Michael Balser

Directing

Birthplace: Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada

Video maker, curator, producer, AIDS activist. New Brunswick-bred Michael Balser was part of the experimental video and Super 8 scene in Fredericton and Ottawa before finally putting down roots in Toronto in 1985. Balser continued his prolific output, combining activist documentary with experimental narrative and collage, up until his death in 2002. Dialogue said by an “AIDS Activist Action Figure” in his 1996 film Treatments might be thought of as his parting words: “...if I’m going to go, at least I’m going to go out fighting.”