Director, Screenwriter

(b. April 1, 1963 Shaunavon, Saskatchewan)

One of the most talented directors to emerge in recent years, Keith Behrman=s tautly constructed films – which typically explore the nature of familial relationships –are characterized by visually commanding images, moving characters and an assured narrative style.

Though he failed grades three and eight, Behrman excelled at English and set out to be a novelist when he moved from the small farming town of Shaunavon, Saskatchewan to Vancouver in his early twenties. After realizing his sensibility was more visual than literary, he decided to pursue filmmaking and enrolled in Simon Fraser University=s film programme. After his first two short films – Thomas (1995) and White Cloud, BlueMountain(1997) –premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival7, Behrman attended the Canadian Film Centre=s Director=s Lab, where he made his third short, Ernest (2000), which received a special jury mention at the Festival.    

His feature debut, the moving and sensitive Flower & Garnet (2002), premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and went on to receive great acclaim both on the festival circuit and upon its commercial release. It won the Claude Jutra Genie Award for Best First Feature, the award for best emerging Western Canadian director at the Vancouver International Film Festival, three Vancouver Film Critic's Circle awards, and was named one of Canada's Top Ten of 2002 by an independent, national panel of filmmakers, programmers, journalists and industry professionals. Behrman has also directed episodes for such television series as “Da Vinci's Inquest” and “This Is Wonderland.”

Film and video work includes

Home Movies, 1989 (director)
The Mystery of Alvin Baker, 1992 (director; writer)
Thomas, 1995 (director; writer; co-editor with Pat Carroll)
White Cloud, Blue Mountain, 1997 (director; writer; co-editor with Alan Lee, Kevin Willis)
Ernest, 2000 (director; writer)
The Unprofessionals series, 2001-2002 (director; TV)
Da Vinci's Inquest, 2002 (director; TV, 1 episode)
This Is Wonderland, 2004 (director; TV, 3 episodes)