Dirk de Bruyn
Dirk de Bruyn | |
---|---|
Born | October 14, 1950 Dordrecht, Netherlands |
Nationality | Australian |
Occupation(s) | Filmmaker, academic |
Known for | Experimental animation, expanded cinema, trauma in film |
Academic background | |
Alma mater | Deakin University, RMIT University, Philip Institute |
Dirk de Bruyn is an Australian experimental filmmaker, animator, and academic. He was born in 1950 in Dordrecht, Netherlands and immigrated to Australia in 1958. He is known for his contributions to expanded cinema, trauma and memory in film, and avant-garde animation. He served as Associate Professor and Head of Screen and Design at Deakin University in Melbourne.
Career
[edit]Since the 1970s, de Bruyn has produced work in animation, film performance, and installation art.[1] His practice explores themes of trauma, memory, and the materiality of the moving image. He was ranked third in the Melbourne Independent Filmmakers' Top 50 Australian Independent Film Heroes (2007).[2]
In January 1986, a program of de Bruyn's short films was presented at the Museum of Modern Art in New York as part of its Cineprobe series.[3]
In 2013, the Film-Philosophy Conference in Amsterdam hosted a panel titled Trauma/Memory/Expanded Cinema: The Films of Dirk de Bruyn.[4]
Full retrospective programs of his films have been screened at:
- Lux Salon London (2004) [5]
- Liaison of Independent Filmmakers Toronto (2014) [6]
- Melbourne International Animation Festival (2016) [7]
- Punto y Raya Festival at ZKM Karlsruhe (2016)[8]
- Cineinfinito (Spain, 2019–2020)[9][10][11][12]
- The Melbourne Cinémathèque (2025)[1]
Academic work
[edit]De Bruyn served as Head of Screen and Design at Deakin University (2017–2019). His research interests include:
- Experimental animation
- Trauma and memory in film
- Surveillance and pattern recognition
Selected publications
[edit]Books
[edit]- The Performance of Trauma in Moving Image Art (2014)[13]
Journal articles
[edit]- "Paul Winkler: Migrating from Analogue to Digital Practice", Animation Practice, Process & Production (2021)[14]
- "Fear of the Dark", Senses of Cinema (2021)[15]
- "Repetition, Flicker, and Sound in the Films of Paul Sharits", Animation Studies (2020)[16]
Selected filmography
[edit]Feature films
[edit]Short films
[edit]- Father of Waters (2022)
- White Bat (2021)
- Living in the Past (2018)
- Death of Place (annotated) (2018)[23]
- Recover (2018)
- Dissociation (2017)
- Re-vue (2017–18)
- New Australian (2016)
- Found Found Found (2014)[24]
- Empire (2014)
- Doubt (1996)
- Traum A Dream (1994)[25]
- Rote Movie (1994)[25]
- Vision (1985) [26]
- 224 (1985)[27]
- Feyers (1979)[28]
Expanded cinema performances
[edit]Dirk de Bruyn's expanded cinema performances engage the aesthetics of process through multi-screen abstract films and live manipulations.[29] They include:
- Experiments (1982) - 2 projector Performance Melbourne Film Festival [30]
- LanterNfanten (2009) - 3-projector at Impakt Festival, Utrecht, Netherlands [31]
- Material Damage (2016) – 4-projector performance, Punto y Raya Festival[8]
- Hillegonda (2011) – 2-projector performance, Elisabeth de Brabant Gallery, Shanghai, China [32][33]
- Multitudes (2014) – Immersive light/music performance, Melbourne [citation needed]
- i1234m (2013) – 3-screen performance, Gertrude Street Galleries [34]
- Analog Stress (2009) – Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography (Yebisu Festival) [citation needed]
Awards and recognition
[edit]- 2019–20 – Retrospective at Cineinfinito, Spain[9][10][11][12]
- 2018 – Night Award, Signes de Nuit Festival (Recover)[35]
- 2016 – Retrospective at Punto y Raya Festival[8]
- 2010 – Research Fellowship, National Film and Sound Archive[36]
- 2009 – Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Research, Deakin University[36]
- 1994 - Rote Movie awarded best experimental film at Ann Arbor [37]
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Dirk de Bruyn: Expanded Cinema and the Poetics of Fragmentation". The Melbourne Cinémathèque. Australian Centre for the Moving Image. Retrieved 19 June 2025.
- ^ "Top 50 Australian Independent Film Heroes". Melbourne Independent Filmmakers.
- ^ "Program of Short Films – Cineprobe" (PDF). Museum of Modern Art. December 1985. Retrieved 21 June 2025.
- ^ D'Cruz, Glenn (2013). Trauma/memory/expanded cinema: the films of Dirk de Bruyn. Film-Philosophy Conference. Amsterdam. Retrieved 2025-06-24.
- ^ "Dirk de Bruyn: Ancient Damage". Mark Webber. Retrieved 4 July 2025.
- ^ "Dirk de Bruyn". LIFT. Retrieved 21 June 2025.
- ^ "Dirk de Bruyn". Letterboxd.
- ^ a b c "Punto y Raya Festival 2016". Punto y Raya.
- ^ a b "Cineinfinito #83: Dirk de Bruyn". Cineinfinito. Retrieved 21 June 2025.
- ^ a b "Cineinfinito #84: Dirk de Bruyn". Cineinfinito. Retrieved 21 June 2025.
- ^ a b "Cineinfinito #133: Dirk de Bruyn". Cineinfinito. Retrieved 21 June 2025.
- ^ a b "Cineinfinito #134: Dirk de Bruyn". Cineinfinito. Retrieved 21 June 2025.
- ^ "The Performance of Trauma in Moving Image Art". Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
- ^ de Bruyn, Dirk (2021). "Paul Winkler: Migrating from Analogue to Digital Practice". Animation Practice, Process & Production.
- ^ "Fear of the Dark". Senses of Cinema.
- ^ "Repetition, Flicker, and Sound in the Films of Paul Sharits". Animation Studies.
- ^ "Telescope – 9 Jul 2025 The Melbourne Cinémathèque". ACMI. 9 July 2025. Retrieved 2025-06-24.
- ^ Redmond, Sean (June 2025). "Telescope". Senses of Cinema. Retrieved 2025-06-24.
- ^ D'Cruz, Glenn (2017). "Uncanny Suburbia, Hauntology and Post-Traumatic Poetics: Conversations with Dirk de Bruyn's Conversations with My Mother (1990)". Senses of Cinema. Retrieved 2025-06-23.
- ^ Ortega, Marcos (19 February 2025). "Xcèntric: Dirk de Bruyn. Effects of Trauma". Experimental Cinema. Retrieved 2025-06-23.
- ^ "Homecomings, by Dirk de Bruyn". Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (CCCB). 18 April 2024. Retrieved 2025-06-23.
- ^ Hoolboom, Mike (June 2025). "Homecomings". Senses of Cinema. Retrieved 2025-06-24.
- ^ "MOS #4: Dirk de Bruyn". Missing Observer Studies. 2020. Retrieved 2025-07-01.
- ^ de Bruyn, Dirk (3 December 2014). "Found found found". NECSUS. Retrieved 2025-06-23.
- ^ a b Hoolboom, Mike (14 March 2005). Baker, Michael (ed.). "Notes on Two Movies by Dirk De Bruyn" (PDF). Synoptique: An Online Journal of Film and Moving Image Studies. Retrieved 2025-06-23.
- ^ "Vision". The Film-Makers' Cooperative. 1985. Retrieved 2025-06-23.
- ^ "Finalist". AACTA Awards. 1985. Retrieved 2025-07-01.
- ^ "Feyers". The Film-Makers' Cooperative. 1979. Retrieved 2025-06-23.
- ^ "Theoretical Perspectives on Expanded Cinema and the "Cruel" Performance Practice of Dirk de Bruyn by Steven McIntyre". Senses of Cinema, Issue 46. 2008. Retrieved 2025-07-01.
- ^ "Natural Selection". Otherfilm Projects: Natural Selection: Dirk de Bruyn. Retrieved 2025-07-01.
- ^ "Accelerated Living" (PDF). Impakt Festival 2009: Accelerated Living. Retrieved 2025-07-01.
- ^ "Dirk de Bruyn Film Performance- Film 2". YouTube. 4 December 2011. Retrieved 2025-07-01.
- ^ "Dirk de Bruyn Film Performance- Film 3". YouTube. 4 December 2011. Retrieved 2025-07-03.
- ^ "Vocal Folds". 27 August 2021. Retrieved 2025-07-01.
- ^ "Night Award – Signes de Nuit Festival Bangkok 2018". Festival international Signes de Nuit. 2018. Retrieved 2025-06-24.
- ^ a b "Dirk de Bruyn – Deakin University Experts Profile". Deakin University. Retrieved 2025-06-24.
- ^ "Dirk Wins in US". Filmnews p.14. 1 April 1994. Retrieved 2025-07-01.