B. J. Bullert’s Filmography

Producer/Director/Writer

Fishermen’s Terminal (60 min.), tells the story of Seattle’s small-boat fishermen who took on the Port of Seattle and shined a spotlight on the public agency that controls most of Seattle’s waterfront. Features interviews with author Jonathan Raban, fisherman Pete Knutson, attorney Phil Talmadge and Port Commissioner, Alec Fisken. Music by Laura Love. March 2005.

Chief Seattle (60 min.), KCTS premiere broadcast, Thurs, March 29, 2001,
8 pm, with two repeats. Rebroadcast Nov. 28, 2001, 7 pm. Audience based on ratings from KCTS: 155,749 households. Columbus Film Festival 2001. Honorable Mention. Distributed by Bullfrog Films.

“The film instructs us not just about Seattle but about our country and its morally troubling history.”
- Howard Zinn, historian 

“dahadubuA Vex You have honored us.”
- Vi Hilbert, linguist and Skagit elder

“A superb account… combining historical interpretations, tribal insights, and dynamic visuals in a moving, sensitive format.”
- Prof. Kenneth Tollefson, anthropologist

(Companion CD: The Words of Chief Seattle, featuring the complete recorded contemporaneous speeches of the Duwamish and Suquamish leader read by actor John Gilbert. November 2001.)


Space Needle at 40 (9 min.), features compositions by Mark O’Connor, Bright Sheng and Mike Marshall performed by Seattle Symphony cellist, David Tonkonogui. World premiere, Oct. 2, 2002, at the Seattle’s Space Needle; Northwest Documentary Film Festival, Nov. 11, 2002 in Portland, Ore., Festival Chileno Internacional del Cortometraje (Chilean International Short Film Festival), Nov. 18, 2002, Santiago, Chile, International Festival of Cinema and Technology, New York. Dec. 2003.

“A shimmering and suggestive portrait of Seattle's iconic landmark, as it ages from the ebullient innocence of the Kennedy years to the aftershocks of 9/11."
“’Space Needle’ eloquently demonstrates how the meaning of a public monument is fluid, changing continuously with the times, as temporary and fickle as the myriad reflections--in water, glass, and steel--that are the essential signature of this memorable film.”
- Jonathan Raban, author

“‘Space Needle at 40’ is an astonishing piece of cinematic wizardry by one of our best documentary film makers, B. J. Bullert. It is beautiful.”
- Howard Zinn, historian

Earl Robinson: Ballad of an American, a 57-minute documentary about the life and music of the composer of "Joe Hill," "Black and White," "Ballad for Americans" and other songs. KCTS/Seattle airdate: April 27, 1994, 7 pm. KCTS Viewers' Choice Encore broadcast: April 30, 1994, midnight. Showings: Margaret Mead Film Festival and the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Northwest Folklife Festival, Seattle; Pacific Northwest Labor History Conference, Seattle; International Labor Film and Video Festival, Minneapolis; Labor Union Press Association Annual Conference, Black Lake, Michigan; Northwest Film Festival, Portland; Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley; Santa Barbara International Film Festival. Silver Apple Award, National Educational Media Network, May 1995. Distributed to non-theatrical venues by the Cinema Guild. Major market broadcast dates in 1995: WNET/ New York, Friday, Sept. 6, 10 pm, and Sunday, Sept. 8, noon; WTTW/Chicago, Tuesday, Sept. 3, 11 pm. Distributed by the Cinema Guild.

“A deeply moving film about an American original."
- Studs Terkel

"You've caught the spirit of the man and his music - an important slice of the history of our times."
- Bill Moyers

Alki: Birthplace of Seattle (30 min.), about the early history of Seattle told from the perspective of the Denny Party and the Duwamish tribe for the Southwest Seattle Historical Society and the Log House Museum. An independent co-production KCTS/Television, the program aired at 8 pm, Thursday, Nov. 13, 1997. The video is part of the permanent exhibit Log House Museum in West Seattle. Distributed by the Cinema Guild.

"An informative, touching account of the crossing of two cultures,"
- Seattle Post-Intelligencer

"It's rare to hear history recalled not just from such disparate perspectives but from members of significant blood lines ...an enjoyable half-hour of local history."
- Everett Herald

Circle of Plenty (30 min.), director and co-producer (with John de Graaf), about bio-intensive agriculture and sustainable development in Mexico. Local KCTS broadcast: July 22, 1987. PBS broadcasts, December 11, 1987; June 1988. Awards: CINE Golden Eagle; Silver Plaque, Chicago International Film and Video Festival, 1987; Honorable Mention, National Educational Film Festival, 1988; Certificate of Merit, Religious Broadcasting Commission, 1988. Distributed by Bullfrog Films.

"A practical plan to help alleviate world hunger."
- The Christian Science Monitor

God and Money (58 min.), co-produced and co-directed with John de Graaf, about the U.S. Catholic Bishops' pastoral letter on the American economic system. PBS broadcasts: November 9, 1986 and June 1987. Awards: First Place, National Educational Film Festival 1986; First Place, Catholic Audio Visual Educators.

"First-rate. . . I urge you to catch this splendid program."
- New York Daily News

Producer, Kenesis Keyboard , a sponsored 18-minute video about ergonomic keyboards produced for the Kinesis Corporation, 1993.

The Laura Love Band: Live at the Triple Door (20 min.), captures the music of the Laura Love Band in concert at one of Seattle’s hottest clubs. Dec. 2004.

Blowing the Whistle on Hanford (12 min.), presents three employees who “blew the whistle” on environmental and safety hazards at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington state. Produced for the Government Accountability Project, 2002. Hazel Wolf Environmental Film Festival, March 2003.

Peter Steinbrueck, a short tribute to the Seattle City Council President produced for the National Alliance to End Homelessness. Premiered at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D. C., March 12, 2002.

Selections from Skid Road, three half-hour programs produced for radio based on the book by Murray Morgan and read by Seattle actor, John Gilbert. Broadcast on KUOW ( Seattle’s NPR affiliate), Nov. 12, 13 and 14, 2001, 9:30 pm.

Duwamish Life with Prof. Kenneth Tollefson (16 min.), a collection of six short segments about different aspects of Duwamish culture: Canoes, Beliefs and Rites, Longhouse Living, Sustenance, Duwamish Displacement, and Survival. August 2000. Showing at the Log House Museum in Seattle as part of the award-winning exhibit: The Spirit Returns: A Duwamish and Pioneer Story.

The Duwamish: Still Here (8 min.), an oral history of a Duwamish family, August 2000.

Naomi Klein: Sweatshops on Fire (8 min.), a cyber and VHS video based on interview with the author of No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies, May 2000.

Andrew Ross: History Lesson (4 min.), a cyber and VHS video comparing the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire of 1911 with the Thai Toy Factory Fire of 1993, May 2000.

A Place to be Duwamish (8 min.), a video for the Duwamish tribe’s Long House Project, 1999.

Yip Harburg: Lyricist (10 min.), experimental portrait of the lyricist of songs including "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?," "Paper Moon," "Over the Rainbow."

Hunthausen, focus segments for The MacNeil/Lehrer Newshour, Air dates: November 10, 1987 and May 28, 1987. Hunthausenalso aired as a feature segment for Nightsight, KCTS-TV local public affairs program. Air dates: November 10, 1987 and May 28, 1987.