James Runde is an independent filmmaker, photographer, and musician from Madison, WI. He loves: cows, greasy spoons, the R&B/Soul section of a record store, Robert Altman, and tube amplifiers. He hates: sugary beverages, the interstate highway system, smart phone addiction, and Mitch McConnell. His movies include slacker comedies, family dramas, and avant-garde shorts. His recent film Played Out (2019, 51 mins) won a Golden Badger Award at the 2019 Wisconsin Film Festival. Watch the trailer:
His latest project Connection (2021, 7 mins) is a short snippet of a longer, feature-length project in the works—a La Jetee-esque mocku-thriller about a man who’s had contact with extraterrestrial energies. It streamed as part of the 2022 Wisconsin Film Festival’s Wisconsin’s Own Shorts program. Watch the full movie:
As an undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, James helped make two notable short films, Seventeen Blue and White and Lazy. The latter of these was a slacker comedy shot on 16mm, funded with scholarship grant money. Watch the recently completed 2K restoration:
If you would like to contact James Runde to screen his work, ask about a collaboration, or if you are an independent filmmaker in the American Midwest, please send him an email at jcrunde@gmail.com.