About
Mark Street graduated from Bard College (B.A, 1986) and the San Francisco Art Institute (M.F.A., 1992). He has shown work in the New York Museum of Modern Art, at Anthology Film Archives, Millennium Film Workshop and the San Francisco Cinematheque. His work has appeared at the Tribeca (5 times), Sundance, Rotterdam, New York, London, San Francisco, New York Underground, Sarajevo, Viennale, Mill Valley, South by Southwest, and other film festivals.
His work ranges from the abstract (Winterwheat, 1989; Echo Anthem,1992; Fulton Fish Market, 2004; Trailer Trash, 2008; Vera Drake, Drowning, 2018; Clear Ice Fern 2023) to improvised narrative feature films (At Home and Asea, 2000; Rockaway, 2005; Hasta Nunca, 2012). Still others inhabit the documentary form (Oiltowns, 2017; Work Songs, 2019). He has also explored the diary film with a series of searing, vulnerable personal films (A Year, 2006; Still Here, 2015).
His projects have been supported by a number of grants from foundations, including the Jerome Foundation, the Film Arts Foundation, the New York State Council on the Arts, the Maryland State Arts Council and the NY Experimental TV Center. In 2006 he was asked to participate in the Hallwalls Artists Residency Program in Buffalo, NY.
Some of his film work has been performed live with accompanying musicians, including Marc Ribot, Zeena Parkins, Bradford Reed, Guy Yarden and Jane Scarpantoni.
Street is also an essayist (his article In Defense of Street Photography in an iPhone Age appeared in Filmmaker Magazine in 2016), visual artist and photographer.
He is Professor of Film in the Visual Art Department at Fordham University—Lincoln Center where he teaches film/video production and other courses that engage contemporary artistic practice.
“Mark Street combines the strengths of the city symphony, the essay film and the experimental film in one tender, dazzling package which conveys the weirdness and fresh humanity of daily life.” – Phillip Lopate
“The globe is Mark Street’s cinematic canvas onto which he impresses shimmering reflections and lyric montage sequences.” – Jon Gartenberg, Tribeca Film Festival
“…confronting notions of home and community in an age of unprecedented transience and instability.” – SF Cinematheque
“…a cartographer of interior landscapes forged from film chemistry, optically printed materials, documentary/diary footage and journal entries.” – LA Filmforum
“Provocative…engaging…Street leaves us with the very real sense that you take your possibilities and limitations with you wherever you go.” – Los Angeles Times
“…a sweet and powerful look into the future of narrative cinema. Considering the current trend of exploring the documentary nature of scripted film (Street) is in the right place at the right time. Look for him in the future.” – Ron Wilkinson, MonstersandCritics.com