A Tribute to My Friend and Filmmaker, Eli Hayes.
By Brian Wallinger
Eli Hayes was known as an experimental artist who worked with themes of nature, loneliness and isolation. His work was beautiful, sad and spiritual. To me, his work was his soul, his identity and his legacy. Eli was a prolific filmmaker creating up to one hundred shorts & features with immense substance & stunning atmosphere. He pushed himself beyond the limits of his craft with sheer diligence and desire. He has left us too soon and yet still left us a legacy that demands our respect and to be preserved for all time.
I find myself in disbelief; I can’t stop seeing his face in my mind and experiencing the feelings of excitement by simply knowing Eli. More than a popular artist on social media, he was my friend — my brother. When I started writing professionally as a freelance film critic, I was failing. I lost the joy & excitement of what it meant to see a film and even what it meant to love cinema. Eli dedicated his life to it and reminded me of that special joy in spending hours a day — morning through night- watching movies, talking movies and sharing our dreams about filmmaking.
The night I met Eli is the stuff of legends, yet I suppose that’s how Eli & myself had been living: ‘larger than life.’ Being with him always felt — big. Eli had flown into New York City in January of 2018 for several days and we had arranged to meet and discuss working together. I was going to potentially become a producer on one of his next projects and we met at a local Starbucks where we then planned to visit a few showcases in a nearby theatre where they were showing Eli’s film.
The moment we met I felt ecstatic; I think Eli is the only person on this earth that possessed more of a deeper passion for cinema than I. Working together I felt we were a force of nature. As we set out to make films together I knew this was something bigger than ourselves. That night, with his friend Myles Friedman, we went for a night on the town — drinking and bullshitting until we realized we were going to miss Eli’s own screening. Arriving late, we all stumbled into the theatre before the Q&A — giddy and tipsy. And so began our journey of filmmaking and friendship.
Eli & I began working immediately together, making our first full length film titled Coming and Going along with several other filmmakers from around the world including, Dov Doviak, Alex Davies, & Gustav Turefeldt. This first film would be the launchpad for Bleeding Solar, our biggest achievement and most acclaimed picture. Bleeding Solar garnished much attention throughout the independent film communities winning Best Cinematography for the Global India International Festival and Best Cinematography for the ALTT, as well as, Best Experimental Film at the Eurasia International Monthly Film Festival.
Soon after, we released our third and fourth films respectively entitled Between Scylla and Charybdis and Lysergic Lullaby. Our final film was, in my opinion, our most ambitious venture. Lysergic Lullaby I had co-directed with Eli; I also acted in it (a first for me) and I think we both really grew as filmmakers. In one year we made four films; that was just my part in Eli’s life and his part in mine. It was intense and inspiring, fun and exhausting. We always had planned to work together again, but now I will never get that chance. The film community lost a brilliant artist and I have lost a brother.
Despite struggling with a great deal of personal issues, Eli was one of the best of us; he lived for nothing except love, friendship and camaraderie which inspired many other friends and colleagues. I sincerely feel that without him I would not be the artist I have become today. Eli loved to collaborate, even more than the process he loved the people he worked with — his friends. He loved to smile, even if behind that smile there was a great deal of pain or at times, detachment. Behind his kind smirk, there was a force that was hurting all the time — and yet always dreaming. Eli held onto whatever goodness he could find in the world and tried to nurture it. Eli was a spark of light; he was the spark that ignited and reaffirmed my love for film.
You know how when you draw an image in a book and you flip the pages, the image moves and for a moment seems to take on motion? That was Eli: living half of the life yet burning twice as bright, always moving with nuance, an unmatched conviction. He leaves behind a legacy that deserves its rightful place in the cinematic experiences. His work was bold and beautiful; landscapes that symbolized his identity and imagery that captured the essence of humanity.
I hope that wherever he is now, that he’s back with his father. His Dad was the seed behind Eli’s career always showing him the classics and taking him to the next big summer blockbuster. If there’s a cinema in heaven, I hope Eli is there; still with that smirk of a smile, laughing that same laugh that we once shared that will echo an eternity in my memory with his father next to him watching the Criterion edition of Paris Texas.
Because of Eli, I have learned some of my biggest lessons in life. What it means to be kind- to have patience yet always be observant to the scene. To find direction & bring others who are struggling together; remind them that they matter & that they are loved. Love is infinite and so is Eli Hayes and all the lessons he had to offer. Never living for fame or fortune, yet making works of art that are worthy of such notion. I will miss him every day for the rest of my life. Every time I see a film or make one, he will always be the first person I think of and I know I will see him again one day. I am sad, but grateful beyond words that our paths crossed and he gave me my chance. Someday when the time comes, I will give someone else who needs that same chance their shot. Eli was a friend who shared a lifetime of wonder alongside me, including the same birthday. This year when I blow the candles, I will think of him and wish him a peaceful journey home, while I shall carry him inside my heart and soul always.
Eli Grier Hayes 1993–2020
To see Eli’s work visit: https://letterboxd.com/elihayes/ and https://vimeo.com/elihayes
