General Works on Modernism

After Modernism: The Dilemma of Influence

The purposeful dismantling of the modernist myth has been the central issue of contemporary art making and art criticism. Since the 1960s, other disciplines, cultures and artists previously excluded from modernism's privileged canons have become absorbed into an ever expanding field of activity and influence. Younger artsts are a new breed of cultural scavengers -- anything is fair game for appropriation or reinterpretation. Here various modernists discuss their art works. 1992. 59 min. Video/C 9102

American Visions Written and narrated by Robert Hughes.

A Wave From the Atlantic. Waves of immigrants in the early 20th century bring both their old culture and a thirst for the new. The tenements are documented by photographer Jacob Riis and the socially conscious Ashcan School. Then, after the historic 1913 Armory show, artists like Joseph Stella, Paul Strand, Alfred Stieglitz, forge a modernism that is uniquely American. Also presents the work of Robert Henri, George Bellows, Marcel Duchamp, Charles Demuth, Arthur Dove, Georgia O'Keeffe, Mabel Dodge Luhand, Marsden Hartley and Frank Lloyd Wright. Video/C 4779

Streamlines and Breadlines. Examines the mythic images of the 1920's and 30's as skyscrapers rise in New York and the rural heartland is idealized by Regionalists like Thomas Hart. Artists of the WPA celebrate the worker as hero, while Jacob Lawrence tells stories of black America, and ambitious New Deal projects like Hoover Dam project self-confidence in hard times. Also examines the work of Raymond Hood, Edward Hopper, Stuart Davis, and Grant Wood. Video/C 4780

The Empire of Signs. After the post-war era, Hughes traces the development of abstract expressionism and the life of Jackson Pollock, and explores how artists as different as James Rosenquist, Claes Oldenburg, Mark Rothko, Barnett Newman, David Smith, Willem De Kooning, Robert Rauschenberg, Romare Bearden, Joseph Cornell, Andy Warhol and Jasper Johns reacted to the new consumer culture. Video/C 4781

The Age of Anxiety. This final segment explores how American art has reflected the upheavals of the last 25 years. Hughes traces the evolution of abstract art and minimalism and considers the spiritual richness of earth works, in which nature is the artist's medium. He ends the series by profiling a wide range of contemporary artists including Edward Kienholz, Donald Judd, Richard Serra, Walter De Maria, Robert Smithson, Bruce Nauman, Richard Diebenkorn, Philip Guston, Andy Warhol, Jeff Koons, Susan Rothenberg, Eric Fischl, Louise Bourgeois and James Turrell. Video/C 4782

Art in an Age of Mass Culture

An exhibit at New York's Museum of Modern Art titled "High and low", traces the historic relationship between modernist art and low or mass culture. Examples of early 20th century avant-garde works are seen with later examples accompanied by commentary of artists James Rosenquist, Jenny Holzer, Jeff Koons, Roy Lichtenstein, Elizabeth Murray and others. Centered around a walk-through of the show with its curators Kirk Varnedoe and Adam Gopnik, the film explores the question of the fate of avant-garde art in mass cuture.c1991. 31 min. Video/C 9104

Artists of the Boston Cyberarts Festival

Compilation of new media artworks from the 2003 Boston Cyberarts Festival. The artists featured represent sound, performance, video, kinetics and digital art. Contents: Attainment / Christy Georg (3:49) -- 3speed 2000 (12:14) / Ravi Jain -- The memory of your touch / Henry Kaufman (2:19) -- Irrigation / Peter Tucker (7:19) -- Language extension #4 / David Webber (3:29). 60 min. DVD 2835

Cyberpunk.

Documents contemporary U.S. socio-cultural trends-- specifically in the San Francisco Bay region-- influenced by punk culture and computer and other advanced technologies. Features an interview with William Gibson, science fiction writer whose concepts have become a part of real life in the technology and culture of recent years. Topics covered include: virtual reality, hacking & piracy, art & fashion, industrial music, and mind machines & cyborgs. 60 min. Video/C 2907

Factory Days: Paul Morrissey Remembers the Sixties

An interview with the independent filmmaker Paul Morrissey. Well-focused, the commentary is voiced over an array of rare still photos and archival documentary footage of himself, Warhol, the Factory and its many players. "We learn a number of interesting things about the milieu of the Factory, the making of the films, and the way in which Andy approached life as one continuous photo opportunity." 2005. 74 min. DVD 6384

Film as a Subversive Art (Amos Vogel and Cinema 16)

Filmed profile of Amos Vogel, 82-year old New York resident and Austrian emigre, founder of the New York Film Festival and America's most important film society, Cinema 16. The audiences of Cinema 16 were presented with a wide range of film forms including works of the avant-garde, documentaries of all kinds, experimental animation, and foreign or independent features and shorts not in distribution in the United States. Produced and directed by Paul Cronin. 2003. 57 min. DVD 6297

Postmodernism

This program looks at postmodernism as reflected in architecture and art. Using numerous examples drawn from the United States and Britain, this documentary seeks to define the movement through commentary by authors, architects and art critics. Looks at the contributions and influence of 20th century visionaries such as Robert Venturi, Andy Warhol, Jacques Derrida, and Kazuo Ishiguro to the development of Postmodernism. c2000. 29 min. DVD 3944; also VHS Video/C 8399

Resistance[s]: Experimental Films from the Middle East and North Africa

Dansons / Zoulikha Bouabdellah (Algeria/France, 2003, 5 min.) -- Transit / Taysir Batniji (Palestine/France, 2004, 8 min.) -- Dieu me pardonne / Mounir Fatmi (Morocco/France, 2001-2004, 8 min.) -- Wet tiles / Lamya Gargash (UAE, 2003, 8 min.) -- Allahu Akbar / Usama Alshaibi (Iraq/USA, 2003, 5 min.) -- Untitled part 3b (as if) beauty never ends / Jayce Salloum (Lebanon/Canada, 2003, 11 min.) -- K3 (Les femmes) / Frederique Devaux (Algeria/France, 2003, 4 min.) -- Ca sera beau : From Beyrouth with love / Wael Noureddine (Lebanon/France, 2005, 30 min.) DVD authors, Marc Horchler, Thomas Lambert ; text, Silke Schmicki, Christine Sehnaoui. Includes eight, short, experimental films and videos from Middle Eastern and North African artists and interviews with those filmmakers. Using images to lead the narrative, each artist, no matter their style or medium succeeds in raising fundamental questions relating to humanity, politics and aesthetics. Double-sided DVD; PAL format on one side, NTSC format on the other side. In English, French and Arabic with optional subtitles in French, English, Arabic, and German. 107 min. DVD 6777

Russian Avant Garde: A Romance with the Revolution

This program documents the achievements of the Russian avant-garde movement and the impact of the Russian Revolution, which at first nurtured modern art as an emblem of communist culture and then banned it in favor of socialist realism. Set within the context of the Lenin/Stalin years it focuses on the contributions of the art critic Nikolai Punin and the work of major Soviet artists Kazimir Malevich, Vladimir Tatlin, and Pavel Filonov. 2000. 55 min. Video/C 7893

Shock of Futurism

Documentary examines the least known and most extreme of all the 20th century Avant-Gardes, the Futurists, who developed many concepts and artistic principles. By replacing the fixed point of view of traditional art with motion and speed Umberto Boccioni, Giacomo Balla, Carlo Carra, and Gino Severini, the leaders of Futurism, emerged to the forefront of the international art scene from the stale and conservative cultural atmosphere of Italy before World War I. 23 min. Video/C 6010

Shock of the New.

BBC's sequel to Civilisation, picks up at the threshold of the 20th century. Written and presented by Robert Hughes. 52 min. ea.

Vol. 1: The Mechanical Paradise:: Explores Western art during the period 1870-1914 and shows how the artists of this period reflected the fragmentation and mechanization of urban life. Vol. 2: The Powers That Be: Examines the art of the post-World War I period, including Dada and German expressionism, and discusses how art reflected the intellectual and political mood of the period.DVD 2845 ; also on VHS Video/C 217 (Vol. 1); Video/C 218 (Vol. 2)

Vol. 3: The Landscape of Pleasure: The South of France and the Mediterranean became a generator of color-filled images of well-being that permeated the work of Monet, Cezanne and other Impressionists. Vol. 4: Trouble in Utopia: The glass palaces of German architects gave way to the functionalists. Looks at the concern for social programs, which became reflected in art, exemplified in the town plans of le Corbusier, the speculations of Buckminster Fuller and the strange wasteland of Brasilia. DVD 2846; also on VHS Video/C 219 (Vol. 3); Video/C 220 (Vol. 4)

Vol 5:The Threshold of Liberty: Surrealism was the last revolutionary art movement of the Twentieth Century. Dali, Mire, and Magritte were striving to liberate the unconscious mind through fantasy/reality. Vol. 6: The View from the Edge: Figurative Expressionism was ruined by the realities of the Nazi death camps whose horrors surpassed distortions of the human body no artist could imagine. DVD 2847

Vol 7: Culture as Nature: In the mid-20th century, symbols of modern culture reflecting the power of mass media, advertising, radio and television, became subjects for artists. Pop art exploded onto the scene. Vol 8: The Future That Was: The new age of Modernism that began with this century is now the establishment, as are its consequences. Looks at the current nature of modern art, which is evolving away from an organized system of dealers and museums into such expressions as conceptual art, earthworks and body art. DVD 2848; also on VHS Video/C 223 (Vol. 7); Video/C 224 (Vol. 8)

Situationists

Levin, Thomas Y."Dismantling the Spectacle: The Cinema of Guy Debord." In: Guy Debord and the situationist international : texts and documents / edited by Tom McDonough. pp: 321-453. Cambridge, Mass. : MIT Press, c2002. (Main Stack HN49.R33.G89 2002; Grad Svcs HN49.R33.G89 2002 Non-circulating; may be used only in Graduate Services)

Situationist International Archives

Bureau of Public Secrets website

La dialectique peut-elle casser des briques? (Can Dialectics Break Bricks?)

Virtually the only available example of a situationist use of cinema, this martial arts film presents a teacher and students of a Korean martial arts school pitted against Japanese invaders. Originally produced in Hong Kong, it was rewritten in French as a situationist political philosophical allegorical struggle between village proletarians and bureaucrats.

Originally produced as a motion picture by Yangtze Productions in Hong Kong in 1972 as Tang shou tai chuan tao (Crush), directed by Tu Kuang-chi (Doo Kwang Gee). French language version originally produced in 1973. 84 min. Video/C 8452

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Guy Debord, son art et son temps

This film combines a blankly ironic exploration of the spectacle of French television with some personal notes on Debord's life and his friends. 1994. 60 min DVD 9146

Hurlements en faveur de Sade

Additional features: Sur le passage de quelques personnes ?a travers une assez courte unite de temps / Dansk-Fransk Experimentalfilm Kompagni ; realisateur, Guy Debord (1959, 19 min.) ; Critique de la separation / Dansk-Fransk Experimentalfilm Kompagni (1961, 17 min.) Guy Debord's films attempt to account for the spiritually debilitating alienation of both the private and public spheres of everyday life by the forces of market capitalism in Europe after World War II. Hurlements en faveur de Sade is an experimental film consisting mainly of a black or white screen with occasional voice over. Sur le passage de quelques personnes ?a travers une assez courte unite de temps and Critique de la separation are short films. 1952. 70 min DVD 9144

In girum imus nocte et consumimur igni

Guy Debord's films attempt to account for the spiritually debilitating alienation of both the private and public spheres of everyday life by the forces of market capitalism in Europe after World War II. In girum imus nocte et consumimur igni is a critique of consumerism. 1978. 100 min. DVD 9146

Refutation de tous les judements

Director, Guy Debord; editor, Martine Barraque. In this documentary Debord presents a concise answer in film to the negative comments from "narrow-minded critics" of his earlier film "Societe du spectacle.". 1975. 24 min. DVD 9145; Video/C 8454

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La Societe du Spectacle

Director, Guy Debord; editor, Martine Barraque; music, Michel Corrette; project coordinator, Peggy Ahwesh. This essayistic film is both an adaptation of Debord's book and a provocative example of a favored situationist tactic, detournement, which is a reuse of existing artistic elements in a new ensemble. Neither an ivory tower "philosophical" discourse nor a helplessly impulsive "protest," this is a ruthlessly lucid examination of the most fundamental tendencies and contradictions of the society we live in. 1973. 88 min. DVD 9145; Video/C 8453

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Surrealism

Surrealism, a reaction against the rationalism that plunged Europe into the First World War, sought to reunite the conscious and subconscious minds in order to create a new view of reality. Incorporating archival clips, this film analyzes the history of the movement through the works of Andre Breton, Max Ernst, Man Ray, Salvador Dali, Rene Magritte, Louis Bunuel and Herbert Read. Also includes footage of modern surrealists Conroy Maddox and Jake Chapman. c2001. 29 min. Video/C 8419

Surrealism.

Examines the art movement that flourished in Europe between the two world wars. The video traces the history of surrealism, including archival footage and photographs, interviews with scholars, historians and biographers, as well as dramatic reenactments of key moments in the development of surrealism and excerpts from the work of contemporary surrealist filmmakers. 1993. 60 min. Video/C 5108

Surrealist Film: The Stuff of Dreams.

Surrealist cinema sought to break with the conventional linear narrative style in favor of chance events and a world of the subconscious. This program analyzes the origin, evolution and legacy of this cinematic movement whose stylistic artifacts can still be found in today's mass culture. Key figures of Dadaism and Surrealism are highlighted including Germaine Dulac, Luis Bunuel and Man Ray with excerpts from their works and other films of the genre. 2005. 39 min. DVD 4145

Synthetic Pleasures.

Performer: Timothy Leary, R.U. Sirius, Jaron Lanier, Scott Bukatman, John Perry Barlow, Orlan, Edward Regis, Howard Rheingold, Michio Kaku, Max More, Scott Frazier, Robert Ettinger.

An around the world exploration of the social impact of the cutting edge technologies of virtual reality, cyber sex, nootropics, artificial recreations and amusements, cryonics, cybernetics, and plastic beauty. Analyzes these "hyperreal" environments and questions society's desire for artificial transformation and its influence on our culture as we approach the 21st century. 83 min. Video/C 4784

Video Art

Combining film clips and interviews with artists John Wood and Paul Harrison, explores the relationship between video art and popular culture; making the distinction that video art is more than performance documented on video. Host Dave Beech argues that if video art spurns convention it is not because it settles for less but because it asks for more. 2005. 30 min. DVD 3747

When Video Came

A fascinating look at the history of video art from the critical perspective of seminal media artists in the U.S. Visually stimulating, this documentary portraits the development of the technological image and its influence in our culture as well as the complex relationship that exists between the independent producer and the established mass-media. c2003. 40 min. DVD 4933

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Early Modernist Film (Dada, Surreal, Experimental and Abstract Film)

Books and articles on dada and surrealist film in the UCB library

Anthology of Surreal Cinema. Vol. 1

Contents: Entracte -- La coquille et le clergyman = (Seashell and the clergyman) -- Ballet mecanique -- Anemic cinema. [also on DVD 4191]; Entracte (1924) : directed by Rene Clair ; written by Francie Picabia. La Coquille et le clergyman (1928) : directed by Germain Dulac ; Written by Antonin Artaud Ballet mecanique (1924) : directed and written by Fernand Leger. Anemic cinema (1926) : directed by Marchel Duchamp Entracte: Jean Borlin, Eric Satie, Francis Picabia, Marcel Dutchamp, Man Ray. La coquille et le clergyman: Alex Allin, Genica Athanasiou, Lucien Bataille. Ballet mecanique: Kiki Montparnasse.

Entracte: After a man is killed, his coffin takes on a life of it's own. After a long surrealistic chase, he climbs out of his coffin and makes everyone that was chasing his coffin disappear! La coquille et le clergyman: Obsessed with a general's wife, a clergyman has strange visions of death and lust, while struggling against his own eroticism. Ballet mecanique: An experimental film short from Cubist painter Fernand Leger containing a montage of images and rhythms that create a hallucinatory effect. Features the original soundtrack. Anemic cinema: An abstract and maybe nihilistic film short containing spiral forms merging into a rotating disc that's labeled with different messages. DVD 4095

Avant Garde. #2.

Symphonie Diagonale / by Viking Eggeling (1924) -- L'Etoile de Mer / by Man Ray (1928) -- Entr'acte / by Rene Clair (1924). Three experimental films produced in the 1920's. Silent films with French titles and music scores. 42 min. Video 999:289 [these films also on DVD 4191]

Avant Garde and Experimental Films.

Un chien andalou / by Luis Bunuel and Salvador Dali --Regen (Rain) / by Joris Ivens and Mannus Franken --Uberfall / by Erno Marzner -- The hearts of age /directed by and starring Orson Welles -- Ballet Mechanique / by Fernard Leger. 74 min. Video 999:108 [these films also on DVD 4191]

Avant Garde and Experimental Films of the 1920s and '30s: Films from the Raymond Rohauer Collection. Vol 1.

In the latter half of the 20th century Raymond Rohauer was one of the nation's foremost proponents of experimental cinema, laboring to preserve and promote the genre. Presented here are twenty-four short films selected from the Rohauer collection representative of the avant garde movement of the 1920's and 1930's.

Disc 1. Retour a la raison / Man Ray (1923, 2 min.) -- Emak-Bakia / Man Ray (1926, 16 min.) -- L'etoile de mer / Man Ray (1928, 15 min.) -- Mysteres du chateau du De / Man Ray (1929, 20 min.) -- Life and death of 9413, a Hollywood extra / Slavko Vorkapich, Robert Florey (1928, 13 min.) -- Menilmontant / Dimitri Kirsanoff (1926, 37 min.) -- Brumes d'automne = Autumn fire / Herman G. Weinberg (1931, 12 min.) -- Lot in Sodom / James Sibley Watson, Melville Webber (1933, 27 min.) -- Rhythmus 21 / Hans Richter (1921, 3 min.) -- Vormittagsspuk = Ghosts before breakfast / Hans Richter (1928, 9 min.) -- Anemic cinema / Marcel Duchamp (1926, 6 min.) -- Ballet mecanique / Fernand Leger (1924, 11 min.) -- Symphonie diagonale / Viking Eggeling (1924, 7 min.) -- Vampire / Jean Painleve (1939, 8 min.) -- Hearts of age / Orson Welles, William Vance (1934, 8 min.) Disc 2. Uberfall / Erno Metzner (1928, 22 min.) -- Glace a trois faces / Jean Epstein (1927, 33 min.) -- Tempestaire / Jean Epstein (1947, 22 min.) -- Romance sentimentale / Sergei Eisenstein, Grigori V. Alexandrov (1930, 20 min) -- Manhatta / Paul Strand, Charles Sheeler (1921, 10 min.) -- Coquille et le clergyman / Germaine Dulac (1926, 31 min.) -- Regen = Rain / Joris Ivens (1929, 14 min.) --H2O / Ralph Steiner (1929, 12 min) -- Even, as you and I / Roger Barlow, Harry Hay, LeRoy Robbins (1937, 12 min.) 387 min. total. DVD 4191

Avant Garde and Experimental Films of the 1920s and '30s: Films from the Raymond Rohauer Collection. Vol. 2

Disc 1: Geography of the body (1943, United States) / Willard Maas. The mechanics of love (1955, United States) / Willard Maas and Ben Moore. Visual variations on Noguchi (1945, United States) / Marie Menken. The potted psalm (1946, United States) / Sidney Peterson and James Broughton. The cage (1947, United States) / Sidney Peterson. House of cards (1947, United States) / Joseph Vogel. Christmas, U.S.A. (1949, United States) / Gregory J. Markopoulos. Adventures of Jimmy (1950, United States) / James Broughton. Interim (1952, United States) / Stan Brakhage. Unglassed windows cast a terrible reflection (1953, United States) / Stan Brakhage. The way to shadow garden (1954, United States) / Stan Brakhage. The extraordinary child (1954, United States) / Stan Brakhage. Disc 2: Rebus-film no. 1 (1928, United States) / Paul Leni. The fall of the house of Usher (1928, United States) / James Watson and Melville Webber. Pacific 231 (1949, France) / Jean Mitry. Arriere saison (1950, France) / Dimitri Kirsanoff. Traite de bave et d'eternite (1951, France) / Jean Isidore Isou. Special features: Film notes by film critic/historian Elliott Stein, theatrical trailer of Traite de bave et d'eternite, dual-layer RSDL edition for optimal image quality. 341 min. total. DVD 8114

British Avant-garde in the Twenties

Focuses on the burgeoning British avant-garde scene of the 1920s - an era of great formal experimentation influenced by the 'art' cinema of USSR and Germany. This compilation of rare, short films, some of which have not been seen for decades, features early work by Len Lye, Hans Richter and the entertaining Bluebottles - an H.G Wells scripted comedy starring husband and wife team Charles Laughton and Elsa Lanchester (best known for The Bride of Frankenstein). The varied films on this compilation represent the many distinct avant-garde styles of the period.".

Contents: Tusalava / Len Lye (1929) -- Crossing the Great Sagrada / Adrian Brunel (1924) -- Bluebottles / Ivor Montagu (1928) -- C.O.D-a mellow drama / Desmond Dickensen (1929) -- Everyday / Hans Richter (1929) -- Equation: X+X=0 / Robert Fairthorne/Brian Salt (1936). Video/C MM438

Smith, Emma. "British avant-garde: the twenties." Art Monthly no. 244 (March 2001) p. 49-50 UCB users only

British Avant-garde in the Thirties

Coming from a decade which saw the founding of British realism as well as a flourishing surrealist movement, the thirteen films in this collection reveal a diversity of aesthetics and politics. Different styles and genres jostle each other from Len Lye's magical advertisement of Shell Oil, The birth of the robot, to Norman McLaren's anti-war classic Hell Unltd, while Elton and Anstey's Housing problems points to the future format of the television documentary.

Contents: Song of Ceylon / director, Basil Wright; producer, John Grierson (1934, 38 min.) -- Bread / Kino Production Group (1934, 11 min.) -- Tell me if it hurts / director/producer, Richard Massingham (1934, 19 min.) -- Beyond this open road / director, B. Vivian Braun (1934, 10 min.) -- Coal face / director, Alberto Cavalcanti; producer, John Grierson (1935, 11 min.) -- Housing problems / director/producer, Arthur Elton (1935, 15 min.) -- The birth of the robot / director/producer, Len Lye (1935, 6 min.) -- A colour box / director, Len Lye; producer, John Grierson (1935, 3 min.) -- Camera makes whoopee / director/animator, Norman McLaren (1935, 18 min.) -- Hell unltd / directors/producers, Norman McLaren, Helen Biggar -- Love on the wing / director, Norman McLaren; producer, Alberto Cavalcanti (1938, 5 min.) -- N or NW / director, Len Lye (1938, 8 min.) -- Spare time / director, Humphrey Jennings; producer, Alberto Cavalcanti (1939, 14 min.). Video/C 9417

The Experimental Avant Garde Series, 12.

The Life and Death of 9413 Hollywood Extra / Robert Florey -- Seashell and the Clergyman (1928) / Germaine Dulac -- La Jetee (1962) / Chris Marker. The Life and Death of 9413 Hollywood Extra is a satirical fantasy about Mr. Jones who wants to become a Hollywood movie star. Seashell and the Clergyman presents a clergyman who regrets his vow of celibacy and is tormented by dreams -- La Jetee is a metaphysical science fiction love story which occurs after a WWIII nuclear explosion. Mostly silent with music. 70 min. Video 999:778

The Experimental Avant Garde Series, 14.

Retour a la Raison (1923) -- Emak Bakia (1927) --Mysteries du Chateau du De (1929). Three experimental short films by Man Ray. Retour a la raison was made by sprinkling various items on raw stock and exposing them to light. In Emak bakia all the principles of surrealism are followed as Man Ray uses light patterns from rotating objects to exhibit his early Dadaistic affiliations. In Les mysteres du Chateau du De, a modern villa is the scene of an unsolved mystery. 50 min. Video 999:878

Persistence of Vision.

The first of a series of videodiscs that present examples of some of the best recent video art including parodies, political analysis, computer animation, unusual narrative forms and other elements that exploit the power of video. This first volume presents nine video works that portray broadcast television as a tool of commerce and state power. Contents: Why I got into TV / Irene Segalove -- Television delivers people / Richard Serra, Carlota Fay Schoolman -- Three transitions / Peter Campus --The President's world / Gorilla Tapes -- Excerpts and euphoria / Edward Mowbray -- The pastrami sandwich / Irene Segalove -- Dragnet kiss / Irene Segalove -- Composite news composite / Nancy Burson -- The eternal frame / Ant Farm, T. R. Uthco. DVD 7461 [preservation copy]; Video/D 113

Rare Dutch and Belgian Experimental Program.

Contents: The mystic lamb by Van Eyck / directed by Andre Cauvin ([1939?]) (ca. 9 min.) -- Rain / by Joris Ivens and Mannus Franken (1929) (ca. 12 min.) -- New earth / directed by Joris Ivens ([1941?]) (ca. 23 min.) -- The bridge / directed and photographed by Joris Ivens (1927-1928) (ca. 12 min.) -- De parapluie = The umbrella / productie en regie, Kees Brusse ([1961?]) (ca. 31 min.) Video/C 7811

Unseen Cinema 1: Early American Avant-garde Film, 1894-1941: The Mechanized Eye: Experiments in Technique and Form.

Reveals hitherto unknown accomplishments of American filmmakers from the invention of cinema until World War II. Disc 1: "The dynamic qualities of motion pictures are explored by cameramen and filmmakers through novel experiments in technique and form." Contents: 5 Paris Exposition films (1900) / James White: Eiffel Tower from Trocadero Palace (1900) -- Palace of Electricity (1900) -- Champs de Mars (1900) -- Panorama of Eiffel Tower (1900) -- Scene from elevator ascending Eiffel Tower (1900) -- Captain Nissen going through Whirlpool Rapids, Niagara Falls (1901 : creators unknown) -- Down the Hudson (1903) / Frederick Armitage & A.E. Weed -- The ghost train (1903 : creators unknown) -- Westinghouse Works, panorama view Street Car Motor Room (1904) / G.W. "Billy" Bitzer -- In youth, beside the lonely sea (c. 1924-25 : creators unknown) -- Melody on parade (c. 1936 : creators unknown) -- La cartomancienne (The Fortune Teller) (1932) / Jerome Hill -- Pie in the sky (1934-35) / Nykino: Elia Kazan, Ralph Steiner & Irving Lerner -- Travel notes (1932) / Walker Evans -- Oil: a symphony in motion (1930-33) / Artkino: M.G. MacPherson & Jean Michelson -- Poem 8 (1932-33) / Emlen Etting -- Storm (1941-43) / Paul Burnford -- Portrait of a young man (1925-31) / Henwar Rodakiewicz -- Movement one -- Movement two -- Movement three. DVD 4666

Unseen Cinema 2: Early American Avant-garde Film, 1894-1941: The Devil's Plaything: American Surrealism.

Reveals hitherto unknown accomplishments of American filmmakers from the invention of cinema until World War II. Disc 2: "Early filmmakers used bizarre sets, fantastic costumes, and magic lantern tricks to illuminate their fantasy films." Contents: Jack and the Beanstalk (1902) / Edwin S. Porter -- Dream of a Rarebit Fiend (1906) / Edwin S. Porter -- The Thieving Hand (1907 : creators unknown) -- Impossible Convicts (1905) / G.W. "Billy" Bitzer -- When the Clouds Roll By (1919) / Douglas Fairbanks & Victor Fleming -- Beggar on Horseback (1925) / James Cruze -- The Fall of the House of Usher (1926-27) / J.S. Watson, Jr. & Melville Webber -- The Life and Death of 9413 : A Hollywood Extra (1927) / Robert Florey & Slavko Vorkapich -- The Love of Zero (1928) / Robert Florey & William Cameron Menzies -- The Telltale Heart (1928) / Charles Klein -- Tomatos Another Day (1930/1933 / J.S. Watson, Jr. & Alec Wilder -- The Hearts of Age (1934) / William Vance & Orson Welles -- The enigmatic world of Joseph Cornell -- Unreal news reels, nos. 1 & 2 (c. 1926 : creators unknown) -- The Children's Jury (c. 1938 : creators unknown) -- Thimble Theater (c. 1938) / Joseph Cornell & Lawrence Jordan -- Carousel: Animal Opera (c. 1938) / Joseph Cornell & Lawrence Jordan -- Jack's Dream (c. 1938) / Joseph Cornell & Lawrence Jordan. DVD 4667

Unseen Cinema 3: Early American Avant-garde Film, 1894-1941: Light Rhythms: Music and Abstraction.

Reveals hitherto unknown accomplishments of American filmmakers from the invention of cinema until World War II. Disc 3: "The rhythmic elements of cinema are explored by artists and filmmakers fascinated by the abstract qualities of light." Contents: Le Retour a la raison (1923) / Man Ray -- Ballet mecanique (1923-24) / Fernand Leger & Dudley Murphy -- Anemic cinema (1924-26) / Rrose Selavy (Marcel Duchamp) -- Looney Lens: Anamorphic People (1927) / Al Brick -- Out of the Melting Pot (1927 : creators unknown) -- H20 (1929) / Ralph Steiner -- Surf and Seaweed (1929-30) / Ralph Steiner -- Vorkapich Montage Sequences (1928-37) / Slavko Vorkapich: The Furies (1934) -- Legacy of a Hollywood extra -- Skyline Dance (1928) -- Money Machine (1929) -- Prohibition (1929) -- The Firefly (Vorkapich edit) (1937) -- The Firefly (MGM release version) (1937) -- Maytime (1937) -- Light and abstraction -- So This Is Paris (1926) / Ernst Lubitsch (excerpt) -- Light Rhythms (1930) / Francis Bruguiere -- Une nuit sur le Mont Chauve (Night on Bald Mountain) (1934) / Alexandre Alexeieff & Claire Parker -- Rhythm in Light (1934) / Mary Ellen Bute, Ted Nemeth & Melville Webber -- Synchromy No. 2 (1936) / Mary Ellen Bute & Ted Nemeth -- Parabola (1937) / Rutherford Boyd, Mary Ellen Bute & Ted Nemeth -- Footlight Parade "By a Waterfall" (1933) / Busby Berkeley -- Glens Falls Sequence (1937-46) / Douglass Crockwell -- Simple Destiny Abstractions (1937-40) / Douglass. Crockwell -- Abstract Movies (1937-47) / George L.K. Morris -- Scherzo (1939) / Norman McLaren -- Composition no. 1: Themis (1940) / Dwinell Grant -- Composition no. 2: Contrathemis (1941) / Dwinell Grant -- 1941 (1941) / Francis Lee -- Moods of the Sea (1941) / Slavko Vorkapich & John Hoffman. DVD 4668

Unseen Cinema 4: Early American Avant-garde Film, 1894-1941: Inverted Narratives: New Directions in Storytelling.

Reveals hitherto unknown accomplishments of American filmmakers from the invention of cinema until World War II. Disc 4: "Early directors D.W. Griffith and Lois Weber develop the radical language of cinema narrative through audience-friendly melodramas made for nickelodeon theaters." he house with closed shutters (1910) / D.W. Griffith & G.W. "Billy" Bitzer -- Suspense (1913) / Lois Weber & Phillips Smalley -- Moonland (c. 1926) / Neil McGuire & William A. O'Connor -- Lullaby (1929) / Boris Deutsch -- The bridge (1929-30) / Charles Vidor -- Little geezer (1932) / Theodore Huff -- Black dawn (1933) / Josef Berne & Seymour Stern -- "Titles" -- "Plowing" -- "End of day" -- Native land (1937-41) / Leo Hurwitz & Paul Strand -- "Bought and paid for" -- "On the march" -- "Millions of little people" -- "Murder One man" -- The world today : Black legion (1936-37) / Nykino -- Even as you and I (1937) / Roger Barlow, Harry Hay & Le Roy Robbins -- Object lesson (1941) / Christopher Young -- "Sredni Vashtar" by Saki (1940-43) / David Bradley. DVD 4669

Unseen Cinema 5: Early American Avant-garde Film, 1894-1941: Picturing a Metropolis: New York City Unveiled.

Reveals hitherto unknown accomplishments of American filmmakers from the invention of cinema until World War II. Disc 5: "Depicts dynamic images of New York City and scenes of New Yorkers among the skyscrapers, streets, and night life of America's greatest city during a half century of progress, while at the same time showing changes in film style and the history of cinema experiments." Contents: Early views" -- The Blizzard (1899) / creators unknown -- Lower Broadway (1902) / Robert K. Bonine -- Beginning of a skyscraper (1902) / Robert K. Bonine -- Panorama from Times Building, New York (1905) / Wallace McCutcheon -- Skyscrapers of NYC from North River (1903) / J.B. Smith -- Panorama from Tower of the Brooklyn Bridge (1903) / G.W. "Billy" Bitzer -- "Tricks of the trade" -- Demolishing and building up the Star Theatre (1902) / Frederick S. Armitage -- Coney Island at night (1905) / Edwin S. Porter -- Interior New York Subway 14th Street to 42nd Street (1905) / G.W. "Billy" Bitzer -- Seeing New York by yacht (1902) / Frederick Armitage & A.E. Weed -- Looney Lens: Split skyscrapers (1924) / Al Brick -- Looney Lens: Tenth Avenue, NYC (1924) / Al Brick -- Scenes from Ford Educational Weekly (1916-24) / creators unknown -- 8th Avenue elevated train at 112th Street -- The trellis : work of sunshine and shade -- View of Herald Square Station -- Aerial view of Sixth Ave. train at 28th, 26th, 24th -- Manhatta (1921) / Charles Sheeler & Paul Strand -- Twenty four Dollar Island (c. 1926) / Robert Flaherty -- Skyscraper symphony (1929) / Robert Florey -- Manhattan medley (1931) / Bonney Powell -- A Bronx morning (1931) / Jay Leyda -- Footnote to fact (1933) / Lewis Jacobs -- "Seeing the world," part one: a visit to New York, N.Y. (1937) / Rudy Burckhardt -- The Pursuit of happiness (1940) / Rudy Burckhardt -- Gold Diggers of 1935 : "Lullaby of Broadway" (1935) / Busby Berkeley -- Autumn fire (1930-33) / Herman Weinberg. DVD 4670

Unseen Cinema 6: Early American Avant-garde Film, 1894-1941: The Amateur as Auteur: Discovering Paradise in Pictures.

Disc 6: "These home-made films incorporate avant-garde strategies and techniques to achieve a true sense of cinematic intimacy.". Contents: 7 Case sound tests (c. 1924-25) / Theodore Case & Earl Sponable -- Windy Ledge Farm (c. 1929-34) / Elizabeth Woodman Wright -- A day in Santa Fe (1931) / Lynn Riggs & James Hughes -- 4 Stewart Family home movies (c. 1935-39) / Archie Stewart -- Children's party (c. 1938) / Joseph Cornell -- Cotillion (c. 1938) / Joseph Cornell -- The Midnight party (c. 1938) / Joseph Cornell -- Haiti (1938) / Rudy Burckhardt -- Tree trunk to head (1938) / Lewis Jacobs -- Bicycle polo at San Mateo (1940-42) / Frank Stauffacher -- 1126 Dewey Avenue, Apt. 207 (1939) / John C. Hecker. DVD 4671

Unseen Cinema 7: Early American Avant-garde Film, 1894-1941: Viva la Dance: The Beginnings of Cine-dance.

Reveals hitherto unknown accomplishments of American filmmakers from the invention of cinema until World War II. Disc 7: "Dance and film have shared the aspiration to creatively sculpt motion and time.". Contents: 7 Annabelle dances and dances (1894-1897) / W.K.L. Dickson, William Heise & James White -- "Early superimpositions" / Frederick S. Armitage -- Davy Jones' locker (1900) / Frederick Armitage -- Neptune's daughters (1900) / Frederick Armitage -- A nymph of the waves (1900) / Frederick Armitage -- Diana the huntress (1916) / Charles Allen & Francis Trevelyan Miller (excerpt) -- The soul of the cypress (1920) / Dudley Murphy -- Looney lens: Pas de deux (1924) / Al Brick -- Hande : Das Leben und die Liebe eines Zartlichen Geschlechts (Hands: the life and loves of the gentler sex) (1928) / Stella Simon & Miklos Bandy -- Mechanical principles (1930) / Ralph Steiner -- Tilly Losch in her dance of the hands (c. 1930-33) / Norman Bel Geddes -- 2 Sergei Eisenstein's Mexican footage (1931) / Sergei Eisenstein (excerpts) -- Oramunde (1933) / Emlen Etting -- Hands (1934) / Ralph Steiner & Willard Van Dyke -- Joie de vivre / Anthony Gross & Hector Hoppin -- Wonder bar: "Don't say goodnight" (1934) / Busby Berkeley (excerpt) -- Dada (1936) / Mary Ellen Bute & Ted Nemeth -- Escape (1938) / Mary Ellen Bute & Ted Nemeth -- An Optical poem (1938) / Oskar Fischinger -- Abstract experiment in Kodachrome (c. 1940s) / Slavko. Vorpapich -- NBC valentine greeting (1939-40) / Norman McLaren -- Stars and Stripes (1940) / Norman McLaren -- Tarantella (1940) / Mary Ellen Bute, Ted Nemeth & Norman McLaren -- Spook sport (1940) / Mary Ellen Bute, Ted Nemeth & Norman McLaren -- Danse macabre (1922) / Dudley Murphy & Francis Brugiere -- Peer Gynt (1941) / David Bradley, starring Charlton Heston (excerpt) -- Opening titles -- Pagan dance -- Introspection (1941/46) / Sara Kathryn Arledge. DVD 4671

Luis Bunuel & Salvador Dali

MRC Movies By Director videography for other films by Bunuel

UCB Student writing on Bunuel (Film 51)

Books/articles about Buñuel in the Berkeley Library

L'Age d'Or (1930)

Using a melange of strange and unrelated images, this is a statement by Bunuel on the nature of the bourgeoisie, the church and the police. Special features (DVD): Audio commentary by Robert Short, author of The age of gold: surrealist cinema ; stills gallery ; Luis Bunuel: a complete filmography. 62 min. DVD 3140; also VHS Video 999:102

Un Chien Andalou.

A surrealistic movie was written over the course of a three day exchange of fantasies and dreams. 16 min. DVD 3341; also VHS Video 999:108; Video 999:173; 999:2252

Rene Clair

Movies By Director videography for other films by Clair

Books/articles about Clair in the UCB Library

Crazy Ray (1924)

This first film by Rene Clair (notable for its comic and trick effects), was mostly shot on the Eiffel Tower. One man, the night watchman on the Eiffel tower, finds himself the only one awake in Paris. Everyone else has been frozen in time by a mysterious ray invented by a mad scientist. He is shortly joined by a group who were flying in an airplane at the time of the catastrophe. Together they try to convince the scientist to awaken the people. 62 min. Video 999:3235

Entr'acte. (1923)

"Two men approach a canon and fire it. Rifle-range dummies sway in the wind. A dancing ballerina turns into a strange bearded man. Two men on a roof-top terrace play a game of chess. A funeral procession, moving in slow motion, follows a coffin pulled by a camel. What can it all mean...? This extraordinary early film from director Ren? Clair was originally made to fill an interval between two acts of Francis Picabia?s new ballet, Rel?che, at the Th??tre des Champs- Elys?es in Paris in 1924. Picabia famously wrote a synopsis for the film on one sheet of note paper, headed Maxim?s (the famous Parisian restaurant), which he sent to Ren? Clair. This formed the basis for what ultimately appeared on screen, with some additional improvisations. Music for the film was composed by the famous avant-garde composer Erik Satie, who appears in the film, along side its originator, Francis Picabia. The surrealist photographer Man Ray also puts in an appearance, in a film which curiously resembles his own experimental films of this era. Entr'acte is a surrealistic concoction of unrelated images, reflecting Clair?s interest in Dada, a fashionable radical approach to visual art which relied on experimentation and surreal expressionism. Clair?s imagery is both captivating and disturbing, giving life to inanimate objects (most notably the rifle range dummies), whilst attacking conventions, even the sobriety of a funeral march. When the first performance of Rel?che was cancelled because of the ill-health of one of is stars, the public were outraged. There was a belief that Picabia had staged the ultimate Dada stunt - the title of the show means "respite" in French. The controversy was laid to rest when the show opened, a few days later than planned. For its part, Clair's Entr'acte won widespread praise, although the response from the paying public was divided. As to what the film actually means, well that's anyone's guess. Like all good surrealist art there are an infinite number of possible interpretations, and one's appreciation and understanding of this film is very much a subjective experience. Themes which appear to dominate the work are death, mortality and the hastening pace of technology. Hence, one possible interpretation is that the film is mocking mankind's attempts to cope with the brevity of his existence. As progress is made, man has to run faster and faster to cram more and more into a fixed duration, his limited lifespan. Could the Entr'acte of the film's title represent that short period of what we call "life", that too brief an interval between two acts of an eternal duration?" [Jim Travers. From FilmsdeFrance.com) DVD 4095; also included as supplement on disc for A Nous la Liberte, DVD 1274; also on VHS Video 999:289

The Italian Straw Hat (Un Chapeau de Paille d'Italie) (1927)

Performers: Albert Prejean, Marise Maia, Vital Geymond, Olga Tschekowa, Jim Gerald, Yvonneck, Paul Ollivier, Alice Tissot. Set in Paris, 1895, the plot concerns a frantic search for a duplicate of a Leghorn straw hat eaten by a horse. The hat is needed to allay a jealous husband's suspicion that his wife has been unfaithful. 114 min. Video 999:641

Jean Cocteau

Movies By Director videography for other films by Cocteau

Books/articles about Cocteau in the Berkeley Library

Beauty and the Beast (La Belle et la Bete)(1946)

Performers: Jean Marais, Josette Day. Dramatized adaptation of the classic fairy tale. Tells the fable of the kindly beast and the self-sacrificing beauty whose love releases the prince in him. Contains such visual displays as tears that become real diamonds and walls that grow arms to light Beauty's path through the castle of the Beast. 90 min. DVD 216; also Video 999:113

Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database

Blood of a Poet (Le Sang d'un Poete)(1930.)

A surrealistic allegorical myth about the life of a poet who sacrifices himself to his art. Blood of a Poet, exploring the torturous relationship between the artist and his creations. 54 min. DVD 210; also tape Video/C 999:117

Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database

Eternal Return (L'Éternel retour) (1943)

Directed by Jean Cocteau. A young man and his uncle have a deep friendship that is threatened when the young man falls in love with the uncle's wife. 100 min. 999:231

Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database

Orphée (Orpheus) (1949)

Directed by Jean Cocteau. Cocteau's modern version of the Orpheus legend, based on his own play. 86 min. DVD 209; also tape Video/C 999:211

Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database

Testament of Orpheus (Testament d'Orphee)(1959)

In his last film, Cocteau portrays an 18th century poet who travels through time on a quest for divine wisdom. In a mysterious wasteland, he meets several symbolic phantoms that bring about his death and resurrection. The film finished the circle of the journey begun in Blood of a Poet, exploring the torturous relationship between the artist and his creations. 80 min. DVD 210

Credits and other information from the Internet Movie Database

Maya Deren

Maya Deren, Priestess (University of Texas, American Studies Dept.)

Books/articles about Deren in the Berkeley Library

Divine Horsemen: the Living Gods of Haiti.

Maya Deren's film chronicles a journey into the world of the Voudoun religion of Haiti. A film by Maya Deren. Filmed in Haiti 1947-1951. he narration was adapted from the book by Maya Deren, Divine horsemen : the living gods of Haiti." 52 min. DVD 6393; vhs Video/C 1924

Maya Deren bibliography

In the Mirror of Maya Deren

A documentary which combines excerpts from Maya Deren's films Meshes of the afternoon, At land, and Ritual in transfigured time with archival footage and observances from acolytes and contemporaries such as Stan Brakhage, Jonas Mekas, Katherine Dunn and Judith Malina. c2001. 101 min. Video/C 9818

Invocation: Maya Deren.

Profile of the life and work of Maya Deren, a pioneer producer of avant-garde films. Includes film clips of examples of her work. 53 min. Video/C 3350

Maya Deren: (Collected) Experimental Films.

Contents: Meshes of the afternoon (1943) -- At land (1944) -- A Study in choreography for camera (1945) -- Ritual in transfigured time (1945) -- Meditation on violence (1948) -- The very eye of night (1952-59). Examples of Maya Deren's work evoke and exemplify the American avant-garde film movement of the 40's and 50's. 76 min. DVD 1431; vhs 999:437

Maya Deren. Volume 1: Dances for the Camera.

Contents: Study in choreography for the camera (1945) / Maya Deren and Talley Beatty -- Ritual in transfigured time (1946) / Maya Deren, Frank Westbrook -- Meditation on violence (1948) / Maya Deren, performed by Chao Li Chi -- Very eye of night (1955) / Maya Deren, performed by the Metropolitan Opera Ballet School, with choreography by Anthony Tudor. 50 min. Video/C 5294

Marcel Duchamp

Anemic Cinema

In this major Dada ditty, hypnotic spirals accompany nonsense phrases and poetry. DVD 4095; also on DVD 4191; also on VHS Video/C 999:3104

Rotoreliefs and Nude Descending A Staircase

Part of the Dada anthology Dreams That Money Can't Buy (see Hans Richter) With music by John Cage. Video/C 999:2166

Duchamp is also featured in:

8 x 8: A Chess-sonata in 8 Movements (dir. Hans Richter)Video/C 999:2269

Dadascope (dir. Hans Richter)Video/C 999:2268

Germaine Dulac

Books/articles about Dulac in the Berkeley Library

Seashell and the Clergyman (1928).

31 min. DVD 4095; DVD 4191; also on VHS Video 999:778; Video 999:838

The Smiling Madame Beudet (1928).

Smiling Madame Beaudet, one of the first feminist motion pictures, is the story of an intelligent woman trapped in a loveless marriage. 26 min. Video 999:838

Viking Eggeling

Symphonie Diagonale (1924).

DVD 4191; also on VHS Video 999:289

O'Leary, Brian. "New Critical Methods and the Films of the First Avant-garde: 'Symphonie Diagonale and Entr'acte.'" Film Criticism v22, n3 (Spring, 1998):22 (16 pages).

Oskar Fischinger

Moritz, William. Optical poetry : the life and work of Oskar Fischinger. Eastleigh: John Libbey, 2004. MAIN: PN1998.3.F57 M64 2004; PFA : PN1998.3.F53 M67 2004 rbr

Films of Oskar Fischinger. Volume 1

Contents: Muratti gets in the act, 1934 -- Spiritual constructions, 1927 -- Study no. 7 (Studie 7), 1931 -- Study no. 8 (Studie 8), 1932 -- Kreise, 1933 -- Allegretto, 1936 -- Motion painting no. 1, 1947.

A collection of short, abstract animated films by the early pioneer of this genre, Oskar Fischinger. Working in the 1930's using shapes such as circles, diamonds, triangles and paintbrush dabs, short and long lines in various free-form abstract compositions set to music, he impacted the fields of animated film, music and painting through his visionary imagery. Video/C 999:2168

Films of Oskar Fischinger. Volume 2

Muratti privat (1935) -- Wax experiments (1923) -- Walking from Munich to Berlin (1927) -- Study no. 5 (1930) -- Study no. 9 (1931) -- Study no. 12 (1932) -- Composition in blue (1935) -- American march (1941) -- Organic fragment (1941) -- Mutoscope reels (c.1945) -- Muntz TV (1952). 42 min. Video/C 999:2737

Optical Poem(1938)

Included on DVD 4671

Oskar Fischinger: Ten Films

A collection of abstract animated films by Oskar Fischinger, master of "absolute" or non-objective filmmaking. Using geometric patterns and shapes choreographed tightly to classical music and jazz, he created what are called visual music films. Also includes Fischinger home movies, photographs, drawings, notes and more. A videodisc compilation of short abstract films originally produced between 1921 and 1947. Spirals (c. 1926) -- Studie nr. 6 (1930) -- Studie nr. 7 (1931) -- Kreise (Circles, 1933) -- Allegretto (late version, 1936-43) -- Radio dynamics (1942) -- Motion painting no. 1 (1947) -- Wax experiments (1921-26) -- Spiritual constructions (c. 1927) -- Walking from Munich to Berlin (1927). 50 min. DVD 5821

Joris Ivens

Documentary Classics videography for other Ivens works

Books and articles about Ivens in the UCB Library

The Bridge(1927-8)Video/C 7811

Regen(1929) (with Mannus Franken) DVD 4191; also on Video/C 7811 and Video 999:108

Fernand Leger

Books/articles about Léger in the Berkeley Library

Ballet Mechanique.

A classic reference point for abstract cinema, co-made by cubist painet Léger and Dudley Murphy. Stephen Dwoskin, in his book Film Is, describes the film as follows: The film takes what often seem to be chance elements of objective images and juxtaposes them in rhythmic movements. The editing is the essence, involving as it does an infatuation and exploration of the time/movement possibilities of the film. Here is an early example of physical potential being used, the structure being built up from the image content. The repetition of a woman climbing stairs, or the spinning of wheels as a close-up, gives a sense of freedom to the visual motion inherent in the subjects. [Michael J. Sicinski, UCB Film Studies Program]. DVD 4095; DVD 4191; also on also on VHS Video 999:108

Len Lye

Books/articles about Lye in the Berkeley Library

The Birth of the Robot

Director/producer, Len Lye. 1935. 6 min. Video/C 9417

A Colour Box

A Colour box is an experimental film in which abstract images dance across the screen to lively latin music. 1935. ca. 4 min. Video/C 9417; also on Videos 999:925, Video/C 9417, and Video/C 999:3780

Flip & Two Twisters

A documentary about Len Lye, the great filmmaker and kinetic sculptor. This dynamic artist spent his life developing a highly original "art of motion." The film includes some examples of Lye's film making and some of his sculptures in motion including the wild rhythms of "Flip & Two Twisters" and chronicles recent attempts to realise Lye's plans for giant versions of his sculpture. 1995. 80 min. Video 6583

Free Radicals

Contents: Free radicals (4 min, b&w, 1958, revised 1979) -- Swinging the Lambeth Walk (4 min., col., 1939) -- Color cry (3 min., col., 1952) -- Tal Farlow (2 min, b&w, 1980) -- Colour flight (4 min., Gasparcolor, (cont'd) 1938) -- Rhythm (1 min., b&w, 1957) -- Particles in space (4 min., b&w, 1979) -- Tusalava (10 min., b&w, 1929). Video/C 4908

Len Lye

Len Lye, a New Zealand filmmaker was one of the first artists to paint and draw directly on film. His interest in the relationship between light and rhythm led to experiments with moving sculptures he called "tangible motion sculptures." In this program Lye speaks of his work and ideas, demonstrates some "tangibles" and shows clips from his films. 27 min. Video/c 5962

N or NW

Director, Len Lye. 1938, 8 min. Video/C 9417

Rainbow Dance

Producer, Basil Wright; director, Len Lye. 1936. 4 min. Video/C 999:3780

Trade Tattoo (1937)

Experimental abstract film made for the British General Post Office. Included in biographical documentary on Lye Video/c 5962; also included on vhs Video/C 999:3780

Tusalava(1929)

Included in compilation British avant-garde in the Twenties. Video/C MM438 (also included on Video/C 4908)

Norman Mclaren

Animation videography

A History of the Avant-garde: Britain in the Thirties Video/C 9417

Unseen Cinema Video/C 9417

Begone Dull Care

Video/C 999:1427

Love on the Wing

1939. 4 min. Video/C 999:3780

Masters of Animation. Volume 1, USA, Canada.

Film Excepts: Steamboat Willy, Walt Disney; Rooty Toot Toot, John Hubley; Opens Wednesday, Barrie Nelson; Soldier's tale, Bob Blechman; Great Cognito, Will Vinton; Legeld of John Henry, Sam Weiss; 2000 year old man, Leo Salkin; Voices, Joanna Priestley; Hen Hop, Norman McLaren; Blinkity Blank, Norman McLaren; Chairy tale, Norman McLaren; Pas de deux, Norman McLaren; Street, Caroline Leaf; Every child, Eugene Fedorenko, Derek Lamb; Hot stuff, Zlatko Grgic, Don Arioli; Sandcastle, Co Hoedman; Great toy robbery, Geoffrey Hale, Derek Lamb; Paradise, Ishu Patel; Everything for nothing, Frederic Back; Illusion, Frederic Back; Crac, Frederic Back; 1, 2, 3, Graeme Ross; Hiboux (Owl symbol), Andre Theroux; George and the star, Gerry Potterton; History of the world in 3 minutes flat, Mike Mills; Horray for sandbox land, Marv Newland; Slow dance world, Ellen Besen; A hard day at the office, Al Sens; Tony De Peltrie, Pierre Lachapelle [et al.]. 85 min. Video/C 3250

Norman McLaren

Disc 1, Selected Films (Films choisis) [1940-1983], showcases 14 of Norman McLaren's best films, reflecting the incredible diversity of his work. Contents: Neighbours; Begone dull care; Pas de deux; Boogie-doodle; Synchromy; Mosaic; A phantasy; Blinkity blank; Le merle; Lines-horizontal; A chairy tale; Animated motion, part 5; New York lightboard record; Narcissus. 114 min.
Disc 2, Creative Process (Le Genie createur), 1991, presents a documentary exploring the creative process and techniques of McLaren, artist, cinematographer and animator. Includes excerpts from McLaren's film vaults and interviews. 117 min. DVD 1911

Collins, Maynard. Norman McLaren. Ottawa : Canadian Film Institute, 1976. (MAIN: PN1998 .A3M3123)

Matthews, Peter "Minimalism for the masses." Sight and Sound August 2003 v13 i8 p4(2)

Moritz, William. "Norman McLaren and Jules Engel: Post-Modernists." In: A Reader in Animation Studies/ edited by Jayne Pilling. London : J. Libbey, c1997. (Main Stack TR897.5.R43 1997)

Richard, Valliere T. Norman McLaren, manipulator of movement : the National Film Board years, 1947-1967. (MAIN: NC1766.C32 .M357 1982; Storage Info: $B 360 886)

Werner, Louis. "Spontaneous frames of movement." Americas (English Edition) Sept-Oct 1993 v45 n5 p42(7)UC users only

Norman McLaren: the Master's Edition (Norman McLaren, l'intaegrale)

Series that brings together the complete works of Norman McLaren, from his initial experiments in Scotland in 1933 to his final National Film Board production in 1983. Features complete films, tests, unfinished films and support material (photographs, audio clips and more), along with original

Disc 1: documentaries contextualizing McLaren's work and his creative process. In all, the series includes more than 130 video and audio documents, divided by theme. Beginnings. 7 till 5 (1933) (12:39) ; Camera makes whoopee (1935) (24:31) ; Book bargain (1937) (8:10) ; Mony a pickle (1938) (4:06) ; News for the navy (1937-1938) (10:37) ; The obedient flame (1939) (9:56) ; Love on the wing ( 1938) (4:27) -- McLaren and space. Blinkity blank (1955) (5:15) ; C'est l'aviron (1944) (3:17) ; Window on Canada no. 29: excerpt 1 (1954) (3:42) ; Spheres (1969) (7:20) ; The corridor (1950s) (1:11) ; Barrell zoom (circa 1943) (1:15) ; Love on the wing (1938) (4:27) -- Painting with light. La poulette grise (1947) (5:32) ; La poulette grise: test (1947) (3:44) ; Laa-haut sur ces montagnes (1945) (3:10) ; Laa-haut sur ces montagnes: test (1944) (0.57) ; Window on Canada no. 29: excerpt 2 (1954) (2:59) ; McLaren at play (1940s) (5:19) ; Out-of-focus cloudscape (late 1940s) (1:53) ; Spheres (1969) (7:20) ; A phantasy (1952) (7:15) ; A little phantasy on a nineteenth century painting (1946) (3:35) ; Blurr test (1956-1957) (11:05) ; Blinkity blank (1955) (5:15) ; The flicker film (1961) (3:32) ; The seasons (1966) (4:45) ; Little negro (1940s) (2:01) ; C'est l'aviron (1944) (3:17) -- Thematic documentaries. Beginnings (5:17) ; McLaren and space (3:41) ; Painting with light (5:16). DVD 6460

Disc 2: The art of motion. Begone dull care (1949) (7:47) ; Blinkity blank (1955) (5:15) ; Lines horizontal (1962) (5:55) ; Lines vertical (1960) (5:49) ; Mosaic (1965) (5:28) ; The making of mosaic (2004) (0:59) ; Boogie-doodle (1940) (3:18) ; Short and suite (1959) (4:50) ; Serenal (1959) (3:04) ; Doors (late 1950s) (1:42) ; Hen hop (1942) (3:39) ; Fiddle-de-dee (1947) (3:22) ; Dots (1940) (2:21) ; Hoppity pop (1946) (1:47) ; Loops (1940) (2:39) ; Mail early (1941) (1:44) ; Mail early for Christmas (1959) (0:40) ; Chaplin test (1940s) (0:19) ; NBC Valentine greeting (1939) (1:52) ; New York lightboard (1961) (8:59) ; New York lightboard record (1961) (7:38) ; Stars and stripes (1940) (2:07) ; Birdlings (1967) (3:48) -- Evelyn Lambart. Begone dull care (1949) (7:47) ; Le Merle (1958) (4:40) ; Lines horizontal (1962) (5:55) ; Lines vertical (1960) (5:49) ; Mosaic (1965) (5:28) -- Surrealism. The head test (1944) (2:55) ; A little phantasy on a nineteenth century painting (1946) (3:35) ; A phantasy (1952) (7:15) ; Tanguy landscape test (1944) (1:22) ; Surrealistic hand drawing (1939-1945) (1:17) ; Pen drawings (1940s) (1:41) ; Blinkity blank (1955) (5:15) ; Serenal (1959) (3:04) ; The hypnosis film (1960s) (0.37) ; Begone dull care (1949) (7:47) ; Mail early (1941) (1:44) ; Hen hop (1942) (3:39) ; Boogie-doodle (1940) (3:18) ; Fiddle-de-dee (1947) (3:22) ; Dots (1940) (2:21) ; Hoppity pop (1946) (1:47) ; Loops (1940) (2:39) ; Stars and stripes (1940) (2:07) ; NBC Valentine greeting (1939) (1:52) ; Short and suite (1959) (4:50) -- Maurice Blackburn. A phantasy (1952) (7:15) ; Blinkity blank (1955) (5:15) ; Lines vertical (1960) (5:49) ; La poulette grise (1947) (5:32) -- Thematic documentaries. The art of motion (2005) (3:24) ; Evelyn Lambart (2005) (5:37) ; Surrealism (2005) (3:46) ; Maurice Blackburn (2005) (4:19). DVD 6461

Disc 3: Dance. Spook sport (1940) (7:52) ; July 4th 1941 (1941) (2:30) ; On the farm (1951) (6:50) ; Neighbours (1952) (8:06) ; Two bagatelles (1952) (2:22) ; A chairy tale (1957) (9:52) ; Bounce film (circa 1960) (0.41) ; Six and seven-eighths (1961) (9:21) ; Norman McLaren's opening speech (1961) (6:53) ; Canon (1964) (9:13) ; Canon: test (circa 1964) (4:50) ; Christmas cracker (1963) (9:13) ; Polychrome fantasy (1935) (2:52) ; Pas de deux (1968) (13:21) ; Pas de deux: test (1965-1967) (16:14) ; Ballet adagio (1972) (9:58) ; Narcissus (1983) (21:49) ; Narcissus: test (1973-1975) (2:15) -- Vincent Warren. Pas de deux (1968) (13:21) ; Narcissus (1983) (21.49) ; Narcissus: test (1973-1975) (2:15) ; Pas de deux: test (1965-1967) (16:14) -- Grant Munro. Neighbours (1952) (8:06) ; Two bagatelles (1952) (2:22) ; On the farm (1951) (6:50) ; Six and seven-eighths (1961) (9:21) ; Canon (1964) (9:13) ; Canon: test (circa 1964) (4:50) ; Christmas cracker (1963) (9:13) ; Christmas cracker: McLaren's contribution (1963) (3:42) ; Thematic documentaries. Dance (5:02) ; Vincent Warren (5:17) ; Grant Munro (4:47). DVD 6462

Disc 4: War and peace: Has anybody here seen Canada? A history of Canadian Movies 1939-1953: outtakes (20:28) -- Hell unlimited (19:14) -- Snakes (1:08) -- The Wook (1:11) -- Keep your mouth shut (2:21) -- V for victory (2:04) -- 5 for 4 (2:52) -- Dollar dance (4:05) -- Neighbours (8:06) -- Chairy tale (9:52) -- A Chairy tale: Alternate ending (:34) -- A Chairy tale: Tests and outtakes (4:10) -- Window on Canada no.29: Excerpt 3 (2:44) -- Thematic documentary: War and peace (4:58). DVD 6463

Disc 5: The animator as musician. Synchromy (1971) (7:26) ; Test A for synchromy (1960s) (1:29) ; Test B for synchromy (late 1960s) (2:46) ; Workshop experiments in animated sound (1957) (5:11) ; Loops (1940) (2:39) ; Neighbours (1952) (8:06) ; Blinkity blank (1955) ( (5:15) ; Le merle rehearses (late 1950s) (2:30) ; Scherzo (1939) (1:25) ; Canon (1964) (9:13) ; Pen point percussion ((1951) (5:57) ; Animated sound test (late 1940s or early 1950s) (2:43) ; Korean alphabet (1967) (7:15) ; Synthetic music experiments (1950s) (audio only) (4:59) -- Thematic documentary. The animator as musician (5:23) ; Animated motion. Part 1 (1976) (9:10) ; Part 2 (1976) (8:31) ; Part 3 (1977) (9:54) ; Part 4 (1977) (7:01) ; Part 5 (1978) (7:06). DVD 6464

Disc 6: Paper cut-outs. Le merle (1958) (4:40) ; Le merle: test and outtakes (1948) (2:37) ; Dans un petit bois (circa 1943) (2:19) ; Rythmetic (1956) (8:41) ; 1-2-3 (1955) (4:15) ; Alouette (1944) (2:22) ; La perdriole(mid 1940s) (0.46) ; Spheres (1969) (7:20) -- Renae Jodoin. Alouette (1944) (2:22) ; Spheres (1969) (7:20) ; A summer day in Ottawa in 1949... (1949) (4:38) ; Thematic documentaries. Paper cut-outs (4:00) ; Renae Jodoin (5:06) -- About McLaren. Experimental film: excerpt (2:27) ; McLaren on McLaren (7:56) ; The eye hears, the ear sees (58:46). DVD 6465

Disc 6: About McLaren. Cinema de notre temps (1967) (55:06) ; McLaren par Jutra: Cinema canadien, SRC 1961 (2:06) ; Pinscreen (1973) (38:43) ; Pinscreen tests (1961) (1:17) -- Thematic documentary. The digital restoration process (5:15). DVD 6466

Erno Marzner

Uberfall (1929) DVD 4191; also on VHS Video 999:108

Man Ray

Books/articles about Ray in the Berkeley Library

Cinepoeme (1926)

13 min. Video 999:2001

Arena Ruth Roses and Revolvers(1947)

Part of the surrealist anthology film Dreams that Money Can Buy, Music by Darius Milhaud. DVD 6111

Emak Bakia (1927).

In Emak bakia all the principles of surrealism are followed as Man Ray uses light patterns from rotating objects to exhibit his early Dadaistic affiliations. DVD 4191; also on Video 999:2001 and Video 999:878

L'Etoile de Mer (Star Fish) (1928)

DVD 4191; also on VHS Video/C 999:2001 and Video/C 999:289

Man Ray Films

Contents: Retour a la raison (1923, 2 min.) -- Emak Bakia (1926, 20 min.) -- L'etoile de mer (1928, 15 min.) -- Mysteres du chateau du De (1929, 25 min.) -- 10 home movies (b&w, silent): Rue Campagne-Premiere (1923-1929); Corrida (1929); Autoportrait ou Ce qui manque a nous tous (1930); Poison (1933-1935); L'Atelier du Val-de-Grace (1935); Course landaise (1937); La Garoupe (1937); Ady (1938); Dance (1938); Juliet (1940). Musical reconstructions from Man Ray's personal record collection by Jacques Guillot; video editing, Didier Coudray. Born in Philadelphia in 1890, Man Ray settled in Paris in 1921 to join the Dada movement. Gifted with great experimenting qualities and artistic genius, Man Ray turned cinema into a privileged creative area for his creation in which he crystallized a very personal artistic synthesis of his many esthetic concerns. This is a collection of his works including 10 short home movies never before released. 112 min. DVD 8417; vhs Video/C 999:2267

Man Ray: Prophet of the Avant-garde

Man Ray is the quintessential modernist figure: photographer, painter, object maker and collagist, filmmaker and printmaker, poet, essayist and philosopher. Born Emanuel Radnitsky in 1890, he went on to become the leader of the "American avant-garde" and the most enigmatic of the Dada-Surrealists who transformed the Paris art world during the ferment of the 1920's and beyond. This profile follows the creative genius from his youth in Brooklyn to his glory days in Paris and, finally, to his impact on future generations of artists in a variety of fields. Also includes a never-before-seen interview with Man Ray in which he reminisces about his life and work. Based on the book: Man Ray: American artist / Neil Baldwin (Art/Classics N6537.R3.B31 1988 Room 308G; Main Stack N6537.R3.B3 1988)Originally presented as a segment on the PBS television program American masters in 1997. 56 min. DVD 689

Mysteries du Chateau du De (1929)

In Les Mysteres du Chateau du De, a modern villa is the scene of an unsolved mystery. DVD 4191; also on VHS Video 999:2001 and Video 999:878

Retour a la Raison (1923)

Retour a la Raison was made by sprinkling various items on raw stock and exposing them to light. DVD 4191; also on VHS Video/C 999:878 and Video/C 999:2267

Jean Painleve

Jean Painleve. Compilation no. 1

Special features: "Yo la Tengo : The sea horse" from The Sounds of the Sounds of Science; "Hommage `a Loie Fuller" by Michelle Nadal and "Jeax d'enfants" (Children's play) by Jean Painleve (1948), and filmography and biography by Jean Painleve. Les amours de la pieuvre = The love life of the octopus (1965) -- Oursins = Sea urchins (1954) = Comment naissent des meduses = How some jellyfish are born (1960) -- Hyas et stenorinques = Hyas and stenorhynchus (1929) -- L'hippocampe = The sea horse (1934) -- Cristaux liquides = Liquid crystals (1978) -- Acera ou le bal des sorci`eres = Acera or the witches' dance (1972) -- Histoires de crevettes = Shrimp stories (1963). DVD 5137

Jean Painleve Science & Fiction

Presents a collection of films by Jean Painleve, the author of more than 200 films of scientific research in the avant-garde spirit. He devoted his life to filming the infinitely small with state of the art equipment. Mathusalem / musique, Maxime Jacob (1927, si, b&w, 10 min.) -- Hyas et stenorinques / musique, Chopin (1929, si., b&w, 10 min.) -- L'hippocampe / musique, Darius Milhaud (1934, sd, b&w, 14 min.) -- Barbe bleue / musique, Maurice Jaubert (1938, col., 13 min.) -- Le Vampire / musique, Duke Ellington (1939-45, b&w, 9 min.) -- Oursins (1954, col. 10 min.) -- Histoires de crevettes / musique, Pierre Conte (1964, col. 10 min.) -- Les amours de la pieuvre / musique, Pierre Henry (1965, col., 13 min.) -- Acera ou le bal des sorci`eres / musique, Pierre Jansen (1972, col., 13 min.) -- Cristaux liquides / musique, Francois de Roubaix (1978, col., 7 min.) Video/C MM497

Lotte Reiniger

Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed: ein Silhouetten Film

Premiered in Germany in 1926 and based on the stories from "The Arabian nights," this movie has been hailed as the first full-length animated film. Tells the story of a wicked sorcerer who tricks Prince Achmed into mounting a magical flying horse intending to send the rider off on a flight to his death.Originally produced as a motion picture in 1926. Neither the original negatives nor a complete copy of the original German version exists. The following reconstruction is based on an existing tinted and toned nitrate copy which was held at the National Film and Television Archive, London. Bonus material: 1921 animated advertising trailer, The secret of the marquise ; Lotte Reiniger; Homage to the inventor of the silhouette film, a film by Katja Raganelli (1999, 64 min.); stills galery. DVD 5007; also on vhs Video/C 999:2110

Aschenbrodel: Die schonsten Marchenfilme (In German, 1954)

Six films by the early German experimental animation pioneer Lotte Reiniger, presenting animations of well-known fables and fairy tales. Lotte Reiniger developed the art of using silhouettes in film during the 1920s. These current films were developed in Great Britain where she had immigrated prior to World War II. Contents: Aschenbrodel (Cinderella) / Brothers Grimm -- Daumelinchen (Thumbelina) / H. C. Andersen -- Hansel und Gretel (Hansel and Gretel) / Brothers Grimm -- Der Heuschreck und die Ameise (Grasshopper and the ant) nach "Grille und die Ameise" / Jean de Lafontaine -- Die drei Wunsche (Three wishes) / Brothers Grimm -- Das tapfere Schneiderlein (Brave little tailor) / Brothers Grimm. PAL format; in German. 60 min. Video/C 8416

The HPO-heavenly Post Office

A silhouette film by Lotte Reiniger; music, Brian Easdale. 1938. 4 min. Video/C 999:3780

Papageno (Die schonsten Musikfilme von Lotte Reiniger)

Presents three animated films by the early German experimental animation pioneer Lotte Reiniger, plus one short documentary film showing her at work cutting and wiring her intricately detailed paper figures for her shadow theater and film productions. Carmen / Drehbuch, Silhouetten und Animation, Lotte Reiniger ; Musik, George Bizet (1933, silent with music, b&w, 9 min) -- Papageno / Drehbuch, Silhouetten und Animation, Lotte Reiniger ; Musik, W. A. Mozart (Die Zauberflote) (1935, silent with music, b&w, 11 min.) -- Ein Scherenschnittfilm entsteht / Regie, Louis Hagen (1970/71, in German, col., 16 min.) -- 10 Minuten Mozart (Zehn Minuten Mozart) / Drehbuch, Silhouetten und Animation, Lotte Reiniger ; Musik, W. A. Mozart (Cosi fan tutte, Eine kleine Nachtmusik) (1930, silent with music, b&w, 10 min.) Video/C 8370

The Tocher

Themes arranged by Benjamin Britten. 1938. 5 min. Video/C 999:3780

Hans Richter

Books/articles about Richter in the Berkeley Library

Alles Drecht Sich, Alles Bewegt Sich (1926-29)

9 min. Video 999:1593 (also on 999:1593)

Dadascope

Dada artists: Jean Arp, Marcel Duchamp, Raoul Hausmann, Richard Huelsenbeck, Marcel Janco, Georges Ribemont-Dessaignes, Walter Mehring, Kurt Schwitters, Tristan Tzara, Wladimir Vogel.

Poems written and performed by well-known Dada artists, recited against a backdrop of "sound and visual clash, word puns, chess, dice and other games of chance." According to Richter, "To these poems I made a film collage. To these Anti-poems, I have made an Anti-film. There is no story, no psychological implication except such as the onlooker puts into the imagery." 41 min. Video/C 999:2268

Dreams that Money Can Buy (1926-29)

Contents: Max Ernst's La Semaine de la Bonte / music by Paul Bowles -- Man Ray's Ruth roses and revolvers / music by Darius Milhaud -- Hans Richter's Narcissus / played by Jack Bittner -- Alexander Calder's mobiles and wire sculptures in motion / music by Edgar Varese -- The girl with the prefabricated heart / with Fernand Leger's mannequins -- [New version] Marcel Duchamp's Rotsoreliefs and Nude descending a staircase / music by John Cage.

Probably the first feature length avant-garde film produced in America, this classic surrealistic film is an omnibus work consisting of seven parts. Each dream episode, offered for sale by Joe, a poor young poet, is shaped by one of the contributing visual artists. 1947. 80 min. DVD 6111; vhs Video 999:2166

8 x 8: A Chess-sonata in 8 Movements (1956-57)

Performer: Man Ray, Marcel Duchamp, Jean Arp, Jacqueline Matisse, Yves Tanguy, Julien Levy, Richard Huelsenbeck, Alexander Calder, Ceal Bryson, Eugene Pellegrini, Williem de Vogel, W. Sandberg, Dorothea Ernst, Max Ernst, Jean Cocteau, Paul Bowles, Achmed ben el Yaccoubi.

Eight artistic, experimental variations and interpretations on the game of chess, which use Dadaist poets, painters, artists and filmmakers who not only direct their sequences but also star in them. 70 min. Video 999:2269

Everyday(1929)

Video/C MM438

Film Study (Filmstudie) (1926)

11 min. Video 999:1593

Ghosts Before Breakfast (Vormittagsspuk) (1927-28)

A lively absurdist piece, featuring juxtapositions of everyday objects taking on new roles in most unusual settings. Video 999:964 (also on 999:1593)

Give Chance a Chance(1927-28)

Documentary and interview with artist-sculptor-filmmaker-surrealist Hans Richter. 27 min. Video/C 5964

Hans Richter: Early Avant-Garde Films

"Richter on Film" (1972, 14 mins.) is an interview with Hans Richter at age 83 in his Connecticut home, talking about his early experimental films and their relationship to this paintings, scrolls and collages. The pioneer work "Rhythm 21" ("Rhythmus 21" 1921-4)[also on DVD 4191]orchestrates the squares and rectangles of the film screen, while "Rhythm 23" ("Rhythmus 23", 1923, 3 mins., silent) features criss-cross patterns, negative reversals, intercut stringed forms, and further variations of the rectangle and square. "Film Study (Filmstudie)" (1926, 4 mins.), integrates abstract images with their recognizable counterparts. "Ghosts Before Breakfast" ("Vormittagespuk", 1927-8, 7 mins.)[also on DVD 4191] is Richter's witty, cinegenic mini-classic on the universal theme of the object's revolt and an excellent introduction to avant-garde film for all audiences. "Inflation" ("Inflation", 1926-9) and "Everything Turns, Everything Revolves" ("Alles Dreht Sich, Alles Bewegt Sich", 1926-9, 9 mins.) are two cinema essays reflecting life in pre-Nazi Germany, using inventive documentary and avant-garde techniques. "Race Symphony" ("Rennsymphonie", 1928-9) is an excerpt from Richter's study of a day at the races in pre-Nazi Germany. "Two-Penny Magic" (1928-9, 10 mins.) is an essay in rhyming images, made to advertise a picture magazine. 42 min. Video 999:1593

Hans Richter: Maler und Filmpionier

Hans Richter was involved with film production all his life. He experimented with abstract forms on film starting with his 1921 work Rythm 21. The Nazis counted him among the degenerate artists and in 1941 he emigrated to the United States and became an American citizen several years later. 198? 47 min. Video/C 8111

I Live in the Present: Investigation into the Work of Filmmaker Hans Richter. (Ich lebe in der gegenwart: versuch uber Hans Richter).

A documentary examining the life and work of artist and filmmaker Hans Richter in which he talks about his style in painting, drawing, collage annd filmmaking. Includes many film clips and examples of his work. Excerpts from: Jean Arp, Poupoupoup -- Rhythm 21 (1921) -- Filmstudie (1926) -- Inflation (1928) -- Ghosts before breakfast -- Dreams that money can buy (1947) -- La Chanson Dada / Tristan Tzara. c1985. 46 min. Video/C 6792

Rhythmus 21.

Pioneer work by an artist who was among the first to make the transition from abstract painting to abstract film (along with Walter Ruttmann and Viking Eggeling). DVD 4191; also on VHS Video 999:964 and Video 999:1593)

Rhythmus 23.

Criss-Cross patterns, negative reversals, intercut stringed forms, and further variations of rectangle and square. Video 999:964 (also on 999:1593)

Two-Penny Magic (Zweigroschenzauber).(1928-29)

10 min Video 999:1593 (also on 999:1593)

Walther Ruttmann

Books/articles about Ruttmann in the Berkeley Library

Berlin, The Symphony of a Great City (1927)

A cross section of life in Berlin from dawn to midnight on a late spring day. Uses montage, cutting, and editing to capture the pulse and tempo of this city. 72 min. DVD 64; also on VHS Video/C 999:2581; also on Video/C 999:307

Opus I (1922)

An abstract experimental animation film, made in the minimal style which Ruttmann developed at the Bauhaus. A rare example of German avant-garde cinema.10 min. DVD 64; also on VHS Video/C 999:2581; also on videodisc Video/D 149

Jeffrey Skoller

The Malady of Death(1994)

An adaptation of Marguerite Duras's story of the same name that explores males sexuality. Her text comprises voice-over by an unspecified narrator who names and describes 'the malady' and of a man and woman's sexual encounters. The male is multiplied, depicted by many men, each photographed nude, variously fragmented and abstracted, studied and distanced. The 'she' is literally absent from the image but present metaphorically, 'possessed' but not known. Cinematography by Nancy Schiesari and Jeffrey Skoller. Text Performed by J. D. Trow. 43 min. DVD 6717

Harry Smith

Heaven and Earth Magic(1964)

Using surrealist and animation techniques, Smith's film no. 12 is a graphic description of initiation, redemption and spiritual transformation couched in the language of Qabalah, alchemy and experimental psychology. Applying cut up techniques to animate collages of familiar images, the first part depicts the heroine's toothache, her dentistry and transportation to heaven. The second part depicts the return to earth from being eaten by Max Muller on the day Edward the Seventh dedicated the great sewer of London. 66 min. Video/C 9226

Late Superimpositions (aka no. 14)(1964)

An abstract film combining animation and live action created by Harry Smith, an innovative filmmaker who hand-painted onto film, frame by frame and used collage to animate his films. He describes this work as: "superimposed to photography of Mr. Fleischman's butcher shop in New York, and the Kiowa aroko, Oklahoma, with cognate materia. The strip is dark at the beginning and the end ... I honor it the most of my films."

Paul Strand

Manhatta

Directed and photographed by Paul Strand, Charles Sheeler. A silent avant-garde short film about New York seen in terms of its geometric architecture and the movement patterns of ships and people. Based on a poem by Walt Whitman. 1921. 10 min. Included on DVD 2840; DVD 4670; DVD 4191

Jean Vigo

Books/articles about Vigo in the Berkeley Library

The Complete Jean Vigo (1930-34)

Although Jean Vigo died at the age of 29 having made just four films -- of which two are undisputed masterpieces -- he is unquestionably one of the great masters of French cinema. This compilation of his works includes all four films plus an additional disc of commentary and documentary films on his works.

Disc 1. `A propos de Nice (1933) -- Taris, champion de natation (1930) -- Zero de conduite (1933) -- L'Atalante (1934). -- Disc 2. Filmmakers of our time: Jean Vigo (Documentary, 1964 by Jacquew Rozier) -- The voyages of "L'Atalante" [various versions of the film released over the yeas]. -- Sound regained [on restoration of the film sound tracks]. -- Otar Iosselian interview. -- Vigo biography. -- Stills & poster gallery. Credits: (`A propos de Nice) Realisation de Jean Vigo et Boris Kaufman; (Taris, champion de natation) Realise par Jean Vigo; (Zero de conduite) Scenario et realisation: Jean Vigo; prises de vues de Boris Kaufman; musique de Maurice Jaubert; (L'Atalante) Realisation de Jean Vigo, d'apr`es un scenario de Jean Guinee; adaptation et dialogues de Vigo et Riera; musique de Maurice Jaubert. Cast: (Zero de conduite) Jean Daste, Robert le Flon, du Verron, Delphin ... ; (L'Atalante) Michel Simon, Dita Parlo, Jean Daste, Gilles Margaritis. DVD 3482

A Propos de Nice.(1929)

Impressions of Nice, France, featuring the Mardi Gras celebration. Employs some Surrealist or Dada techniques. DVD 3482; vhs Video 999:1151

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Post World War II Avant Garde and Experimental Film and Video

Cinema Different (Different Cinema)

Ten short films, each of which has been presented at one of several Different Cinema Festivals of Paris. They represent a panoramic view of contemporary experimental creations, where visuals take precedence over narration and guide the direction of the films. Themes include: games, desire, encounters, the search for an identity, representation and society. I Motion (7 min., 1995) / written & directed, Rozenn Nobilet -- Sentimental journey (10 min., 2003) / written & directed, Tony Wu & Georges Hsin -- Tandem: faux raccords (6 min., 2001) / written & directed, Colas Ricard & Martin Gracineau -- Geminga (9 min., (2003) / written & directed, Hugo Verlinde -- Ganeden (17 min., 2003) / written & directed, Maurice Lemaitre -- Introspection (5 min., 2002) / written & directed, Richard Beaune -- Jardin prive (12 min., 2000) / written & directed, Stephane Marti -- Our former glory (8 min., 2002) / written & directed, Robert Todd -- I'm (not) seen (5 min., 2003) / written & directed, Takahiko Iimura -- Unfolding (4 min., 2002) / written & directed, Egbert Mittelstadt. Originally produced as motion pictures from 1995 to 2003. Dist: Lowave 93 min. DVD 4425

Destricted

Impaled / Larry Clark -- House call / Richard Prince (12 min.) -- Hoist / Matthew Barney (15 min.) -- Balkan erotic epic / Marina Abramov (13 min.) -- Sync / Marco Brambilla (2 min.) -- Death Valley / Sam Taylor-Wood (8 min.) -- We F*ck alone / Gaspar Noe (23 min.) A collection of shorts linked by a common theme. Two of them are directed by acclaimed film directors and the other five are made by heavyweights from the world of contemporary art. All were invited to make films on their views of sex and pornography. DVD 6385

Experiments in Terror

Curated by Noel Lawrence. Contents: Outer space / Peter Tscherkassky (1999, 10 min.) -- Ursula / Lloyd M. Williams (1961, 13 min.) -- Journey into the unknown / Kerry Laitala (2002, 5 min.) -- The virgin sacrifice / J.X. Williams (1969, 9 min. (excerpt)) -- Tuning the sleep machine / David Sherman (1996, 13 min.) -- Dawn of an evil millennium / Damon Packard (1988, 21 min.). A compilation of the work of experimental filmmakers working within and in dialogue with the genre of the horror film, profoundly expanding the cinematic language of fear. Visionary cinematography and masterful montage of rare film artifacts probe every dark corner of the human psyche, with morbid curiosity and in lurid detail!

Special features: Excerpts from Jenni Olson's "Trailer camp" and "Bride of trailer camp" (1950s-1970s, 14 min.); Psychorama subliminal messaging (1959, 5 min.); "The haunted mouth", with Cesar Romero (1973, 13 min.); upcoming releases from Other Cinema. 106 min. DVD 3743

t's Not My Memory of It: Three Recollected Documents

A documentary about secrecy, memory, and documents. Mobilizing specific historical records as memories which flash up in moments of danger, the tape addresses the expansion and intensification of secrecy practices in the current climate of heightened security. A former CIA source recounts his disappearance through shredded classified documents that were painstakingly reassembled by radical fundamentalist students in Iran in 1979. A CIA film called "Burial at Sea"--Recorded in 1974 but unacknowledged until 1992 - documents the burial at sea of six Soviet sailors, in a ceremony which collapses Cold War antagonisms in a moment of death and honor. Images pertaining to a publicly acknowledged but top secret U.S. missile strike in Yemen in 2002 are the source of a concluding reflection on the role of documents in the constitution of the dynamic of knowing and not knowing. "Interviews conducted in July 2000 with Ed Cohen (Office of Information Management, CIA), Steven Garfinkel (Information Security Oversight Office), and Lee Strickland (Information Review Group, CIA)." Disclosure without ceremony -- Ceremony with footage -- Footage without incident. A project of the Speculative Archive ; produced by Julia Meltzer. Texts: David Thorne. Dist.: Video Data Bank. 25 min. Video/C MM529

Urban Visions

11 short films from London, Paris, New York, Helsinki, Milan and elsewhere, presenting different visions of urban life as art, fiction, and social commentary. These films will take you, beyond borders, to discover urban subcultures under a new light. Urban Visons includes both the extraordinary as well as the perfectly ordinary. It's about everyday life, real and unreal, as seen through the eyes of independent and cutting-edge film-makers with a dedication to form, rhythm, and color. These works are witness to a new wave of film as art without limits of creativity and style and free of technical and financial constraints. Urban Visions proves that now just like the big city, anything is possible. Push / Gorka Aguado (4:29) -- One last thing / Hilton Earl (5:15) -- Fausse solitude / Pierre-Yves Cruaud (5:45) -- Der letzte Flug / Lombardi-Clan (11:24) -- Pako / Nosfe (1:27) -- Hi-fi / Sean Baker (5:34) -- Novanta / GG Tarantola (12:10) -- When the floor became the ceiling / Rudolf Buitendach (6:03) -- Raus aus seinen Kleidern / Corinna Schnitt (7:18) -- Promenaux / Stefano Canapa (11:19) -- The strip mall trilogy / Roger Beebe (9:06). Dist: Lowave DVD 6393

Nomads and No-zones: Western Essays

Films by Greta Snider and Vanessa Renwick. Special features: Great Snider's flash animation (Story of my tatto, Drinking and biking, Black blocker); upcoming releases from Other Cinema. The yodeling lesson / Vanessa Renwick -- Hardcore home movie / Greta Snider -- Crowdog / Vanessa Renwick -- Portland / Greta Snider -- Richart / Vanessa Renwick -- Urine man / Greta Snider -- Westward Ho! / Vanessa Renwick -- No-zone / Greta Snider -- 9 is a secret / Vanessa Renwick.

From two of the West's bravest filmmakers comes some short films that are gritty, romantic, frank, and poetic. The short films criss-cross genres from documentary to experimental to personal narrative often in the same movie. 2005. 91 min. DVD 3753

Peripheral Produce All Time Greatest Hits

Contents: Getting stronger every day / Miranda July -- Wustenspringmaus / Jim Finn -- The subconscious art of graffiti removal / Matt McCormick -- Stuffing / Animal Charm -- Removed / Naomi Uman -- Election collectibles / Bryan Boyce -- N Judah 5:30 / Sam Green -- Oona's veil / Brian Frye -- Crowdog / Vanessa Renwick -- Buffalo common / Bill Brown. A collection of experimental, abstract and short videos representing some of the best contemporary underground cinema produced in the 1990s. 90 min. DVD 2801

Point of View: An Anthology of the Moving Image.

A series presenting a point of entry for contemporary artists working in video, film and digital imagery who represent different generations and cultural perspectives. Produced by Bick Productions, Ilene Kurtz-Kretzschmar and Caroline Bourgeois and the New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York. Published on the occasion of the exhibition at the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York City, February 27-May 2, 2004.

Francis Alys. Contents: Video: El gringo / (4 min., 2003) -- Interview (2003) -- Image gallery -- biography. In El Gringo, created by the Belgian artist Francis Alys, viewers experience the discomfort of being an outsider when the camera is confronted by a pack of snarling dogs. Film is followed by an in-depth interview with the video artist. DVD 2419

David Claerbout. Contents: Video: Le moment / David Claerbout (3 min., 2003) -- Interview (2003) -- Image gallery -- biography. In Le moment, created by the Belgian artist David Claerbout, cinematic techniques are used to create a suspenseful journey through a dimly lit forest that reaches an unexpected conclusion. Film is followed by an in-depth interview with the video artist. DVD 2420

Douglas Gordon. Contents: Video: Over my shoulder / Douglas Gordon (14 min., 2003) -- Interview (2003) -- Image gallery -- biography. In Over my shoulder, created by the Scottish artist Douglas Gordon, the artist uses hand gesticulations against a white sheet to communicate violent and sensual emotions. Film is followed by an in-depth interview with the video artist. DVD 2421

Gary Hill. Contents: Video: Blind spot / Gary Hill (13 min., 2003) -- Interview (2003) -- Image gallery -- biography. In Blind spot, created by the American artist Gary Hill, a brief encounter in the street with a man in a southern French city that has a large North African population is slowed down, forcing the viewer into an intimate relationship with the subject and the shifting emotions in his face. Film is followed by an in-depth interview with video artist. DVD 2422

Pierre Huyghe. Contents: Video: I Jedi / Pierre Huyghe (5 min., 2003) -- Interview (2003) -- Image gallery -- biography. In I Jedi, created by the French artist Pierre Huyghe, the film references Andy Warhol's Empire State and pays homage to Steven Spielberg's Close Encounters by incorporating the Devil's Tower monument made famous in the film. Huyghe splits the screen in half, creating a mood of suspense, as the viewer waits for a correction that never takes place. Film is followed by an in-depth interview with the video artist. DVD 2423

Joan Jonas. Contents: Video: Waltz / Joan Jonas (7 min., 2003) -- Interview (2003) -- Image gallery -- biography. In Waltz, a filmed performance piece created by the American artist Joan Jonas, she pays homage to 18th century French outdoor theater, incorporating mythology into the narrative alongside spontaneously occurring events. Film is followed by an in-depth interview with the video artist. DVD 2424

Isaac Julien. Contents: Video: Encore (Paradise Omeros: redux) / Isaac Julien (5 min., 2003) -- Interview (2003) -- Image gallery -- biography. Encore (Paradise Omeros: redux) created by the English artist Isaac Julien, presents stunning, color-saturated images that refer to the African Diaspora and the quest to find roots in a New World. Film is followed by an in-depth interview with the video artist. DVD 2425

William Kentridge. Contents: Video: Automatic writing / William Kentridge (3 min., 2003) -- Interview (2003) -- Image gallery -- biography. In Automatic writing, created by the South African artist William Kentridge, the artist's beautiful series of animated black and white drawings brings viewers into the artist's unconscious, using surrealist techniques to explore the point where writing and drawing intersect. Film is followed by an in-depth interview with the video artist. DVD 2426

Paul McCarthy. Contents: Video: WWG (Wild gone girls) / Paul McCarthy (6 min., 2003) -- Interview (2003) -- Image gallery -- biography. WWW (Wild gone girls), a filmed performance piece created by the American artist Paul McCarthy, depicts a sailing party gone wrong. McCarthy questions the effects that violence and mutilation, both real and simulated, have on the viewer in contemporary culture. Film is followed by an in-depth interview with the video artist. DVD 2427

Pipilotti Rist. Contents: Video: I want to see you / Pipilotti Rist (5 min., 2003) -- Interview (2003) -- Image gallery -- biography. I want to see you, created by the Swiss artist Pipilotti Rist, explores the macrocosm of humanity in a video, art and music collaboration. A lyrical tale of a witch's coven is played over images of a person where each body part symbolically represents an area of the world. Film is followed by an in-depth interview with the video artist. DVD 2428

Anri Sala. Contents: Video: Time after time / Anri Sala (5 min., 2003) -- Interview (2003) -- Image gallery -- biography. In Time after time, created by the Albanian artist Anri Sala, oblique and barely moving frames stimulate the viewers' visual and auditory capacity by forcing them to concentrate on a single puzzling image until its essence is revealed in an unexpected flash of light. Film is followed by an in-depth interview with the video artist. DVD 2429

Processing the Signal

Participants: Bill Viola, Nam June Paik, Kit Fitzgerald, Paul Garrin, John Sanborn, Mary Perillo, Zbigniew Rybczynski, Peer Bode, John Hanhardt, Ira Schneider, Reynold Weidenaar, Dean Winkler. Filmed in America in 1988 and 1989 this documentary brings together some of the most innovative artists of video art to discuss their ideas and opinions. Also covers video installations, satellite art, video performance and the penetration of video art into conventional television. 38 min. Video/C 6595

Recycling Film History: Found Footage Filme

A collection of avant-garde shorts originally produced in Austrian between 1992-2005. Definitely Sanctus / Sabine Hiebler & Gerhardt Ertl (1992, 4 min.) -- Welt Spiegel Kino - Episode 1 / Gustav Deutsch (2005, 30 min.) -- Passagen / Lisl Ponger (1996, 12 min.) -- Mirror mechanics / Siegfried A. Fruhauf (2005, 7 min.) -- S.O.S. Estraterrestria / Mara Mattuschka (1993, 10 min.)-- To the happy few / Thomas Draschan & Stella Friedrichs (2003, 4 min.) -- Verdrehte Augen / Dietmar Brehm (2002, 12 min.) -- Blah blah blah / Dietmar Brehm (2006, 12 min.) -- Happy end / Peter Tscherkassky (1999, 10 min.) -- Outer space / Peter Tscherkassky (1999, 10 min.) -- Passage `a l'acte / Martin Arnold (1993, 12 min.) DVD 7736

Soft Cinema: Navigating the Database

Videodisc version of an art installation of three films created with the use of image databases, in which the contents of each film are drawn from a unique database programmed to display a different sequence of video clips and screen layouts at each viewing. Mission to earth (ca. 23 min.) -- Absences (ca. 8 min.) -- Texas (ca. 13 min.) Special features: Interview with Lev Manovich ; database visualization