St Clair Bourne, 1943 - 2007.

"Acclaimed filmmaker St Clair Bourne [site and blog] passed away [Saturday] at the age of 64," reports indieWIRE. "Bourne's many films included Making "Do the Right Thing", Paul Robeson: Here I Stand!, Let the Church Say Amen, In Motion: Amiri Baraka, The Black and the Green, Langston Hughes: The Dream Keeper, New Orleans Brass and John Henrik Clarke: A Great and Mighty Walk, among numerous others." IW follows its report with a remembrance from friend and filmmaker Floyd Webb.

Filmmaker's Scott Macaulay points to Agnes Varnum's entry at Renew Media, where she makes note of a New York Times video in which Bourne discusses his work, past and present. Agnes Varnum comments: "His passing is untimely and I predict more delving into his work and significance to the documentary and black communities he served so intently."

"Bourne was in Durham to screen the doc as part of the Power of Ten program [at the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival], which looked back over the fest's first decade," notes the cinetrix, who runs an excerpt from his program note for Making "Do the Right Thing."

"While most making-of docs are often treated as supplements to the original film, Bourne's treatment of DTRT also serves as a larger meditation on the process of making independent movies, as well as reflecting on the evolution of Brooklyn and the Bedford Stuyvesant neighborhood where Lee filmed," writes Chuck Tryon.

More from Bill Egbert in the New York Daily News.

Update: AJ Schnack notes that "in a posting for Mediarights.org, Bourne came up with a shortlist of films that had an impact on him as a filmmaker and an activist." And he presents them, with Bourne's commentary.

Posted by dwhudson at December 17, 2007 1:30 PM