1963 was a pivotal year in the history of avant-garde film in the United States. In Visionary Film, P. Adams Sitney calls it “the high point of the mythopoeic development within the American avant-garde.” He explains:
[Stan] Brakhage had finished and was exhibiting the first two sections of Dog Star Man by then; Jack Smith was still exhibiting the year-old Flaming Creatures; [Kenneth Anger‘s] Scorpio Rising appeared almost simultaneously with [Gregory Markopoulos‘s] Twice a Man. The shift from an interest in dreams and the erotic quest for the self to mythopoeia, and a wider interest in the collective unconscious occurred in the films of a number of major and independent artists.
(An inclusive list of American avant-garde films made/released in 1963 can be found here.)
On Christmas Day of 1963 began the weeklong third edition of Exprmntl, a competition of worldwide avant-garde films held in Knokke-le-Zoute, Belgium. The two previous Exprmntl competitions took place in 1949 and 1958. Exprmntl...
[Stan] Brakhage had finished and was exhibiting the first two sections of Dog Star Man by then; Jack Smith was still exhibiting the year-old Flaming Creatures; [Kenneth Anger‘s] Scorpio Rising appeared almost simultaneously with [Gregory Markopoulos‘s] Twice a Man. The shift from an interest in dreams and the erotic quest for the self to mythopoeia, and a wider interest in the collective unconscious occurred in the films of a number of major and independent artists.
(An inclusive list of American avant-garde films made/released in 1963 can be found here.)
On Christmas Day of 1963 began the weeklong third edition of Exprmntl, a competition of worldwide avant-garde films held in Knokke-le-Zoute, Belgium. The two previous Exprmntl competitions took place in 1949 and 1958. Exprmntl...
- 10/1/2017
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
From The Victoria Advocate, Sunday, Jan. 21, 1968. Article text:
Wild Is the Word
Hollywood (Nea) — The underground movie — or “non-commercial cinema,” as those who make them prefer to call their product — is blooming. Most major cities have theaters showing these avant-garde films. There are dozens of festivals at which they are shown.
And now there is a catalogue listing hundreds of movies you can rent for from $4 (for a three- or four-minute epic) up to $129 for something like Andy Warhol’s eight-hour “Empire,” which he describes as “homage to the world’s tallest.”
There is something for everyone. If you like action, there is “Blazes” — “100 basic images switching position for 4,000 frames. A continuous explosion.”
Like tragedy? Try “Snow” — “Snow (that fluffy white stuff that falls in the winter) which is beautiful and winter too somewhat since snow comes then and winter is a kind of pseudo-death, so maybe the movie is...
Wild Is the Word
Hollywood (Nea) — The underground movie — or “non-commercial cinema,” as those who make them prefer to call their product — is blooming. Most major cities have theaters showing these avant-garde films. There are dozens of festivals at which they are shown.
And now there is a catalogue listing hundreds of movies you can rent for from $4 (for a three- or four-minute epic) up to $129 for something like Andy Warhol’s eight-hour “Empire,” which he describes as “homage to the world’s tallest.”
There is something for everyone. If you like action, there is “Blazes” — “100 basic images switching position for 4,000 frames. A continuous explosion.”
Like tragedy? Try “Snow” — “Snow (that fluffy white stuff that falls in the winter) which is beautiful and winter too somewhat since snow comes then and winter is a kind of pseudo-death, so maybe the movie is...
- 10/10/2013
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
It has been announced via the Frameworks listserv that pioneering experimental animator Robert Breer passed away on Aug. 11. The news came with no information regarding the circumstances of his death. Bad Lit: The Journal of Underground Film believes Breer was born in 1926, so although we don’t know the specific date of his birth, he was either 84 or 85 years old.
(Bad Lit is also not a member of Frameworks, but had this information forwarded to us.)
According to Sheldon Renan’s An Introduction of the American Underground Film, Breer began his artistic career originally as a painter, graduating from Stanford in 1949 with a degree in that field. Upon graduation, he moved to Paris where he first began making animated collage films such as Form Phases I (1953).
Then, he moved into line animation films, including one of his most famous short works, A Man and His Dog Out for Air (1957), which...
(Bad Lit is also not a member of Frameworks, but had this information forwarded to us.)
According to Sheldon Renan’s An Introduction of the American Underground Film, Breer began his artistic career originally as a painter, graduating from Stanford in 1949 with a degree in that field. Upon graduation, he moved to Paris where he first began making animated collage films such as Form Phases I (1953).
Then, he moved into line animation films, including one of his most famous short works, A Man and His Dog Out for Air (1957), which...
- 8/13/2011
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
First the history, then the list:
In 1969, Jerome Hill, P. Adams Sitney, Peter Kubelka, Stan Brakhage, and Jonas Mekas decided to open the world’s first museum devoted to film. Of course, a typical museum hangs its collections of artwork on the wall for visitors to walk up to and study. However, a film museum needs special considerations on how — and what, of course — to present its collection to the public.
Thus, for this film museum, first a film selection committee was formed that included James Broughton, Ken Kelman, Peter Kubelka, Jonas Mekas and P. Adams Sitney, plus, for a time, Stan Brakhage. This committee met over the course of several months to decide exactly what films would be collected and how they would be shown. The final selection of films would come to be called the The Essential Cinema Repertory.
The Essential Cinema Collection that the committee came up with consisted of about 330 films.
In 1969, Jerome Hill, P. Adams Sitney, Peter Kubelka, Stan Brakhage, and Jonas Mekas decided to open the world’s first museum devoted to film. Of course, a typical museum hangs its collections of artwork on the wall for visitors to walk up to and study. However, a film museum needs special considerations on how — and what, of course — to present its collection to the public.
Thus, for this film museum, first a film selection committee was formed that included James Broughton, Ken Kelman, Peter Kubelka, Jonas Mekas and P. Adams Sitney, plus, for a time, Stan Brakhage. This committee met over the course of several months to decide exactly what films would be collected and how they would be shown. The final selection of films would come to be called the The Essential Cinema Repertory.
The Essential Cinema Collection that the committee came up with consisted of about 330 films.
- 5/3/2010
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
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