Justin Burquist

Justin Burquist is an American filmmaker and music video director who directed the films Broken Knuckles (2013), Touch (2022), and was the cinematographer for the films Hemet, or the Landlady Don't Drink Tea (2023) and Pulp Friction (2021). Burquist's films have won awards at Oceanside International Film Festival and Berlin Short Film Festival.

Justin Burquist
Burquist in 2024
Alma mater	Holtville High School Imperial Valley College San Diego State University Imperial Valley Campus
Occupations	Film director screenwriter cinematographer film producer music video director
Years active	2009–present
Known for	Broken Knuckles Touch
Notable credits	Hemet, or the Landlady Don't Drink Tea Pulp Friction
Awards	List of Awards
Website	jburq.com

Early life

Burquist grew up in El Centro^[1] and Imperial County, California.^[2] He got involved in filmmaking at a young age after his brother brought home a video camera from school.^[1] He graduated from Holtville High School in 2001, attended Imperial Valley College^[2] and graduated from San Diego State University Imperial Valley Campus in Calexico^[3] before moving to Kensington, San Diego.^[2][4]

Career

Burquist started his career making short films and music videos,^[2] directing videos like Glitter Star by Dynamite Doll.^[5] He helped pitch the idea for the Imperial Valley Film Festival which began in 2010,^[2] and his work is often submitted there.^[6]

In 2013, Burquist started production on the second season of the web series Proxy titled Proxy 2: The Mortido. He cited Brian De Palma and Andrei Tarkovsky as influences.^[7] In 2019, Burquist completed a music video he had been working on for more than five years.^[8] In 2024, he was the director of photography on a dystopian film called Hemet, or the Landlady Don't Drink Tea which screened at the 13th Oceanside International Film Festival.^[1]

Touch short film

Main article: Touch (2022 film)

Burquist's short film Touch screened at Monster Fest in 2022, opening for the premiere of The Cost by Matthew Holmes.^[9] In 2023, it screened at Berlin Short Film Festival,^[10] Oceanside International Film Festival,^[11] and the San Diego Comic-Con Independent Film Festival,^[2] where Burquist was a panelist with actors Eva Ceja and Randy Davison.^[12] It was released on Klipist^[13] and received positive reviews.^[14][15][16]

Personal life

Burquist currently resides in San Diego, California.^[17][18]

Filmography

Year	Title	Director	Writer	Producer	Cinematographer	Notes
2009	Lou's Place	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Short film[19]
2011	Proxy	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Web series[7]
2013	Broken Knuckles	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Short film[20]
	Between Bullets	Yes	No	No	No	Web series featuring James Kyson[7]
2014	Twisted Road	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Short film[20]
2016	A Quintmas Carol	Yes	No	No	No	Short film[21]
2021	Pulp Friction	No	No	No	Yes	Short film
2022	Touch	Yes	Yes	No	No	Short film[2][14][10]
2023	Hemet, or the Landlady Don't Drink Tea	No	No	No	Yes	[1][22][12]
TBA	A Corpse in Kensington †	No	No	Yes	No	Featuring Michael Madsen[4]

Key

†	Denotes film or TV productions that have not yet been released

Accolades

Festival	Year	Award	Title	Result	Ref.
Oceanside International Film Festival	2013	Best Picture – Audience Choice	Broken Knuckles	Won	[23]
Idyllwild International Festival of Cinema	2022	Juan Ruiz Anchia Award for Best Cinematography	Pulp Friction	Nominated
Berlin Short Film Festival	2023	Best Horror Short Film – Audience Choice	Touch	Won	[10]
Imperial Valley Film Festival	2013	Best Cinematography	Broken Knuckles	Won	[24]
Various Artists independent Film Festival	2017	Best Comedy	A Quint-mas Carol	Won
Imperial Valley Film Festival	2017	Best Music Video	One Hundred Twenty by Emerald Portal	Won	[3]
San Diego Film Awards	2023	Best Narrative Short Film	Touch	Won	[2]
		Best Director		Nominated	[10]
Brightside Tavern Film Festival	2024	Best Director Horror/Thriller		Nominated	[25]
		Best Horror/Thriller		Nominated
		Best Concept		Nominated