The film, through image and sound manipulation, explores ideas and identity that are rarely explored and contrasted in mainstream narrative films. The characters indulge in a Walter Mitty type fantasy involving a grant fellowship competition, mysticism and espionage intrigue within the fictional philanthropic organization that effects both characters as they unite to oppose and combat.

White Boy

Director of Photography

“White Boy Rick”, as he was called, was a novelty: A white teenager seemingly running a major inner-city drug operation. In May of 1987, 17-year-old Richard Wershe Jr. was charged with a non-violent, juvenile drug offense. By the time of his arrest he was already a Detroit legend, frequently making front-page headlines and leading the local television news. In this film, gangsters, hit men, journalists and federal agents struggle to explain why he remains in prison at nearly 50 years old. The possible explanation is more stunning than the crimes Wershe was alleged to have committed.

Made in Cleveland

Director

Tale of life, love and the pursuit of happiness... in Cleveland. Nine vignettes about love: an old war hero defends the honor and memory of a long-lost love; a man's past comes to light in the midst of a perfect date; a recently separated paramedic gets more than he bargains for when he is thrust in the middle of a domestic dispute; a desperate man employs his friends in an elaborate scheme to meet the girl of his dreams, a recovering sex addict returns home to start a new life. There are thousands of stories of love, lust, loss and despair all over Cleveland-these are just a few of them.

Motion Picture Genocide

Director

An examination of 100 years of African Americans being murdered in movies.

X: The Baby Cinema

Director

Drawing by hand directly on 16mm film, Banks challenges commercial appropriations of the image of Malcolm X.