Jay Rosenblatt, Filmmaker

Historical Essay

by Paul Grammatico

Video by Paul Grammatico

Videographer: Diallo McLinn

Jay Rosenblatt (1955 - ) was born In New York City. He migrated to San Francisco and became an filmmaker in 1980. He has completed over twenty-five films. His work explores our emotional and psychological cores. They are personal in their content yet universal in their appeal.

His films have received over 100 awards and have screened throughout the world. A selection of his films had theatrical runs at the Film Forum in New York and at theaters around the country.

Eight of his films have been at the Sundance Film Festival and several of his films have shown on HBO/Cinemax, the Independent Film Channel and the Sundance Channel. Articles about his work have appeared in the Sunday NY Times Arts & Leisure section, the LA Times, the NY Times, Filmmaker magazine and the Village Voice.

Jay is a recipient of a Guggenheim, USA Artists and a Rockefeller Fellowship. Jay is originally from New York and has lived in San Francisco for many years. He has been a film and video production instructor since 1989 at various film schools in the Bay Area, including Stanford University, S.F. State University, and the San Francisco Art Institute. He has a Master's Degree in Counseling Psychology and, in a former life, worked as a therapist.

Clip of Human Remains(1998):

Clip ofKing of the Jews (2000):

Clip of Phantom Limb (2009):

Filmography:

Doubt (11 min., USA, 1981)

Blood Test (27 min., USA, 1985)

Paris X 2 (26 min., USA, 1988)

Brain in the Desert (5 min., USA, 1990)

Short Of Breath (10 min., USA, 1990)

The Smell of Burning Ants (21 min., USA, 1994)

Period Piece - Co-directed with Jennifer Frame (30 min., USA, 1996)

Human Remains (30 min., USA, 1998)

A Pregnant Moment (24 min., USA, 1999)

Restricted" (1 min., USA, 1999)

Drop (1 min., USA, 2000)

King of the Jews (18 min., USA, 2000)

Worm (2 min., USA, 2001)

Nine Lives - The Eternal Moment of Now (1 min., USA, 2001)

Prayer (3 min., USA, 2002)

Decidi (1 min., USA, 2002)

Friend Good (5 min., USA, 2003)

I Used to Be a Filmmaker (10 min., USA, 2003)

I Like It a Lot (4 min., USA, 2004)

I'm Charlie Chaplin (8 min., USA, 2005)

Phantom Limb (28 min., USA, 2005)

Afraid So (3 min., USA, 2006)

I Just Wanted to Be Somebody (10 min., USA, 2006)

Four Questions for a Rabbi (12 min., USA, 2008)

Beginning Filmmaking (23 min., USA, 2008)

The Darkness of Day (26 min., USA, 2009)

The D Train (5 min., USA, 2011)

Inquire Within (4 min., USA, 2012)

The Claustrum (15 min., USA, 2014)