The New York Underground Film Festival that the avant-garde, experimental and degenerate film world is familiar with began in 1994 and lasted until it’s 15th edition in 2008.
However, the Underground Film Journal has recently uncovered that there was a previous New York Underground Film Festival — in 1970! This event is totally unconnected to the ’90-’00s era festival and featured a weeklong series of screenings in mid-October of that year, from October 12 to 19.
The festival was held “upstairs” at the notorious art world hangout spot Max’s Kansas City, located at 213 Park Avenue South. Most nights featured screenings of work by a singular filmmaker; while Saturday, Oct. 17 had a “Matinee” of Shorts” by several filmmakers.
Beyond the list of filmmakers who screened work, there is very little information about the 1970 Nyuff. Most of what the Journal knows about the festival comes from participant Anton Perich, who shared with us the promotional poster that you see above.
However, the Underground Film Journal has recently uncovered that there was a previous New York Underground Film Festival — in 1970! This event is totally unconnected to the ’90-’00s era festival and featured a weeklong series of screenings in mid-October of that year, from October 12 to 19.
The festival was held “upstairs” at the notorious art world hangout spot Max’s Kansas City, located at 213 Park Avenue South. Most nights featured screenings of work by a singular filmmaker; while Saturday, Oct. 17 had a “Matinee” of Shorts” by several filmmakers.
Beyond the list of filmmakers who screened work, there is very little information about the 1970 Nyuff. Most of what the Journal knows about the festival comes from participant Anton Perich, who shared with us the promotional poster that you see above.
- 7/15/2018
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
Set in New York’s Chelsea Hotel, the film Portrait of Jason is notorious for its white director’s humiliation of its black star. A new movie revisits the story
On the afternoon of Friday 9 June 1967, a select group was ushered into a fourth-floor screening room at the Museum of Modern Art in New York to view the latest film by Shirley Clarke, the Oscar-winning director and longtime participant in the downtown scene. The guestlist included Andy Warhol, filmmakers Elia Kazan and Da Pennebaker, Tennessee Williams, Allen Ginsberg and jazz critic Nat Hentoff.
Clarke must have particularly relished inviting Warhol, since the star of her project, Jason Holliday, was someone he had been trying to film. Disdainful of Warhol’s presence on the scene (he tried to move into the Chelsea Hotel, but couldn’t hack it, Clarke would scornfully tell people), she screened a film that afternoon which in...
On the afternoon of Friday 9 June 1967, a select group was ushered into a fourth-floor screening room at the Museum of Modern Art in New York to view the latest film by Shirley Clarke, the Oscar-winning director and longtime participant in the downtown scene. The guestlist included Andy Warhol, filmmakers Elia Kazan and Da Pennebaker, Tennessee Williams, Allen Ginsberg and jazz critic Nat Hentoff.
Clarke must have particularly relished inviting Warhol, since the star of her project, Jason Holliday, was someone he had been trying to film. Disdainful of Warhol’s presence on the scene (he tried to move into the Chelsea Hotel, but couldn’t hack it, Clarke would scornfully tell people), she screened a film that afternoon which in...
- 9/19/2015
- by Tavia Nyong'o
- The Guardian - Film News
This story first appeared in the Oct. 10 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Andy Warhol'S Chelsea Girls On Oct. 25, downtown L.A.'s Redcat arts center will host a special screening of Andy Warhol's and Paul Morrissey's Chelsea Girls, presented in its original dual-projector, split-screen setup. Filmed at Manhattan's famed Hotel Chelsea and Warhol's legendary Factory studio, this fascinating and invigorating audiovisual experiment is at once a primer on Warhol's troupe of talents (Nico, Brigid Berlin) and transgressives (Mario Montez, Eric Emerson) and a moving study of still lives. 631 W. 2nd St. See more 35
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- 10/4/2014
- by Jordan Cronk
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The Berlin International Film Festival, also called the Berlinale, is one of the world’s leading film festivals and most reputable media events. 2012 marks the first year Sound On Sight was present to attend. Merle has been posting her recaps while the rest of us have been paying close attention to the films receiving the most buzz.
Founded in West Berlin in 1951, the festival has been celebrated annually in February since 1978. With 274,000 tickets sold and 487,000 admissions it is considered the largest publicly-attended film festival worldwide. Up to 400 films are shown in several sections, but only a select twenty compete for the awards called the Golden and Silver Bears. This year the Italian film Caesar Must Die took home the Berlin International Film Festival’s top honour as best film. The film is set in Rome’s high-security Rebibbia prison and centres on the rehearsal, staging, and performing of Shakespeare’s...
Founded in West Berlin in 1951, the festival has been celebrated annually in February since 1978. With 274,000 tickets sold and 487,000 admissions it is considered the largest publicly-attended film festival worldwide. Up to 400 films are shown in several sections, but only a select twenty compete for the awards called the Golden and Silver Bears. This year the Italian film Caesar Must Die took home the Berlin International Film Festival’s top honour as best film. The film is set in Rome’s high-security Rebibbia prison and centres on the rehearsal, staging, and performing of Shakespeare’s...
- 2/20/2012
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
Berlinale is, on the whole, a quieter festival than your really “big” outings — Sundance, Cannes, Toronto, even Nyff or Venice — but my interest is nevertheless piqued by this year’s winners, a list which comes to us from IndieWIRE. The top prize, that being the Golden Bear, went to Paolo and Vittorio Taviani (pictured above) for Caesar Must Die, their “documentary about criminals performing Shakespeare.” Adopt Films will be giving that a United States release later this year; reviews make me think it’s worth some of this early hype, thankfully.
Otherwise Bence Fliegauf‘s Just the Wind was bestowed with a Silver Bear for the Grand Jury Prize, while Barbara brought home a Silver Bear, Best Director for Christian Petzold. As with the main victors, the rest of the selections are far more devoid of “names” (and could more easily be considered esoteric) than any of the winners you...
Otherwise Bence Fliegauf‘s Just the Wind was bestowed with a Silver Bear for the Grand Jury Prize, while Barbara brought home a Silver Bear, Best Director for Christian Petzold. As with the main victors, the rest of the selections are far more devoid of “names” (and could more easily be considered esoteric) than any of the winners you...
- 2/19/2012
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
Paolo and Vittorio Taviani's Caesar Must Die has won the Golden Bear at this year's Berlinale. The other awards, presented by Mike Leigh and his International Jury (Anton Corbijn, Asghar Farhadi, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Jake Gyllenhaal, François Ozon, Boualem Sansal and Barbara Sukowa):
The first Silver Bear, the Jury Grand Prix, goes to Bence Fliegauf's Just the Wind. (Last year, this prize went to a Hungarian as well, to Béla Tarr for The Turin Horse.)
Silver Bear for Best Director: Christian Petzold for Barbara.
Silver Bear for Best Actress: Rachel Mwanza for her performance in War Witch.
Silver Bear for Best Actor: Mikkel Følsgaard for A Royal Affair.
The Silver Bear for an Outstanding Artistic Contribution goes to Director of Photography Lutz Reitemeier for his work on White Deer Plain.
Silver Bear for Best Screenplay: Nikolaj Arcel and Rasmus Heisterberg for A Royal Affair.
The Alfred Bauer Award...
The first Silver Bear, the Jury Grand Prix, goes to Bence Fliegauf's Just the Wind. (Last year, this prize went to a Hungarian as well, to Béla Tarr for The Turin Horse.)
Silver Bear for Best Director: Christian Petzold for Barbara.
Silver Bear for Best Actress: Rachel Mwanza for her performance in War Witch.
Silver Bear for Best Actor: Mikkel Følsgaard for A Royal Affair.
The Silver Bear for an Outstanding Artistic Contribution goes to Director of Photography Lutz Reitemeier for his work on White Deer Plain.
Silver Bear for Best Screenplay: Nikolaj Arcel and Rasmus Heisterberg for A Royal Affair.
The Alfred Bauer Award...
- 2/18/2012
- MUBI
The 2012 Teddy Awards, a subprogram of the Berlinale that puts the spotlight on the fest's Lgbt/queer content, were announced tonight at a special "jubilee gala" at Tempelhof airport. The big winners included Ira Sachs' "Keep The Lights On," which won best feature, and Malika Zouhall-Worrall and Katherine Fairfax Wright's "Call Me Kuchu," which took best documentary. The Teddy jury is comprised of queer festival programmers from around the world. The following is the complete list of Teddy Award winners: Best Feature Film - "Keep The Lights On," by Ira Sachs Best Documentary - "Call Me Kuchu" by Malika Zouhall-Worrall and Katherine Fairfax Wright Best Short Film - "Loxoro," by Claudia Llosa Jury Prize - "Jaures," by Vincent Dieutre Special Teddy Awards: Mario Montez and Ulrike Ottinger...
- 2/18/2012
- by Peter Knegt
- Indiewire
Adding just over a dozen features and four shorts to the lists of previously announced titles (first round and Dokumente), the Berlinale announces that the Panorama program for this year's edition (February 9 through 19) is now complete. The breakdown: "53 feature films: 18 in the main program, 15 in Panorama Special and 20 in Panorama Dokumente.... 34 productions from 37 countries are screening as world premieres. Seven fictional films are directorial debuts. There are 12 German productions, and 24 women filmmakers presenting 16 films."
New narrative features:
Bugis Street Redux by Yonfan, Hong Kong. With Hiep Thi Le, Michael Lam, Greg-O and Ernest Seah.
Cherry by Stephen Elliott, USA. With Ashley Hinshaw, James Franco, Heather Graham, Dev Patel and Lili Taylor. World Premiere. The site.
Chocó by Jhonny Hendrix Hinestroza, Columbia. With Karent Hinestroza, Esteban Copete, Fabio García, Daniela Mosquera, Jesús Benavides. Wp.
Glaube, Liebe, Tod (Belief, Love, Death) by Peter Kern, Austria. With Traute Furthner, Peter Kern, Joao Moreira Pedrosa.
New narrative features:
Bugis Street Redux by Yonfan, Hong Kong. With Hiep Thi Le, Michael Lam, Greg-O and Ernest Seah.
Cherry by Stephen Elliott, USA. With Ashley Hinshaw, James Franco, Heather Graham, Dev Patel and Lili Taylor. World Premiere. The site.
Chocó by Jhonny Hendrix Hinestroza, Columbia. With Karent Hinestroza, Esteban Copete, Fabio García, Daniela Mosquera, Jesús Benavides. Wp.
Glaube, Liebe, Tod (Belief, Love, Death) by Peter Kern, Austria. With Traute Furthner, Peter Kern, Joao Moreira Pedrosa.
- 1/25/2012
- MUBI
Tomorrow and Tuesday in Los Angeles, Redcat will be presenting Two Nights with Ernie Gehr: Early Films and New Digital Works. "It's an eye- and mind-expanding lineup," writes Manohla Dargis in the New York Times. "It also provides a condensed primer to some of the issues at stake in American avant-garde cinema, which, partly because of its historical opposition to the dictates of commercial mainstream moviemaking and partly because it resists commodification (unlike, say, abstract painting, oppositional cinema doesn't rack up big sales at Sotheby's), has been relegated to the status of museum pieces and festival marginalia."
Also in La, the Museum of Contemporary Art opens two exhibitions today, Naked Hollywood: Weegee in Los Angeles and Kenneth Anger: Icons, both on view through February 27.
For the Voice, Melissa Anderson meets Mario Montez, "featured player in Jack Smith's polysexual fantasia Flaming Creatures (1963), Andy Warhol's first drag-queen superstar,...
Also in La, the Museum of Contemporary Art opens two exhibitions today, Naked Hollywood: Weegee in Los Angeles and Kenneth Anger: Icons, both on view through February 27.
For the Voice, Melissa Anderson meets Mario Montez, "featured player in Jack Smith's polysexual fantasia Flaming Creatures (1963), Andy Warhol's first drag-queen superstar,...
- 11/13/2011
- MUBI
A recent retrospective on the cult film-maker revealed his inspiration – a dazzling 1940s diva who could not even act
Jack Smith and Maria Montez were made for each other. They never met. Sadly, she had died before he started making films – drowning in her bathtub in Paris at the age of 39 on 7 September 1951. Yet her spirit imbued his first movie, Buzzards over Bagdad, which reimagined her teaming with Jon Hall and Sabu in Arabian Nights (1942), one of the garishly fantasies that earned Montez the nickname "the Queen of Technicolor".
Indeed, she inspired many of the works contained in the Ica's recent landmark season, Jack Smith: A Feast for Open Eyes, and even acted as a posthumous beard for his avant-garde manifesto, The Perfect Filmic Appositeness of Maria Montez, which appeared in the Winter 1962 edition of Film Culture and laid out Smith's vision for a new Queer cinema. In so doing,...
Jack Smith and Maria Montez were made for each other. They never met. Sadly, she had died before he started making films – drowning in her bathtub in Paris at the age of 39 on 7 September 1951. Yet her spirit imbued his first movie, Buzzards over Bagdad, which reimagined her teaming with Jon Hall and Sabu in Arabian Nights (1942), one of the garishly fantasies that earned Montez the nickname "the Queen of Technicolor".
Indeed, she inspired many of the works contained in the Ica's recent landmark season, Jack Smith: A Feast for Open Eyes, and even acted as a posthumous beard for his avant-garde manifesto, The Perfect Filmic Appositeness of Maria Montez, which appeared in the Winter 1962 edition of Film Culture and laid out Smith's vision for a new Queer cinema. In so doing,...
- 9/23/2011
- by David Parkinson
- The Guardian - Film News
Filmmaker Bob Moricz has reported that legendary underground film actor Bob Cowan has passed away. While Bad Lit: The Journal of Underground Film hasn’t completely confirmed the report, it appears that Cowan died on Tuesday, June 23, in his home in Toronto, Canada. He is survived by his wife Jane.
Cowan was a regular performer and collaborator with the filmmakers George and Mike Kuchar, and is most well-known as starring as the robot Xar in the classic film Sins of the Fleshapoids. (Pictured) But, more than just acting in the movie, Cowan also served as the film’s narrator and assembled its memorable music score.
In the ’60s and ’70s, Cowan was one of a few underground film acting “superstars,” along with performers such as Taylor Mead, Jack Smith, Gerard Malanga, Mario Montez and Donna Kerness.
Other Kuchar films Cowan appeared in were George’s Lust for Ecstasy and The...
Cowan was a regular performer and collaborator with the filmmakers George and Mike Kuchar, and is most well-known as starring as the robot Xar in the classic film Sins of the Fleshapoids. (Pictured) But, more than just acting in the movie, Cowan also served as the film’s narrator and assembled its memorable music score.
In the ’60s and ’70s, Cowan was one of a few underground film acting “superstars,” along with performers such as Taylor Mead, Jack Smith, Gerard Malanga, Mario Montez and Donna Kerness.
Other Kuchar films Cowan appeared in were George’s Lust for Ecstasy and The...
- 6/23/2011
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
MoMA’s film exhibitions for June include a look at the influence of melodrama and soap opera on cinema, as well as some of Finland’s best documentaries.
Good to note is that the price of a film ticket may be applied toward the price of a Museum admission ticket with the presentation of the film ticket stub within 30 days of the date on the stub!
June 4-19, 2011: Drama Queen: The Soap Opera in Experimental Cinema
Through filmmakers such as Eija- Liisa Ahtila, Dara Birnbaum, Stan Brakhage, Ximena Cuevas, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Hollis Frampton, George Kuchar, Kalup Linzy, Tony Oursler, Yvonne Rainer, Douglas Sirk, Andy Warhol, and John Waters, “Drama Queen” tackles the cinematic reinvention, deconstruction and parodying of melodrama within experimental filmmaking.
The series’ titles include:
Far from Heaven. 2002. USA. Written and directed by Todd Haynes. With Julianne Moore, Dennis Quaid, Dennis Haysbert, Patricia Clarkson. 107 min.
Coming Apart.
Good to note is that the price of a film ticket may be applied toward the price of a Museum admission ticket with the presentation of the film ticket stub within 30 days of the date on the stub!
June 4-19, 2011: Drama Queen: The Soap Opera in Experimental Cinema
Through filmmakers such as Eija- Liisa Ahtila, Dara Birnbaum, Stan Brakhage, Ximena Cuevas, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Hollis Frampton, George Kuchar, Kalup Linzy, Tony Oursler, Yvonne Rainer, Douglas Sirk, Andy Warhol, and John Waters, “Drama Queen” tackles the cinematic reinvention, deconstruction and parodying of melodrama within experimental filmmaking.
The series’ titles include:
Far from Heaven. 2002. USA. Written and directed by Todd Haynes. With Julianne Moore, Dennis Quaid, Dennis Haysbert, Patricia Clarkson. 107 min.
Coming Apart.
- 5/24/2011
- by admin
- Moving Pictures Magazine
MoMA’s film exhibitions for June include a look at the influence of melodrama and soap opera on cinema, as well as some of Finland’s best documentaries.
Good to note is that the price of a film ticket may be applied toward the price of a Museum admission ticket with the presentation of the film ticket stub within 30 days of the date on the stub!
June 4-19, 2011: Drama Queen: The Soap Opera in Experimental Cinema
Through filmmakers such as Eija- Liisa Ahtila, Dara Birnbaum, Stan Brakhage, Ximena Cuevas, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Hollis Frampton, George Kuchar, Kalup Linzy, Tony Oursler, Yvonne Rainer, Douglas Sirk, Andy Warhol, and John Waters, “Drama Queen” tackles the cinematic reinvention, deconstruction and parodying of melodrama within experimental filmmaking.
The series’ titles include:
Far from Heaven. 2002. USA. Written and directed by Todd Haynes. With Julianne Moore, Dennis Quaid, Dennis Haysbert, Patricia Clarkson. 107 min.
Coming Apart.
Good to note is that the price of a film ticket may be applied toward the price of a Museum admission ticket with the presentation of the film ticket stub within 30 days of the date on the stub!
June 4-19, 2011: Drama Queen: The Soap Opera in Experimental Cinema
Through filmmakers such as Eija- Liisa Ahtila, Dara Birnbaum, Stan Brakhage, Ximena Cuevas, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Hollis Frampton, George Kuchar, Kalup Linzy, Tony Oursler, Yvonne Rainer, Douglas Sirk, Andy Warhol, and John Waters, “Drama Queen” tackles the cinematic reinvention, deconstruction and parodying of melodrama within experimental filmmaking.
The series’ titles include:
Far from Heaven. 2002. USA. Written and directed by Todd Haynes. With Julianne Moore, Dennis Quaid, Dennis Haysbert, Patricia Clarkson. 107 min.
Coming Apart.
- 5/24/2011
- by admin
- Moving Pictures Network
Chuck Workman’s documentary Visionaries continues to receive mixed and muted reviews, but it’s really great to see the underground being discussed in such various venues. Wfmu has the best review I’ve read so far, written by someone who really knows and understands underground film history. This is this week’s must read link. It was also fun to read a review-slash-interview with Workman on Hollywood business-oriented website The Wrap. Of course, articles on websites like these don’t include links to references on its subjects — e.g. Mekas, Anthology, Anger, et. al. — so uninformed readers can learn more. C’est la vie. But Workman says something I truly believe and is a guiding principle behind Bad Lit these days: “there’s an audience among people who don’t know experimental film, but would enjoy it if they saw it.” A couple websites posted up late reports from...
- 5/30/2010
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
Tongue Press
NEW YORK -- An important and unjustly neglected figure of avant-garde cinema gets chronicled in Mary Jordan's absorbing documentary, which recently received its U.S. theatrical premiere at New York's Film Forum. Via revelatory film clips, snippets of his live performances, samples of his photography and interviews with many of his contemporaries, "Jack Smith and the Destruction of Atlantis" makes a strong case for the influence of its subject on such figures as Andy Warhol, Federico Fellini and John Waters, among many others.
Smith is best known for his landmark if little-seen underground film "Flaming Creatures", the only feature he ever completed. Made in 1963 and exhibited widely around the country, its blatant sexuality and copious doses of nudity made it a fixture in obscenity cases.
Smith, who died in 1989 of AIDS, was a fascinating flaming creature, living an ultra-bohemian and poverty-stricken lifestyle, at one point surviving on a daily diet of cheese and crackers. He cultivated a stable of performers who would work for him steadily, the most notable being the drag queen Mario Montez. (Not surprising, since a major objection of obsession for Smith when he was a young man was the Hollywood vamp Maria Montez.)
He was also a perversely eccentric figure who, after his notoriety with "Creatures", essentially refused to finish another work. He would literally edit his films in the projection room while they were being shown, and his live performance pieces, often staged in his dilapidated Lower East Side apartment, were often held to little or no audiences.
The film includes interviews with such figures as Jonas Mekas, who Smith gave the derogatory nickname of "Uncle Fishhooks" after he became resentful of what he saw as the critic's exploitation of Smith's work for his own gain.
Filmmaker Jordan is frequently hamstrung by the lack of clarity in both Smith's life and work, with the result that her portrait occasionally displays a somewhat sketchy quality. But it ultimately provides a fascinating glimpse of an artistic pioneer whose influence still resonates today.
NEW YORK -- An important and unjustly neglected figure of avant-garde cinema gets chronicled in Mary Jordan's absorbing documentary, which recently received its U.S. theatrical premiere at New York's Film Forum. Via revelatory film clips, snippets of his live performances, samples of his photography and interviews with many of his contemporaries, "Jack Smith and the Destruction of Atlantis" makes a strong case for the influence of its subject on such figures as Andy Warhol, Federico Fellini and John Waters, among many others.
Smith is best known for his landmark if little-seen underground film "Flaming Creatures", the only feature he ever completed. Made in 1963 and exhibited widely around the country, its blatant sexuality and copious doses of nudity made it a fixture in obscenity cases.
Smith, who died in 1989 of AIDS, was a fascinating flaming creature, living an ultra-bohemian and poverty-stricken lifestyle, at one point surviving on a daily diet of cheese and crackers. He cultivated a stable of performers who would work for him steadily, the most notable being the drag queen Mario Montez. (Not surprising, since a major objection of obsession for Smith when he was a young man was the Hollywood vamp Maria Montez.)
He was also a perversely eccentric figure who, after his notoriety with "Creatures", essentially refused to finish another work. He would literally edit his films in the projection room while they were being shown, and his live performance pieces, often staged in his dilapidated Lower East Side apartment, were often held to little or no audiences.
The film includes interviews with such figures as Jonas Mekas, who Smith gave the derogatory nickname of "Uncle Fishhooks" after he became resentful of what he saw as the critic's exploitation of Smith's work for his own gain.
Filmmaker Jordan is frequently hamstrung by the lack of clarity in both Smith's life and work, with the result that her portrait occasionally displays a somewhat sketchy quality. But it ultimately provides a fascinating glimpse of an artistic pioneer whose influence still resonates today.
- 4/25/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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