"Think Before You Think" is a portrait of film poet, animator and artist Rick Raxlen. Shot on 16mm film and digital video at his Victoria, BC home and studio over the course of a year, the film follows Raxlen’s daily practice, uncovering the rituals and gestures of a creative process. Mining the highly specific and personal nature of this life-sized project, excerpts from Raxlen’s films, drawings, paintings and mark-making from a 50+ year art practice combine with hand-processed and manipulated film materials to play off the rites and relaxed rigour of his unique approach to making a life.

Think Before You Think: A Portrait of Rick Raxlen

When Thax was fourteen, a mystical vision told him that he would become a famous poet. By the time his beard went gray, he had performed thousands of times. Right before the band comes on, he recites a spontaneous poetry portrait to bless the stage. His paternal white beard, round belly, and thick glasses make him appear, perhaps, as a rock&roll holy man; a shaman from the pre-MTV era, when the cause of independent music seemed to reach beyond the individual.  Thax is growing tired of this image. The truth is nobody knows him. Like a baseball mascot removing his head to yell at the crowd, Thax tells us the real story, whether or not we want to hear it. The result is stranger than fact.  This film examines the mysterious line that separates the underground from the mainstream, poetry from advertising, fantasy from prophecy, and success from celebrity. Like CRUMB, AMERICAN MOVIE, BURDEN OF DREAMS, and GREY GARDENS before it, THAX is a film about the true cost of individuality.