HELP SUPPORT THE RECOVERY OF S.F. FILMMAKER CRAIG BALDWIN!!

CRAIG BALDWIN, the genius found footage filmmaker, legendary impresario, creator and host of Other Cinema in San Francisco’s Mission District, film archivist, teacher, distributor and booster of all things at the margins of culture, is currently experiencing serious health challenges in his life!!

Since August 2024, Craig has been battling throat cancer. For the last four months, he has been in and out of hospitals and skilled nursing facilities being treated for the cancer and the challenging secondary effects from the radiation and chemotherapy. Needless to say, this has been physically devastating and Craig's road to recovery is going to be long and slow. Before he can return home to his studio/archive and cinema, there will need to be therapies which will facilitate him being able to eat and walk again. This has been a huge financial blow for Craig. Unable to move back to his live/workspace at the ATA gallery in the Mission, he has had to cancel his fall and spring film series, as well as suspend his archival film services. Both have been his primary sources of income that have supported Other Cinema and the enormous San Francisco rent for the space.

We are sure that many of you recognize Craig as an exemplary citizen of the underground, experimental film and art community. For over 40 years, his generosity and selfless support for the margins of Cinema have guided and inspired our community. Many of you have personally experienced the “Baldwin Film Phenomenon” —from having seen his brilliant films, attended his mind-bending lectures on found cinema, taken classes or been mentored by him. Others have purchased archival film from him, spending hours in his underground studio winding through miles of 16mm film for your own projects. Perhaps you, like 1000s of others, have attended programs from his weekly film series or listened to him hold forth about art and cinema in a late night bar. We all know what a force of nature Craig is and how important it is that we return the support so he can recover his health and resume his work as an artist and his service to the community.

If you need more evidence of Craig Baldwin’s importance, check out the recently published 500 page book AVANT TO LIVE , with essays and documentation by over 50 artists and writers who explore his vast body of cinephilic effluvia! See Book here: https://incite-online.net/baldwin.html

Craig’s costs of care and rehabilitation have been astronomical, even with medicare insurance. Whether a kindred spirit or lover of underground and independent Cinema, we all can assist him in paying for his aftercare expenses for rehabilitation and physical therapies as well as rent and renovation of his living space that will enable him to return to ATA. These costs will be insurmountable without all of our help.

Craig has poured his life and resources into his work and now doesn’t have enough personal income or resources to cover the cost of the care he needs. Let’s show him some of the love he’s shown us and donate generously.

Please share this fundraiser widely within your own networks.

Fund Raising Team for Friends of Craig Baldwin

Bill Daniel

Adam Dziesinski

Lynne Sachs

Jeffrey Skoller