Filmmaker Helen Hill Murdered, Film Community Ralliesby Roberta Carrow-Jackson January 8, 2007
http://sttammanyarts.blogs.nola.com/default.asp?item=420883Helen Hill, 36, an animator and filmmaker, was murdered in her house in the Faubourg Marigny area on Thursday morning, January 4. Her husband, Paul Gailiunas, 35, was also seriously injured and treated at Elmwood/Charity Trauma Center.
New Orleans Times-Picayune January 5 article "Killings Bring the City to its Bloodied Knees" stated that police responded to reports of a shooting and found Gailiunas just inside the family's front door on his knees and bleeding, holding his toddler son. Hill was lying nearby, shot in the neck. The child was not hurt, and Gailiunas was released from hospital on Friday.
New Orleans Filmmakers and members of Louisiana Produces, an online community of filmmakers, expressed deep sadness and outrage at the senseless violence. About 200 members of the film community, Marigny neighborhood and area artists held a planning meeting on Sunday, January 7 at Sound Café (2700 Chartres St.). The group will march to City Hall on Thursday, January 11 to demand action to control rampant violence in New Orleans. Information is available by calling 504-948-0917.
A Harvard graduate and recipient of a Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship, Hill was a teacher and the founder of the New Orleans Film Society, which taught budding filmmakers how to produce films in Super 8 and other traditional formats. Her work showed someone dedicated to family, community, and volunteerism.
Hill showed her short, original animations most recently on Home Movie Night at Zeitgeist Interdisciplinary Arts Center, an event she organized to showcase hometown filmmakers.
On the North Shore, fans of independent film saw Hill's work at the Cine-Sanity independent short film screenings held at the Skyfire Theater in Covington. Founder Jimmy Scoville lamented the loss in his weblog at EditRed.com, an online writer's community. "Whenever I came up short on admissions, she was there with her own films, which she gave me to keep-When I needed a projector, she was willing to loan her just repaired machine without blinking. She was always willing, always able."
Both Hill and Gailiunas were community activists, volunteering at Food Not Bombs and local educational workshops. A family doctor, musician, and native of Canada, Gailiunas founded the Little Doctors Neighborhood Clinic, a sliding-scale doctor's office that treats indigent and uninsured patients.
From the Times-Picayune article:
"These were people who came here and worked for the poor and helped out those in difficult situations," said Robert Thompson, a friend and owner of Fair Grinds, a Mid-City coffee shop where Hill held free filmmaking seminars.
The couple had moved into their North Rampart Street apartment in August after returning from South Carolina, other friends said. They fled their Mid-City home during Hurricane Katrina and were trying to rebuild it.
"They were proactive people that were trying to help solve the city's problems," Thompson said. "They cared."
"This is a huge loss for the city," he said.
Memorial services are being coordinated in New Orleans, Los Angeles, New York, Halifax, and Columbia, SC. A screening dedicated to remembering Helen and her work will be held on Sunday, January 14th at the Rock N' Bowl, 4133 S. Carrollton Avenue. The late-night screening from the New Orleans Film Festival starts at 10:30.
The funeral service will be held at Dunbar Funeral Home at 3926 Devine St. Columbia, SC 29205, phone: 803-771-7990. Visitation will be 7-9 on Tuesday, January 9 at Dunbar Funeral Home. Bring a photo or picture or piece of art by or for Helen to put up on a board.
For more information about Helen, where to make donations, where to see her work, and more articles published all over the country, visit
http://www.helenhill.org.
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