Mark Bakaitis
b. April 21, 1969, Melbourne, Australia.

BIOGRAPHY:   Mark began making Super-8 shorts with his grandfather’s camera as a child.

The early '80s saw the growth of the music video, and Mark was very influenced by this medium as an artistic form.

He studied Film and Video Production at a Tech Course in 1987, were he met fellow music video director Mark Hartley.

Mark crewed on many student Swinburne films and attended classes and lectures without officially being a student from 1988-90.

Through the magazine Film Threat and his interest in the punk/hardcore scene he discovered New York’s "Cinema Of Transgression" led by filmmakers such as Richard Kern and Nick Zedd.

Influenced by this style he made Mercy (1992) which was screened at Jon Hewitt’s Panorama Cinema in Fitzroy, and reviewed by Film Threat USA.

This led to work as a music video director throughout the '90s, directing over 40 clips with bands including: Spiderbait, The Fauves and Bodyjar.

He also crewed on many bigger budget clips for City Films with directors Paul Goldman and Mark Hartley.

In 2000 he directed the cyberpunk, guerrilla, feature film Narcosys. It won "Best Film" at The Melbourne Underground Film Festival, as well as "Best Gratuitous Use Of Violence" (2000).

Narcosys had festival screenings/DVD distribution in the US, Brazil, Thailand and Switzerland. This included a double DVD release with Phillip Brophy’s Bodymelt.

Mark went on to become Head of the Jury for MUFF in 2001 and contributed to the organization of the festival over future years.

Music Documentary became a medium which he explored in the projects on Australian DJ Culture in Midnight in Melbourne (2002) and Elementz (2004).

Mark is currently in production of a documentary on Australian Punk and Post Punk Music with the working title Punk Gunk-1976-83 featuring interviews and footage from bands including; The Birthday Party, The Models, The Moodists, Hunters and Collectors, and Radio Birdman.

	Narcosys

CRITICAL OVERVIEW:   When I started making films I was very much influenced by and drew parallels to the punk, hardcore and underground music scenes.

The basic idea was to pick up a camera and express yourself in a very primal sense, without trying to mimic the Hollywood formula.

I saw that the loud, aggressive music of the punks pointed out the truth of corruption, oppression and ignorance in society and wanted to take this attitude and represent it in film.

With no real formal training in scriptwriting and directing dialogue, my films have been very influenced by the strong visual aesthetic of the music video.

Narcosys was cyberpunk, guerrilla filmmaking in its rawest form.

We broke into locations without permits, got hassled by junkies in the seedy areas we shot in, used a supermarket trolley as a tracking device and had drug dealers working as crew members.

It was a nightmare to shoot, but when completed it was an honour to win "Best Film" at MUFF 2000.

Dark themes are often explored in my films and include; violence, drug use, death, sex and religion. These are topics which seem to force people to take notice and create a strong reaction. My aim is not to simply shock, but to create an impact and to make people think.

Mark Bakaitis, May 2008.

FILMOGRAPHY:

	Mercy

Selected Early Super 8 Shorts:

Invaders (1982, 6 mins, Super-8)

A Bleak Future (1987, 5 mins, Super-8)

Tanz Debil (1987, 5 mins, Super-8)
"An early work of Bakaitis that has a pseudo-goth feel, with an attempt at a psycho-narrative..."- Film Threat USA.

Archaic (1989, 6 mins, Super-8)

Mercy (1992, 10 mins, Super-8/Video)
"This one’s sure to impress the Goths in the audience…overall it seems Bakaitis is good with rock video moodiness..." - Film Threat USA.

Feature Film/Documentary:

Narcosys (2000, 85 mins, Video)
"Combines stomach churning violence with a highly distinctive, painstakingly realized visual aesthetic" - Beat Magazine.

Midnight In Melbourne (2002, 40 mins, Video)
"This, the first documentary of its kind, traces Drum and Bass down-under’s history, giving an informative insight" - IDJ Magazine UK.

	Narcosys

Elementz (2004, 30 mins, Video)
Documentary on DJs touring Australia.

Music Videos:

(1994-2008 all approx 3min, 16mm/Video)

Over 40 to date including:

Spiderbait, The Fauves, Bodyjar, TISM, Madison Avenue, Automatic, Ammonia, Behind Crimson Eyes, The Black Sorrows.

Awards:

Narcosys
"Best Film" - Melbourne Underground Film Festival, Australia 2000.
"Best Gratuitous Use Of Violence"- Melbourne Underground Film Festival, Australia 2000.
Screened at Lausanne Underground Film Festival- Switzerland 2001.

The Fauves-Surf City Limits (1998), Behind Crimson Eyes-Shakedown (2006)
– ARIA Award nominations.

SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY:

"Mark sees a future shock" by Adam Zwar, Herald Sun. July 23, 2000.

"On your mark" by Ramon Laboto, www.melbournetribe.com Aug14-20, 2000.

"The Inaugural MUFF" Beat Magazine Issue 715, July 19, 2000.

"Swines Before Pearls"; MUFF Directors by Steve Proposch, SainUnlimited Aug 2000.

"When Guerrilla Filmakers Attack" by Rebecca Sutherland, Large Magazine June 2001.

Contact Mark Bakaitis

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Melbourne independent filmmakers - a web resource is compiled by Bill Mousoulis.