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Documentary Filmmaker St. Clair Bourne Dead at 64
posted on Dec 17, 2007
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Reknowned documentary filmmaker St. Clair Bourne died early Saturday
morning (Dec. 15) in a New York hospital after an operation to remove a
brain tumor. He was 64. According to his sister Judith, St. Clair made
it through surgery without complication only to be attacked in the
aftermath by a blood clot in his lung. Bourne was a veteran producer,
director and writer of documentaries for HBO, PBS, NBC, Sundance
Channel, BBC, National Geographic.
On Nov. 30th, before entering the hospital, Bourne wrote in his blog:
"I’m writing to let you know that the usual stream of CHAMBA NOTES will
not be forthcoming for about a month. I am scheduled to undergo an
operation within the next couple weeks to remove a benign tumor that is
pressing against my brain. While this is scary, the operation is not as
dangerous as it sounds. First of all, the tumor is benign but it does
periodically causes spasms and numbness in my left arm and leg. Second,
the surgery will not penetrate the brain itself because the tumor is
located on the surface of the brain. Finally, this type of operation,
while not quite routine, has become commonplace enough so that most of
the previous difficulties in this procedure have been worked out. I
hope to be back in action by the new year. Send me your best wishes,
prayers and good vibes. - St.Clair Bourne"
As
head of his production company Chamba Mediaworks, Inc., Bourne made
more than 45 films
concentrating on cultural and political themes. Among the most notable,
Bourne produced the feature-length, Emmy-nominated documentary "Half
Past Autumn: The Life and Works of Gordon Parks" about the
photojournalist and
filmmaker for HBO. With actor Wesley
Snipes as executive producer, Bourne directed "John Henrik Clarke: A
Great and Mighty Walk," a feature length documentary about the
respected
historian and Pan-African activist. He also directed "Paul Robeson:
Here I Stand!," a 2-hour documentary for the
"American Masters" PBS series followed by "Melvin and Mario at
Sundance," a documentary short for the Sundance Channel.
At
the time of his death, Bourne was developing two dramatic feature film
projects: "The Bride Price," a contemporary thriller set in Senegal
about a romance between
an African-American businessman and an African holy man's daughter and
"The Visitor," about an African Muslim filmmaker’s visit to his
African-American counterpart just as the 9/11 attack erupts. He was shooting two
documentaries: one about veteran Black photography Ernest Withers (who shot
the Martin Luther King assassination photos), and the other, a
documentary series on the rise, fall and legacy of the Black Panther
Party for the PBS network.
His popular blog, "Chamba Notes," was a personal commentary
about current productions, new projects, opinions, musings, political
analysis, even gossip...in short, any information about new and
traditional media production and distribution with a special focus on -
but not exclusively about - the African Diaspora.
Bourne is survived by a sister, Judith Bourne, a lawyer in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands.
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