MATT WOLF, born on this date, is an American filmmaker, documentarian, and producer. His notable films include Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell, Teenage, Bayard & Me, Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project, Spaceship Earth, and Pee-wee as Himself. In 2010, he was awarded a Guggenheim fellowship. His films are largely documentaries about “unconventional visionaries” that are shaped by expansive archives.

Wolf was born in San Jose, California. As a teenager, he was involved with gay activism in the Bay Area. He was the subject of a documentary on queer youth, which he describes as a formative experience that later shaped his approach to documentary filmmaking.

When Wolf was fourteen, he watched Arthur Dong’s Licensed to Kill (1997) on PBS. He came out as gay the next day. He attended film school at New York University on a scholarship and has remained in New York City since.

As a teenager, Wolf spent most of his weekends alone, watching films such as Welcome to the Dollhouse at the local independent movie theater. He discovered what’s now called the “new queer cinema” at his local Blockbuster, which by chance stocked Derek Jarman and Todd Haynes films. The public library had Kenneth Anger and Maya Deren compilations. He first discovered David Wojnarowicz on the Internet, by searching for “gay art.” Through David’s work, Wolf first found a viable intersection between politics and art.

While at NYU, Wolf became dissatisfied with his filmmaking education, finding it too conventional and industry-oriented. He instead chose to study avant-garde cinema and video art, hoping to “internalize the conventions” within his own filmmaking. He also became involved with the art world: writing criticism for magazines, socializing mostly with visual artists, and working for a painter after graduation. In multiple interviews, Wolf credits his senior year professor Kelly Reichardt as a pivotal role model for how to be both an artist and a filmmaker. Wolf identifies as an artist.