Jerome Hill came from the... from St Paul, lived on same street as Scott Fitzgerald, actually next door, Summit Avenue, and came from the family of railroad builders that built railroads between St Paul to California and became very, very rich. So, he came from a very rich family and he went into the arts when all his brothers went into the businesses and they did not take him seriously. He went... he studied architecture, painting, music and worked in theatre decor and left several... worked with Wilder, the composer Wilder, what's his first name? The sound compositions. And then he went into the cinema.
He began with Carl Gustav Jung, decided to make biography on him and after, like, two weeks kicking around and filming and producing some footage, which I later edited into a film, he decided that Jung was not photogenic enough and he went to Africa to see Albert Schweitzer and made a very well-known documentary film on Albert Schweitzer in Africa and made several others other films in between. And his most important film is Film Portrait, his autobiographical film that traces his childhood and his work and progress in life and cinema. And it's very important in one aspect: that it reflects also very well that's the kind of rich societies, the background that he comes from.
In any case, at some point in '57, I think, when I was editing already Film Culture somehow I needed money to continue and I think it was Willard Van Dyke who was already the head of the Museum of Modern Art film department, I think, suggested that I talk to Jerome Hill because he understands being a film-maker himself and he will understand it and help me, which he did and always when... that was the beginning. Whenever Film Culture really needed money he always came to help us. And later, when the Film-makers' Cooperative was real at the beginning very, very broke, he was... also contributed money and, of course, he was... without him Anthology Film Archives would never come into existence. It's all, you know. This man is... I think, in the whole history of... in that sort of... that I participated in of the avant-garde experimental independent cinema between '50 and now, I have not known anybody else as generous and understanding and selfless, financial helper to the avant-garde. Many, many things that I really don't know where the avant-garde film would be without Jerome Hill because, indirectly, all those organisations that he helped... helped to sustain, you know, the movement. It's so that's in a capsule, that was Jerome Hill.
