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.

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

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

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. In 2019, Burquist completed a music video he had been working on for more than five years. 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.

Touch short film
Burquist's short film Touch screened at Monster Fest in 2022, opening for the premiere of The Cost by Matthew Holmes. In 2023, it screened at Berlin Short Film Festival, Oceanside International Film Festival, and Comic-Con International Independent Film Festival, where Burquist was a panelist with actors Eva Ceja and Randy Davison. It was released on Klipist and received positive reviews.