Filmmaker, architect. Werner Aellen relocated to Canada from Switzerland and was a practicing architect for eight years in Montreal and Vancouver before his interest shifted to the cinema. He joined the National Film Board of Canada in 1963, where he worked as writer, director, editor, and producer. Aellen was asked by the Canada Council for the Arts to act as Executive Director of the Intermedia Society, a position he held from 1968 to 1970. In addition to making films, Aellen has served on the boards of the Canadian Film Development Corporation (now Telefilm) and the Vancouver Art Gallery, and co-founded the Pacific Cinémathèque. Aellen lives and works in Vancouver.
Discrete project sites documenting the work of specific artists and collectives in detail.
Essays and conversation providing a context for exploring the Project Sites and Archives.
Video interviews conducted between December 2008 and May 2009 reflecting on Vancouver’s art scene in the sixties.