Ron Fricke, the creator of Baraka,
the cinematographer and editor on Godfrey Reggio's
Koyaanisqatsi .
He then devised, directed, edited and co-produced Chronos
in 1985. Chronos showed the beginnings of Fricke's passion that was to become
Baraka.
In 1986 Fricke created the IMAX film Sacred Site. A 7 minute
film of Halley's Comet over Ayers Rock
, Australia.
Baraka was released in 1992, a film that took 14 months to film and a
reported 5 years to devise.
In December '98 he left Atlas films to concentrate on making IMAX films, a
passion Fricke had long been cultivating.
A description (thought to be written by Ron Fricke himself)
Ron Fricke is a meticulous filmmaker who has mastered a wide range of skills.
This versatility allows him to carefully sculpt his films during each phase of
their development. He immerses himself completely in every stage of production,
wrestling with the broad philosophical concepts that underlie his films,
designing sophisticated equipment, framing each shot as if it were a painting,
editing and color timing the finished print.
In his early work as director of photography, co-editor and co-writer for "Koyaanisqatsi",
a renowned nonverbal art film, Fricke experimented with many previously obscure
film techniques. He used time-lapse, slow motion and optical phase printing to
present familiar images from a new perspective. "Koyaanisqatsi" won a
1983 Filex Audience Award.
Indulging his passion for 70mm, and determined to make life affirming films,
Fricke proceeded to direct and co-produce "Chronos", an innovative, nonverbal, IMAX film that won the Grand prix du jury Award at the first Festival
International Omnimax de Paris (1987). For "Chronos" Fricke designed an
IMAX compatible camera with the capacity to shoot motion controlled images, a
revolutionary concept in the IMAX industry. Fricke gained experience on several
other IMAX films including "Sacred Site" (1986) which he directed and
photographed.
"Baraka", Fricke's latest creation, is a nonverbal feature film
photographed in (65mm) 70mm in over 20 countries. It develops the themes of
interconnection and transcendence, which Fricke began to explore in "Chronos",
""Baraka" is a journey of rediscovery that plunges into nature, into
history, into the human spirit and finally into the realm of the infinite". In
order to capture the exquisite rotating star fields in the film's finale,
Fricke designed and built a more flexible and complex version of the (65mm)
70mm time-lapse camera he designed for "Chronos". Fricke directed,
photographed, co-edited and co-wrote "Baraka" (1992).
"Samsara" will be a visual quest that explores the cycle of birth, death
and rebirth. "I feel that my work has evolved through "Koyaanisqatsi", "Chronos"
and "Baraka", says Fricke. "Both technically and philosophically I am
ready to delve even deeper into my favorite theme: humanity's relationship to
the eternal".
Films
Koyaanisqatsi (Cinematographer and editor)
Chronos (Director, cinematographer, editor and
co-producer)
Sacred Site (Director, cinematographer, editor, producer)
Baraka (Director, cinematographer, co-editor and
co-producer)
Samsara
Now
Ron Fricke is currently working on a sequel to Baraka
entitled Samsara.
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I recently heard a rather disturbing sermon from a Christian missionary by the name of Wally Magdangal, at Adventure Christian Church in Roseville, CA. At the end of his sermon, Mr. Magdangal showed a short video depicting places where people needed to have Christianity brought to them so they need not go to hell. Most of the images of people that were used were directly from "Baraka". I founds this to be a very disturbing use of your films images and wanted you to know how it is being used.