In 1983, the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, along with Media Study/Buffalo, created a touring retrospective of avant-garde films, primarily feature-length ones and a few shorts, which they called “The American New Wave 1958-1967.” To accompany the tour, a hefty catalog was produced that included notes on the films, essays by film historians and critics, writings by major underground film figures and more.
The retrospective was created at a time when financially viable independent filmmaking was on the rise, such as films made by John Sayles, Wayne Wang and Susan Seidelman. According to the co-curators of the retrospective, Melinda Ward and Bruce Jenkins, the objective of the tour was to:
provide a more adequate picture than conventional history affords us of a rare period of American cinematic invention and thereby prepare a coherent critical and historical context for the reception of the new work by the current generation of independent filmmakers.
The retrospective was created at a time when financially viable independent filmmaking was on the rise, such as films made by John Sayles, Wayne Wang and Susan Seidelman. According to the co-curators of the retrospective, Melinda Ward and Bruce Jenkins, the objective of the tour was to:
provide a more adequate picture than conventional history affords us of a rare period of American cinematic invention and thereby prepare a coherent critical and historical context for the reception of the new work by the current generation of independent filmmakers.
- 11/25/2017
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
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
In 1966, as the underground film wave was sweeping the country, a Boston off-shoot of New York City’s Film-Makers’ Cinematheque opened at a performance space at 53 Berkeley Street. Underground films were shown on weeknights, while on the weekends the space transformed into a music venue called The Boston Tea Party.
The Cinematheque and the Tea Party were founded and run by a controversial figure named Mel Lyman, a harmonica player and the leader of a hippie commune in Boston’s Fort Hill neighborhood. Lyman has also been considered a cult leader on par with Charles Manson, except Lyman’s followers never actually murdered anyone. According to the book Apocalypse Culture, Lyman claimed to be an extraterrestrial and was seemingly obsessed with “ruling” the country’s underground culture.
Whatever Lyman’s background, the Cinematheque showed some cool films, according to the actual flyers from that time period below. Click each poster...
The Cinematheque and the Tea Party were founded and run by a controversial figure named Mel Lyman, a harmonica player and the leader of a hippie commune in Boston’s Fort Hill neighborhood. Lyman has also been considered a cult leader on par with Charles Manson, except Lyman’s followers never actually murdered anyone. According to the book Apocalypse Culture, Lyman claimed to be an extraterrestrial and was seemingly obsessed with “ruling” the country’s underground culture.
Whatever Lyman’s background, the Cinematheque showed some cool films, according to the actual flyers from that time period below. Click each poster...
- 8/6/2017
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
Before its flame was extinguished, New York’s legendary Kim’s Video contributed further to the world of cinephilia by polling better-known customers about their favorite films. One of these customers happened to be Allen Ginsberg, a figure whose relative lack of experience in cinema certainly won’t stand as any sort of qualifier. Thanks to The Allen Ginsberg Project (via Open Culture), we can now get a wider — and, to our eyes, more immediately understandable — grasp of what made this generation-defining voice tick.
Two interests — French Poetic Realism and the work of (or at least work heavily relating to) his fellow Beat poets — announce themselves rather clearly, given the fact that they arguably occupy 90% of the final list. The sole “outsider” is Battleship Potemkin, a picture that, with fierce political intentions and poetic inclinations in its cutting, nevertheless makes perfect sense as a Ginsberg favorite. Some of these are...
Two interests — French Poetic Realism and the work of (or at least work heavily relating to) his fellow Beat poets — announce themselves rather clearly, given the fact that they arguably occupy 90% of the final list. The sole “outsider” is Battleship Potemkin, a picture that, with fierce political intentions and poetic inclinations in its cutting, nevertheless makes perfect sense as a Ginsberg favorite. Some of these are...
- 12/7/2015
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
This Week’s Must Read: Nelson Carvajal wrote a very nice piece about a typically neglected subject: Women of the Avant-Garde, covering the work of Germaine Dulac, Maya Deren, Shirley Clarke, Janie Geiser and others.Speaking of Maya Deren, Making Light of It scanned and posted her “Notes, Essays, Letters.” Also, Ron Rice’s “Diaries, Notebooks, Sketches.”Donna k. reviews the acclaimed Holy Motors by Leos Carax, calling it the “best film I have seen in a loooong time … that explores the complications of the current cinematic landscape.”
J.J. Murphy reviews Tim Sutton’s debut feature Pavilion and praises it for the unexpected directions the narrative springs off to.I’m sure most of you reading this know all about Herschell Gordon Lewis, but Michael Varrati has an extremely nice profile the notorious horror filmmaker.Most people don’t write about the soundtrack to the infamous Cannibal Holocaust, but Electric...
J.J. Murphy reviews Tim Sutton’s debut feature Pavilion and praises it for the unexpected directions the narrative springs off to.I’m sure most of you reading this know all about Herschell Gordon Lewis, but Michael Varrati has an extremely nice profile the notorious horror filmmaker.Most people don’t write about the soundtrack to the infamous Cannibal Holocaust, but Electric...
- 2/3/2013
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
The 7th annual Wndx Festival of Moving Image, in addition to the fest’s usually fantastic lineup of new experimental film and video, is presenting a virtual smorgasbord of special events. So, be on the look out for them as they completely take over the city of Winnipeg on Sept. 26-30.
The fun kicks off on Sept. 26 with the debut of “Situated Cinema,” a roving microcinema created by Thomas Evans and Craig Rodmore that will screen at different venues throughout the entire festival. The opening night will take place at Raw Gallery and feature five films curated by Solomon Nagler that will connect viewers with their environment. The filmmakers presenting work at this unique screening experience are Heidi Phillips, Alexandre Larose, Caroline Monnet, Izabella Pruska-Oldenhof and Alex MacKenzie.
Another fantastic multi-part special event at Wndx will be hosted by underground film historian Jack Sargeant, the world’s foremost authority on Beat Cinema.
The fun kicks off on Sept. 26 with the debut of “Situated Cinema,” a roving microcinema created by Thomas Evans and Craig Rodmore that will screen at different venues throughout the entire festival. The opening night will take place at Raw Gallery and feature five films curated by Solomon Nagler that will connect viewers with their environment. The filmmakers presenting work at this unique screening experience are Heidi Phillips, Alexandre Larose, Caroline Monnet, Izabella Pruska-Oldenhof and Alex MacKenzie.
Another fantastic multi-part special event at Wndx will be hosted by underground film historian Jack Sargeant, the world’s foremost authority on Beat Cinema.
- 9/24/2012
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
This week’s Must Read is an article on a subject that I know most of my readers will find helpful: How to Create a Good Experimental Film! (Come on, how many of you guys have been doing it all wrong all these years?) Now that the Internet has been filled up with pointless websites offering mindless tips and tricks on how to perform mundane tasks, it’s about time the web’s attention got pointed towards the world of experimental filmmaking.This week’s Must Look shows us all how it’s Really done: Paul Sharit’s eye-boggling studies of planned films. They’re pieces of art that stand on their own!Making Light of It has an extremely bizarre letter that Ron Rice wrote back in 1962 in which he attempts to terrorize a film distributor into handling his movies lest the filmmaker tear down the entire film industry.
- 7/1/2012
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
Happy Halloween! If I can start off on a scary — albeit a bit self-serving — note, if you’re looking for some spooky, creepy, frightening and sometimes a bit disgusting films to watch today, please visit Bad Lit’s short horror movie index page. Some great stuff in there if you click around. Now onto our regular links: If short horror movies are my “must see” link of the week, then my absolute Must Read link is j.j. murphy’s review of Andy Warhol’s recently preserved and unleashed Face, which focuses on the beautiful face of Edie Sedgwick. This film has sadly been out of circulation for 40 years. The Phantom of Pulp took a time out while making a documentary in Australia to take some awesome photos of a cemetery. Ella thinks that Kanye West is a filmmaker who should be considered on the same level as Andy Warhol and Salvador Dali.
- 10/31/2010
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
I usually link to Making Light of It in these posts — when Jacob’s not disappearing on me — but I really want to make sure people look at Jacob’s most recent article, so I’m listing him first this week. Jacob’s scanned a bunch of covers of old Film Culture magazines that are really sweet looking. I don’t recognize everybody’s picture, but I see Stan Vanderbeek, Harry Smith, Robert Breer and more. And, I think Jacob has the second only photo ever of Ron Rice on the Internet, after mine. Fangoria conducted a fascinating interview with one of Bad Lit’s favorite people, C.W. Prather of the Spooky Movie Festival, which is currently going on. Funniest thing I saw this week — hell, funniest thing I’ve seen in months! — was the Twitter stream of Ted Nope, a parody of indie film producer Ted Hope’s airless Twitter musings.
- 10/24/2010
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
The list is a little brief this week, but that’s all that was out there. However, the first three items thrill me so much, it sort of makes up for the overall brevity.
I have to say that I’m really thrilled to see Jack Sargeant blogging more lately, both re-printing older articles he’s written for others and new stuff. Sargeant is one of the most vital writers and historians of underground film we have today. And he has some great ones this week. First, there’s this fascinating profile of Samantha Sweeting, whose films sound so strange and lovely. And he has a nice overview / defense of UbuWeb, which originally appeared in FilmInk. A couple weeks ago, I publicly admitted my love of looking at old underground film flyers, posters, brochures, etc. To add to that jones, Landscape Suicide posted up an old flyer for a two-day...
I have to say that I’m really thrilled to see Jack Sargeant blogging more lately, both re-printing older articles he’s written for others and new stuff. Sargeant is one of the most vital writers and historians of underground film we have today. And he has some great ones this week. First, there’s this fascinating profile of Samantha Sweeting, whose films sound so strange and lovely. And he has a nice overview / defense of UbuWeb, which originally appeared in FilmInk. A couple weeks ago, I publicly admitted my love of looking at old underground film flyers, posters, brochures, etc. To add to that jones, Landscape Suicide posted up an old flyer for a two-day...
- 10/17/2010
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
Anybody who’s ever written or attempted to write a screenplay has run into the dreaded “Hollywood formula.” There’s even an entire industry of seminars, books and videos built of experts who explain all the rules one needs to follow in order to write a winning, successful screenplay, such as specific plot points that need to fall on specific pages, proper character arcs, etc.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with that formula. (Full disclosure: I love formulaic Hollywood movies.) Plus, Guidelines are actually a good idea for the beginning writer who’s not quite sure how to begin. (More disclosure: I’ve written my own share of “guideline”-based screenplays that never sold.) However, resistance to these guidelines start to build up thanks to the overly aggressive nature that each expert tries to instruct writers to follow them. What should be helpful guidelines become absolutely unbreakable “rules” enforced by...
There’s nothing inherently wrong with that formula. (Full disclosure: I love formulaic Hollywood movies.) Plus, Guidelines are actually a good idea for the beginning writer who’s not quite sure how to begin. (More disclosure: I’ve written my own share of “guideline”-based screenplays that never sold.) However, resistance to these guidelines start to build up thanks to the overly aggressive nature that each expert tries to instruct writers to follow them. What should be helpful guidelines become absolutely unbreakable “rules” enforced by...
- 7/16/2010
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
I am pleased to announce a new addition to Bad Lit’s Underground Film Resources section. It’s the Underground Film Timeline, a chronological listing of significant events, films and filmmakers in underground film history.
Of course, in typical Bad Lit fashion, I’m probably announcing this project way ahead of when I actually should be. That means, yeah, it’s currently a bit skimpy, but it has enough content to give a sense of where it’s going, so I wanted to show it off already.
Current plans for the project call for me to cull the data to include in the timeline from books, not off of the Internet. Yes, that means the same books found in Bad Lit’s Underground Film Bibliography. As of right now, I’ve only included data from Sheldon Renan’s indispensable An Introduction to the American Underground Film. But, I already have...
Of course, in typical Bad Lit fashion, I’m probably announcing this project way ahead of when I actually should be. That means, yeah, it’s currently a bit skimpy, but it has enough content to give a sense of where it’s going, so I wanted to show it off already.
Current plans for the project call for me to cull the data to include in the timeline from books, not off of the Internet. Yes, that means the same books found in Bad Lit’s Underground Film Bibliography. As of right now, I’ve only included data from Sheldon Renan’s indispensable An Introduction to the American Underground Film. But, I already have...
- 7/7/2010
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
This is the formal announcement for a new resource project on Bad Lit: The underground film bibliography. This is a list of all the books ever written on the history of underground film, as a movement or about individual filmmakers. The list is actually a work in progress, but it contains enough books on it at this point that I thought it was about time to start promoting it.
There aren’t that many books written on underground film. However, I am surprised at how many books I found to include on the list so far — and that I have a few more I know I need to add. And I’m sure there are a bunch more I still don’t know about.
As of this writing, there are 35 books on the list, which is about a dozen more than I thought the list would contain. I haven...
There aren’t that many books written on underground film. However, I am surprised at how many books I found to include on the list so far — and that I have a few more I know I need to add. And I’m sure there are a bunch more I still don’t know about.
As of this writing, there are 35 books on the list, which is about a dozen more than I thought the list would contain. I haven...
- 6/10/2010
- 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
Since 2010 is the Year of the Underground Film Loop, I’ve been contemplating starting a series of articles that give practical tips on how to maintain an underground film website for underground film bloggers who are just starting out or are looking to strengthen their existing site. This article exists somewhere between practical advice and the theorizing I’ve been doing so far this year.
I mean, it’s not like Bad Lit is a major success in the big picture of it all. But, for what it is, I think it’s doing pretty well. Actually, the traffic the site gets isn’t a big secret. You can check out the demographics of my readership on Quantcast. (I signed up with them back in Dec.) So, maybe I can offer some help to anyone who wants it.
Bad Lit began way back in 1998 when it was just a hosted page within AOL.
I mean, it’s not like Bad Lit is a major success in the big picture of it all. But, for what it is, I think it’s doing pretty well. Actually, the traffic the site gets isn’t a big secret. You can check out the demographics of my readership on Quantcast. (I signed up with them back in Dec.) So, maybe I can offer some help to anyone who wants it.
Bad Lit began way back in 1998 when it was just a hosted page within AOL.
- 4/29/2010
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
So, I’m currently working on a big research project, the results of which won’t be seen unless you happen to be poring through Bad Lit’s sister site the Underground Film Guide — and the way that site is woefully under-updated, why would you?
The Ufg, as I like to call it, is a database project of underground filmmakers and films. Recently I decided to halt adding new entries and to make the old filmmaker entries I previously uploaded more comprehensive. One way I’m doing that is going through books on underground film and, if a filmmaker is written up in each book, I’ll add that book’s info to the filmmaker’s profile. If you’re interested and want an idea of what I’m talking about, go look at John Waters’ entry and scroll down to the book section.
One book that is a tremendous...
The Ufg, as I like to call it, is a database project of underground filmmakers and films. Recently I decided to halt adding new entries and to make the old filmmaker entries I previously uploaded more comprehensive. One way I’m doing that is going through books on underground film and, if a filmmaker is written up in each book, I’ll add that book’s info to the filmmaker’s profile. If you’re interested and want an idea of what I’m talking about, go look at John Waters’ entry and scroll down to the book section.
One book that is a tremendous...
- 4/17/2010
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
Ron Rice (from An Introduction to the American Underground Film)
Yeah, as far as I know, this is the only photograph of ’60s underground filmmaker Ron Rice on the web, which I scanned from Sheldon Renan’s book An Introduction to the American Underground Film. I don’t know why there aren’t any photos of Rice, but I thought I’d post this up in case anybody’s interested. Feel free to disseminate so that the title of this article becomes obsolete. Click the above image for a larger version.
Rice, though, did die at a very young age. He was only 32 in 1964 when he passed away from complications from pneumonia in Mexico. Sadly, he only made four films, but they made an incredible impact on the underground scene. Only his last film, Chumlum (1964), has officially been released on DVD, which you can find on the Treasures IV: American...
Yeah, as far as I know, this is the only photograph of ’60s underground filmmaker Ron Rice on the web, which I scanned from Sheldon Renan’s book An Introduction to the American Underground Film. I don’t know why there aren’t any photos of Rice, but I thought I’d post this up in case anybody’s interested. Feel free to disseminate so that the title of this article becomes obsolete. Click the above image for a larger version.
Rice, though, did die at a very young age. He was only 32 in 1964 when he passed away from complications from pneumonia in Mexico. Sadly, he only made four films, but they made an incredible impact on the underground scene. Only his last film, Chumlum (1964), has officially been released on DVD, which you can find on the Treasures IV: American...
- 4/16/2010
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
The next time you hear someone whining about the iPod killing film; or waxing rhapsodic about how the Internet is going to set all of cinema free: Well, you can whack them both in the back of the head with Chuck Tryon’s well-researched and thoroughly well-reasoned book Reinventing Cinema: Movies in the Age of Media Convergence. It’s a bit of a slender tome — about 180 pages — so the whacking won’t hurt so much, but the sentiments in the book should give everyone concerned with media in these new digital media times much food for thought.
Tryon successfully counters the extreme rhetoric about digital media on both sides of the aisle by debunking the popular myths trotted out and regurgitated by the doomsayers and the utopians. The ultimate lesson learned from Reinventing Cinema is that the digital revolution isn’t really revolutionizing anything. Yes, it’s true that media...
Tryon successfully counters the extreme rhetoric about digital media on both sides of the aisle by debunking the popular myths trotted out and regurgitated by the doomsayers and the utopians. The ultimate lesson learned from Reinventing Cinema is that the digital revolution isn’t really revolutionizing anything. Yes, it’s true that media...
- 4/12/2010
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
Movieheads who like to consider themselves as alternative still often shrink from the demands and new thinking required of even the oldest and most conventional "avant-garde" film, a situation that the ubiquity of the DVD format hasn't done very much to mitigate. So be it: the hardy envelope-pushers in the crowd have enjoyed unforeseen access to the quasi-genre's history by now (the DVD menu format is a peerless mode of presentation for motley underground shorts, to be surpassed only, I suppose, once quality streaming-tube clips can be curated and thrown onto our mega TVs instead of our laptops). If you count Image's "Unseen Cinema" mega omnibus and Facets' "The Lawrence Jordan Album" among your prized media possessions as I do, then the good work of the National Film Preservation Foundation will already be on your radar: their robust, elaborately documented orphan-film collections (newsreels, shorts, home movies, etc.) have often featured avant-gardisms,...
- 4/7/2009
- by Michael Atkinson
- ifc.com
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