by MATTHEW HAYS

Experimental film aficionados everywhere are in mourning this week, with the news that avant-garde demigod Stan Brakhage died on the weekend. He passed away peacefully, with his wife Marilyn by his side, in a Victoria, B.C., hospital. Brakhage, who had apparently been battling cancer for some time, suffered an infection which led to his death.

"Jim Hoberman has always said that Brakhage and Godard are the two strongest filmmakers of the late 2oth century," Concordia film studies prof and author Peter Rist says, responding to news of Brakhage's death. "Certainly, in terms of experimental film, Brakhage and Michael Snow stand as the most renowned." Rist has strong memories of Brakhage's visits to Concordia in the late '70s. "He came to the university not to discuss his own work, but to introduce the films of Orson Welles. I remember it very well because he spoke with no notes whatsoever. He knew the work very well indeed, and he was an absolutely riveting personality."

Born in Kansas City in '33, Brakhage had moved to Canada in recent years after marrying Marilyn, his second wife, a Canadian. Brakhage is as famous for being prolific as he is for the sheer intimacy of his work. His Wedlock House: An Intercourse ('59) features him making love to his wife on negative film, while Window Water Baby Moving (also '59) has his first child being born. Rist recalls The Act of Seeing With One's Own Eyes, an unblinking series of images from a morgue. "That film was like a challenge to the viewer, to see how much they could stand watching," recalls Rist. Ironically enough, Criterion has plans to release a compilation of many of Brakhage's most influential works within months. As well as a staggering filmography, Brakhage also wrote books on various subjects, including Metaphors on Vision and A Motion Picture Giving and Taking Book.

Though the Ottawa Film Festival is but five years young, the event has been growing in stature and looks to have built itself a very strong lineup this year. The fest, which screens from this Friday, March 14, to Saturday, March 22, will include 77 entries from around the world. Among them, The Good Old Naughty Days, an anthology of early 20th-century home-made erotica, and The Last Letter, Frederick Wiseman's much-lauded doc feature. The fest also offers an opportunity for audiences to catch Canuck films that didn't have extended runs in cinemas, such as the highly controversial Ararat and the Genie- and Jutra-Award-winning Québec-Montréal. Kudos to curator and festival founder Didier Farré for having put together such an intriguing festival. Info: www.offestival.com :

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