This is a Dave I know

Remembering Dave Barber of the Winnipeg Cinematheque

By Alex Rogalski

At the centre of Winnipeg’s historic Exchange District is the Artspace building, home to many artist-run centres, and perhaps best known for the Winnipeg Film Group (WFG) Cinematheque. For decades it has been the singular venue for thousands of independent Canadian and international films that otherwise would have remained unknown or inaccessible to Winnipeg audiences. Upon first glance, this modest 85-seat cinema lacks the presence its commercial competition offers, but behind the scenes it was the work of a dedicated programmer who brought the screen to life and inspired generations of cinephiles and filmmakers alike. 

Dave Barber began working at the Winnipeg Film Group in 1982. In the Cinematheque’s nascent years Dave programmed, ran the box office, operated the projector and swept up popcorn to keep costs down. Over his near 40-year tenure, he witnessed the advent of home video, demise of single-screen theatres, and a tsunami of streaming options. Through it all, he remained a fervent supporter of Canadian filmmakers and sought out emerging voices who risked everything to make and share their films. “If you talk to any filmmaker in the city they’ll tell you the same story…they showed Dave their short film when they were young and he would really give them the encouragement to keep going” says WFG Programming director Jaimz Asmundson, “And they would eventually become really exciting voices in filmmaking. Dave cultivated a really great film community in the city.”

In 2005, I was invited to the WFG to help coordinate WNDX’s first One Take Super 8 Event. I was living in Toronto at the time, but was keen to keep connected to my prairie roots and excited to help launch new films from an independent film community that had already contributed so much to Canadian cinema. Shortly after I arrived, I was introduced to Dave. Surrounded by a desk deluged with a heap of Cinematheque programs, festival catalogues, coffee mugs and other ephemera collected over decades, Dave told me how he had a real affinity for the small gauge format and was excited to see what new talent the OTS8 would encourage in his hometown. He shyly admitted that he had made a few super 8 films decades earlier. I said I would love to see them, at which point he looked around his overflowing desk and shelves and said he would have to try and dig them out sometime. To the untrained eye, his office was a dumpster fire waiting to happen, but upon closer observation it was a monument to the collective history of our national cinema. 

Over the years, between my trips to Winnipeg and Dave’s TIFF and Hot Docs sojourns, we’d make a point of meeting up at no-frills diners he recommended. Over greasy breakfast specials with unlimited coffee refills, he filled me in on films he was championing  — while lamenting the struggle to get local media coverage, and perpetual challenge of getting people to leave their cozy homes in the middle of a Manitoba winter. Dave was a tireless and beloved promoter, never wavering in his passion for the films he was presenting.  

On August 13, 2021 the WFG Cinematheque re-opened after being closed during the pandemic. Sadly, Dave wasn’t there to welcome back audiences in person. On July 26th he passed away following complications related to a ruptured ulcer. There was an immediate outpouring of grief with messages from across the country sharing stories that demonstrated his incredible impact. These personal reflections shared the common refrain that he provided the encouragement and kindness that is too often found lacking for those pursuing their creative visions. "Many of my most cherished experiences as a filmmaker came as a direct result of Dave’s influence” veteran filmmaker Alan Zweig (Vinyl, I,Curmudgeon, Hurt) related. “Every time I screened at Cinematheque, I told the audience that having Dave Barber programming for them made them the luckiest audience in Canada."*

That small independent theatre in the heart of Winnipeg is now named the Dave Barber Cinematheque and a new series entitled ‘Dave’s Faves’ launched with documentaries by Les Blank. 

I did manage to see one of Dave’s super 8 films. He finally worked up the courage to submit a film to WNDX’s OTS8 in 2013. I had the pleasure of screening it again at Hot Docs and welcoming him to the stage as a filmmaker. It’s a fond memory of a friend who avoided the spotlight and preferred to point it at others, humbly standing in front of an applauding audience in a full theatre for Will the Real Dave Barber Please Stand Up? True to his character, the moment we stepped offstage, Dave started talking to me about how impressed he was with the feature documentary** that followed his short film and was already thinking about how he would book it back in Winnipeg. 

*Winnipeg Free Press, Randall King, July 27, 2021
**That film was Kung Fu Elliot, directed by Matthew Bauckman and Jaret Belliveau

Alex Rogalski is a professional film programmer, focusing on documentary and Canadian cinema for festivals including TIFF, Hot Docs, Calgary International Film Festival, Victoria Film Festival and Gimme Some Truth. He holds a MA in Communication and Culture, a BFA in Film and has written for publications including POV magazine.