Mike Hoolboom Movies

  • 2018
    A Boy’s Life

    A Boy’s Life

    A Boy’s Life

    02018HD

    Originally cast as the second part of a six-part feature Panic Bodies (1998), the original 16mm negatives were rescued courtesy of the Cinematheque...

    A Boy’s Life
  • 1998
    Positiv

    Positiv

    Positiv

    01998HD

    A monologue about AIDS, rendered in split-screens generously furbished with images from Terminator 2, science flicks, Michael Jackson and home...

    Positiv
  • 1996
    Dear Madonna

    Dear Madonna

    Dear Madonna

    01996HD

    Jason returns with another letter to Madonna, thanking her for letting him be her "mistress".

    Dear Madonna
  • 2016
    We Make Couples

    We Make Couples

    We Make Couples

    02016HD

    This Marxist love story asks: could the couple also be a form of resistance? Essay notes on marriage, microcinema, and the art of projection. With...

    We Make Couples
  • 2022
    The Central Gesture

    The Central Gesture

    The Central Gesture

    02022HD

    Based on a text by Lisa Robertson (from her bracing book Nilling), a meditation on how cities are bound not by geography but laws and rules designed...

    The Central Gesture
  • 2003
    Imitation of Life

    Imitation of Life

    Imitation of Life

    02003HD

    Part 9 of 9-part feature Imitations of Life (2003).

    Imitation of Life
  • 2022
    Close-Up

    Close-Up

    Close-Up

    02022HD

    Tasked to produce a short intro to my feature-length essay Cut, I turned to the origins of the close-up, in a scene featuring camera person Billy...

    Close-Up
  • 2017
    Colour My World

    Colour My World

    Colour My World

    02017HD

    Three-part colour inquiry. Questions adapted from Frederick Douglass to Jericho Brown bring the hurt. The images have been soaked in water until...

    Colour My World
  • 2024
    Promises

    Promises

    Promises

    02024HD

    Portrait moments collected across the world carry powerful situations and stand out from the grip of the image with an expression, a tear, a flame, a...

    Promises
  • 2019
    After Drowning

    After Drowning

    After Drowning

    02019HD

    In this dramatic short, a refugee crosses the ocean to escape the ravages of war, but loses family along the way. The musings of poets (Brand,...

    After Drowning
  • 1998
    In the Future

    In the Future

    In the Future

    01998HD

    Part one of the nine-part feature Imitations of Life (2003).

    In the Future
  • 2020
    After Victory Day

    After Victory Day

    After Victory Day

    02020HD

    The movie’s prelude visits Lenin’s home town of Ulyanovsk during Victory Day, the annual commemoration of WW2’s end, in an...

    After Victory Day
  • 2014
    Second Nature

    Second Nature

    Second Nature

    02014HD

    A primatologist and sex researcher uncover love as a test case, while weighing in on Palestine, power and bonobos.

    Second Nature
  • 1998
    Passing On

    Passing On

    Passing On

    01998HD

    Passing On, a lyrical, typically confessional effort that encapsulates what's preceded it. Hoolboom's dance with death — a motif acknowledged...

    Passing On
  • 2019
    Threshold

    Threshold

    Threshold

    02019HD

    A detourned love poem by Ocean Vuong remixed for Palestine. The root of it all is a calling, a voice, which is followed through Gaza markets and...

    Threshold
  • 1993
    1+1+1

    1+1+1

    1+1+1

    01993HD

    Devils fall in love in Seattle in a black comedy of sex, machines and flight. Photographed a frame at a time over three days, 1+1+1 shows us the...

    1+1+1
  • 2016
    Introduction to Mountains

    Introduction to Mountains

    Introduction to Mountains

    02016HD

    Based on Dogen’s Mountains and Rivers Sutra, written in 13th century Japan. Here are a few words of introduction spoken by the artist....

    Introduction to Mountains
  • 2000
    Secret

    Secret

    Secret

    02000HD

    Part 5 of 9-part feature Imitations of Life (2003).

    Secret
  • 2014
    Safety Film Collection

    Safety Film Collection

    Safety Film Collection

    02014HD

    A found footage collection of 26 AIDS adverts. Freud uncovered the mysterious connection between language and bodies at the same moment that moving...

    Safety Film Collection
  • 2016
    Land of Not Knowing

    Land of Not Knowing

    Land of Not Knowing

    02016HD

    How can we express the emotional experience of depression and suicide and overcome the stigmas associated with mental health? Sanguedolce’s...

    Land of Not Knowing