Facebook/Eli Hayes
Eli Hayes pictured on his Facebook page in January 2020. The caption for this picture read, “Just trying to make it to tomorrow.”
Eli Hayes, the celebrated filmmaker and Letterboxd user, has died at the age of 26.
Hayes’ passing was confirmed in a post on Letterboxd’s website that read:
A friend to this community. A friend to fellow filmmakers. As passionate a cinephile as there ever was. A unique and powerful filmmaker, who could imbue an image with emotion without trying. Rest in peace, my friend.
Hayes’ cause of death has not been made public.
Letterboxd is a social media service that allowed lovers of movies to share their views and opinions.
Facebook/Eli Hayes
According to Hayes’ LinkedIn page, he was from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and a graduate of Ithaca College, where he majored in Psychology and Creative Writing, class of 2016. Following that, Hayes attained a master’s degree in Film & Creative Media at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee.
Hayes’ IMDb page says that he became passionate about movies after seeing the films of Andrei Tarkovsky and Chantal Akerman at an “early age.”
Hayes’ IMDb page goes on to say that he produced his first short movies, Nobody and Dancing With Shadows, while he was a senior at high school. Following high school, Hayes founded his own production company, Hazel Eye Productions, while he was enrolled at Ithaca College.
Hayes’ page adds that in addition to being widely shown in the U.S., his movies have been shown at film festivals in France and China. The last sentence on the profile says that Hayes was the Project Manager for the Nashville Film Institute. On his Facebook page, Hayes says that he left that role in 2019 and at the time of his death was working at the Oriental Theatre in Milwaukee.
Hayes Released His Latest Work, A Florida Melancholy, in March 2020
Hayes has 40 credits as a producer and 41 credits as a director listed on his IMDb page. Hayes released his latest work, A Florida Melancholy, in March 2020. In releasing the film, Hayes tweeted:
Finally released my baby into the world. I figured, now that I’m reaching the end of the 3rd film in the trilogy, it’s time to release the 1st, A Florida Melancholy. I don’t charge $$ to watch my films, so it can be viewed on both Vimeo/Youtube for free.
Hayes was last active on his Twitter page on May 21.
A Reddit thread dedicated to Hayes’ memory has been set up. The original poster of the thread wrote about Hayes’ presence on Letterboxd saying, “[Hayes] was probably the most genuinely kind person on that site and was a talented filmmaker in his own right.”
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