Outsider finds niche in film

by David Barnes

Daily Lobo

Film director Kelley Baker said he's always felt like an outsider.

His film "Kicking Bird" is about a high school student who shares these feelings.

It is the story of Martin "Bird" Johnson, an isolated high school student from the wrong side of the tracks who's never been part of the in crowd. Always running from someone or something, Bird's life changes when the cross-country team's coach sees him outrun the rest of the team.

Bird's story is partly inspired from British novelist Alan Sillitoe's book The Loneliness of The Long Distance Runner.

"Kicking Bird" will screen tonight at the Guild Cinema. Baker said he will be there.

Baker's work has been shown at prominent film festivals such as Sundance, London and Chicago.

Baker said he wanted to bring to life a character who existed completely on the margins.

"I had the character of Martin first and used the running motif around it," he said. "He's loosely based on a combination of kids that I grew up with. I can remember seeing kids in grade school, and you just knew that they had a tough, tough life."

Baker's conception of Martin grew out of these childhood memories.

"What really interested me were the kids who were so socially on the outside that they were never invited to any of the parties," he said. "Those were the kids that I knew growing up."

Baker said isolation and independence are two things he knows something about.

"I think I've always been on the outside," he said. "Luckily, I was never beaten up all the time, but I never felt that I fit in. I was never part of the cool crowd."

Kelley said he still doesn't fit in.

"I don't think I fit in well with crowds and people," he said. "And I don't think I fit in well with the independent film community."

Capturing people who refuse to conform or who exist on the periphery has been a constant theme in Baker's work. From his first full-length feature "Birddog" in 1999 to "The Gas CafÇ" in 2001, Baker has looked through his camera and attempted to find the unseen triumphs and tragedies of ordinary people.

Baker's visit to the Guild Cinema will be the first time he has shown his work in Albuquerque. He said he's looking forward to it.

"I think that there are audiences who are hungry for this kind of stuff," he said. "I am by nature irreverent, and when I screen my films, we have a lot of fun."

Kicking Bird

Guild Cinema, 3405 Central Ave.

Tonight at 9pm