Jim Shedden

Jim Shedden works in the Contemporary Art Department at the Art Gallery of Ontario. He wrote, co-produced and co-directed, MICHAEL SNOW UP CLOSE, a 45-minute video documentary on the work of the Canadian avant-garde filmmaker, and researched, wrote and hosted INDEPENDENT VISIONS, five 1-hour segments exploring the work of independent filmmakers in Canada, including Joyce Wieland, Ron Mann, Robert Kennedy, Michael Snow, Bruce Elder, Richard Kerr, Veronika Soul, Iris Paabo, Amy Bodman, John Straiton and others. From 1985 to 1994, he was the programmer for the Innis Film Society, and has organized numerous film screenings and series for organizations such as New Music Concerts and WOMAD, as well as the Art Gallery of Ontario. Publications include Recent Work from the Canadian Avant-Garde (editor); Vera Frenkel: Videotapes (Art Gallery of York University); Presence and Absence: The Films of Michael Snow 1956-1991 (editor and contributor); David Rimmer (editor and contributor); and numerous articles on visual art, film, video, cultural studies, and popular music. He coordinated the International Experimental Film Congress (Toronto, 1989), the last major international gathering of avant-garde filmmakers and enthusiasts, as well as several other conferences on subjects ranging from Hungarian cinema to Pier Paolo Pasolini, Canadian political economy, and Canadian communications strategies.