Baba Hillman grew up in Japan, Venezuela and Panama and works between France and the U.S.. She received a B.A. in French Literature from Duke University and an M.F.A. in Film and Performance from the University of California, San Diego. Her films and performance works explore memory, history, perception and the poetics and politics of place, language, and the body.
She was co-director of Teatro Movimento in Florence, studied with Etienne Decroux and Jean-Pierre Gorin, and is Professor Emerita of Film at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts. Her films have screened widely at festivals and museums including the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, FIDMarseille, Edinburgh Film Festival, Rencontres Internationales Paris/Berlin, Ann Arbor Film Festival, National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., Anthology Film Archives, ICAIC Havana, Africa World Documentary Festival, Yaounde, MIX Brazil, and European Media Art Festival, Osnabruck, among others. She has received awards and grants from the French Ministry of Culture, the Whiting Foundation, the California Arts Council, and the Italian city governments of Florence, Lecce and Certaldo.
In 2020, Hillman’s film Kitâb al-Isfâr: Book of the Journey, a feature-length film about near-death and mystical experiences in Andalucia, premiered at the FIDMarseille film festival and was selected for the Athens Avant Garde Film Festival and Rencontres Internationales Paris/Berlin. Earlier films by Hillman include Decroux’s Garden, and 5 Cité de la Roquette, part of a series of films connected to return, place and disappearance.
Baba Hillman a grandi au Japon, Venezuela et Panama. Elle a reçu le B.A. à L’Université Duke, et le M.F.A. en cinéma à L’Université de Californie, San Diego ou elle a étudié avec Jean-Pierre Gorin. Ses films explorent la mémoire, l’histoire, la perception ainsi que la poétique et la politique du lieu, du langage et du corps. Elle a étudié à Paris avec Etienne Decroux et a été co-directrice du Teatro Movimento à Florence.
Ses films ont été projetés au Musée d’Art Contemporain, Los Angeles, Los Angeles Film Forum, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Rencontres Paris/Berlin, Ann Arbor Film Festival, Anthology Film Archives, FIDMarseille, Cinéma La Clef, Paris, Edinburgh International Film Festival, Africa World Documentary Film Festival, Yaoundé, Brotfabrik, Berlin, MIX Brazil et European Media Art Festival, Osnabrück. Elle a reçu des bourses et des prix avec le Fondation Whiting, California Arts Council, Maryland Arts Council et le Fondation Mellon. Ses films sont distribués par Canyon Cinema, San Francisco, Canadian Filmmakers Distribution Centre, Toronto, et le Collectif Jeune Cinéma à Paris. Elle est Professeur Émérite de cinéma à Hampshire College, Amherst, MA.