CFF Review: Adam Brooks’ ‘Cliff: Portrait of an Artist’

Adam Brooks’ “Cliff: A Portrait of an Artist” is an extremely personal and emotional look at the life of Canadian artist Cliff Eyland; it provides insight into his beliefs, artwork, personal life, family history, and a life-altering double lung transplant he was forced to endure due to a rare lung condition.

Cliff is a disarmingly honest person who shares his views on life with a humble attitude, thoughtful wording, and an infectious willingness to learn how others perceive the world. It’s through his stories about his life and other people that you learn Cliff’s motivations as a person while gaining a better understanding of his creative output and general outlook on human beings. This film itself is, as Cliff describes his favorite artist documentaries, “something that depicts the personal life of an artist in such a way that makes it clear they’re just ordinary people underneath their brilliance, and you could probably talk to them.”

Through this forty-eight minute runtime you’ll be taken on a journey through the mind and life of a truly brilliant person, though not once does it try to make Cliff seem like anything other than an ordinary man who just happened to create incredible things along the way. It’s a truly personal work in a way you can’t understand until you watch it; though it’s surely not for everyone, if you’re a fan of art documentaries or want to explore the intricate mind of an astoundingly genuine creator with a refreshingly unique outlook on the world, then do yourself a favor and make sure you seek out this film!