This page will feature info and ephemera related to experimental filmmaking, history, exhibition, etc. In particular, I’m eager to research and record here the very ill-documented and ephemeral histories of experimental film exhibition and circulation. I may rethink this section, but for now, it’s a spot I created to place a few pieces of information I thought would be interesting to share, and important to document in some way.
“Experimental Film”
I’ve idly wondered for years when the term “experimental film” came into common usage, and beyond that, when and where it originated from, not that I expect there’s any simple answer to these mysteries. This is more than anything just a sort of dumping ground for references on the origin of the term “experimental film”, and not a definitive history or investigation per se. I would love to receive other references and info on this topic if you feel like contributing them!
CREATIVE FILM ASSOCIATES
Creative Film Associates — founded by Curtis Harrington and Kenneth Anger in 1948 — represents one of the earliest attempts in the United States for artists to create a distribution organization of some kind to represent experimental films.
CREATIVE FILM SOCIETY
Important early experimental film distributor founded by Robert Pike in 1957 in the Los Angeles area.
ENCOUNTER CINEMA
Encounter Cinema was an experimental film exhibitor that existed in Los Angeles under the direction of Douglas Edwards from 1979-1984. Here you’ll find some basic background about it, as well as a complete listing of its experimental film programming activities (in progress).
GENESIS FILMS
Genesis Films was a project started in 1968 by a UCLA graduate named Reg Childs, to gather interesting student films into curated programs and tour them around the country.
L.A.F.C.O. (LOS ANGELES FILM MAKERS COOPERATIVE) (1970s)
The Los Angeles Film Makers Coop (precise name still TBC) existed in the early 1970s as a distributor of 16mm Los Angeles artists’ films. It may have been founded/run by Chick Strand, but I’m still tracking down further info about it, of which there is very little.
LOS ANGELES INDEPENDENT FILM OASIS
The Los Angeles Independent Film Oasis was founded by a group of filmmakers in 1976 for the purposes of exhibiting historical and contemporary experimental/independent/arthouse cinema in Los Angeles. It presented its final screening in 1981.
VISIONS
Visions was a touring package of mostly psychedelic animation compiled in 1975 by Voyage Productions and shown in a handful of Southern California venues.
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This is maybe the most eclectic and undefined section of the whole site, and it may evolve as I add things to it. In the meantime, I’m eventually hoping to put together and host pages here on the following ephemeral entities:
THEATRE VANGUARD
THE INTERNATIONAL TOURNEE OF ANIMATION
NO NOTHING CINEMA
As with anything else on this site, please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have additions/corrections/etc. to the info presented here!
LIGHTSTRUCK 