Encounter Cinema was an experimental film exhibitor that existed in Los Angeles under the direction of Douglas Edwards from 1979-1984, describing itself as “A Series of Independent/Experimental Films and Filmmakers”. Following the dissolution of its partial predecessor, Theatre Vanguard, Edwards began organizing Encounter Cinema as early as 1978, finding funding and sponsorship and creating partnerships with UCLA Film Archives (as it was then known), UCLA Department of Fine Arts Productions, and the Craft and Folk Art Museum (formerly The Egg and the Eye gallery, where Edwards had previously done film programming between approximately 1970-73, and now called Craft Contemporary). Once Edwards started working at AMPAS, the program was also listed as being “in cooperation with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences”, as Edwards continued to run Encounter Cinema independently while also producing programs for the Academy.
The first Encounter Cinema show was on October 2, 1979, and although this is to be confirmed, I believe its final show was December 4, 1984. A Variety article from 2/12/85 with the headline “Encounter Cinema Calling It Quits, Cites Fund Woes”, indicates that Encounter Cinema received only 50% of its usual grant from the NEA that cycle, and in response, Edwards decided to end Encounter Cinema rather than produce “a meaningless, minimal schedule”.
Douglas Edwards was a key figure in the exhibition of experimental film in Los Angeles, not just through his involvement with The Egg and the Eye, Theatre Vanguard, and Encounter Cinema, as well as Filmex and LACMA, but even intersecting with his role as a special events programmer with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. His work with the Academy and his commitment to experimental film enabled some of the earliest Academy events involving experimental filmmakers to happen (specifically, the Light, Color, Movement, and Time: Aspects of the Avant-Garde Film series of seminars starting in Fall 1981). It was Edwards who was able to supply Stan Brakhage with 70mm and 70mm IMAX film material for Brakhage to create The Dante Quartet (1987) and Night Music (1986), and Brakhage’s film Blossom Gift/Favor (1993) is dedicated by him to Edwards, made upon his passing. Edwards worked at the Academy from 1980 until his death from AIDS-related complications on February 2, 1993.
Below is a tentative list of the programming activities of Encounter Cinema during its 1979-1984 run. I was able to compile this info with big thanks to the Margaret Herrick Library of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, where Edwards’ collection resides. Filmmaker names and film titles were occasionally spelled incorrectly in the original programs, and I have corrected those in the interests of accuracy of identification for those artists and their films. I have identified filmmaker names in cases of mixed-artist programs, and in instances where the film is not otherwise well documented, I have also provided the year, if stated. It should also go without saying that the reality of these events may deviate in some ways from the stated information about them as presented in these program notes, e.g. a film may have been swapped or left out, an unannounced film added, etc.
The Fall 1979 Screenings were held at Dickson Auditorium and Melnitz Auditorium. Starting in Winter 1980, all screenings were at Melnitz until Fall 1980, when Traction Gallery in Downtown L.A. was added as a venue, with Tuesday screenings typically at Melnitz and Thursday screenings at Traction. From Spring 1982 until its end, screenings were all held at Melnitz, with few exceptions. Throughout its existence, the series was credited as “under the direction of Douglas Edwards”, with Coordinators/Liaisons from partner organizations credited as well (Geoff Gilmore and, later, also Claire Aguilar at UCLA Film Archives, and David Moreno at Traction Gallery).
OCT-DEC 1979 CALENDAR
Encounter Cinema
A Series of Independent/Experimental Films and Filmmakers
Co-sponsored by the Craft and Folk Art Museum
and the UCLA Film Archives
in cooperation with the UCLA Department of Fine Arts Productions
Series under the direction of Douglas Edwards
Funded in part by a grant from the NEA
Venues: Dickson Auditorium, Melnitz Auditorium (UCLA)
admission: $2 general, $1.50 students & CAFAM members
10/2/79
8pm, Dickson
Essential Cinema:
American Independents/The Cutting Edge, 1921-1976
An expansive overview of 55 years of influential, individual expression on film with key examples of “avant-garde,” “experimental,” “underground,” “personal,” and “independent” cinema.
Manhatta (Paul Strand & Charles Sheeler)
The Life and Death of 9413: A Hollywood Extra (Robert Florey & Slavko Vorkapich)
Glens Falls Sequence (Douglass Crockwell)
Radio Dynamics (Oskar Fischinger)
Meshes of the Afternoon (Maya Deren)
Geography of the Body (Willard Maas)
Film Exercise 5 (John & James Whitney)
A Movie (Bruce Conner)
Little Stabs at Happiness (Ken Jacobs)
Re-Entry (Jordan Belson)
Fire of Waters (Stan Brakhage)
Cassis (Jonas Mekas)
T,O,U,C,H,I,N,G (Paul Sharits)
69 (Robert Breer)
Lemon (Hollis Frampton)
Surfacing on the Thames (David Rimmer)
Serene Velocity (Ernie Gehr)
Light Traps (Louis Hock)
X (Vincent Grenier)
The entire program will run approximately 3 ½ hours, with 2 intermissions. Complimentary refreshments will be served.
10/11/79
8pm, Dickson
Ed Emshwiller In Person
Titles include Dance Chromatic, Lifelines, Thanatopsis, Totem, Relativity, Branches, Chrysalis, and others.
10/16/79
8pm, Dickson
Stan Brakhage In Person
Titles include Duplicity I & II, Thot-fal’n, Sluice, @, and Nightmare Series, in their LA premieres.
10/21/79
2pm, Dickson
Narrative Directions: George Kuchar
Kuchar in person, presenting “five recent works in their Los Angeles premieres”.
10/23/79
8pm, Dickson
Essential Cinema: Sex and the American Independent/Experimental Film
Program I
A continuing survey of the reflections of sex, sexual attitudes and eroticism in the American avant-garde cinema.
Puce Moment (Kenneth Anger)
The Bed (James Broughton)
Five Times Marilyn [sic] (Bruce Conner)
Blonde Cobra (Ken Jacobs)
Fuses (Carolee Schneemann)
Fireworks (Kenneth Anger)
Filet of Soul (Victor Faccinto)
10/30/79
8pm, Dickson
Scott Bartlett In Person
Titles include Offon, Metanomen, Moon, and others, as well as several recent titles in their Los Angeles premieres.
11/6/79
8pm, Melnitz
Bastian Clevé In Person
San Francisco Zephyr
11/11/79
2pm, Melnitz
Narrative Directions: Chantal Akerman
Akerman in person (tentative)
je tu il elle
Letters From Home
11/13/79
8pm, Melnitz
Essential Cinema: Sex and the American Independent/Experimental Film
Program II
Nudes (A Sketchbook) (Curt McDowell)
Take Off (Gunvor Nelson)
Corruption of the Damned (George Kuchar)
Hold Me While I’m Naked (George Kuchar)
11/20/79
8pm, Melnitz
Hellmuth Costard In Person
Football as Never Before
The Oppression of Woman is Primarily Evident in the Behavior of the Women Themselves
plus The Little Godard (Jan Dawson)
in L.A. premieres
11/27/79
8pm, Melnitz
Warren Sonbert In Person
Carriage Trade and the LA premiere of Divided Loyalties
12/2/79
2pm, Dickson
Narrative Directions: Steve Dwoskin
Dwoskin in person
“Feature TBA and sampling of shorts”
12/4/79
8pm, Melnitz
Essential Cinema: Sex and the American Independent/Experimental Film
Program III
A continuing survey of the reflections of sex, sexual attitudes and eroticism in the American avant-garde cinema.
Lovemaking (Stan Brakhage)
Seed Reel (Mary Beams)
Window Wind Chimes Part One (Vincent Grenier)
The Discovery of the Body (John Heinz, 1968)
Plum (James Herbert)
Sexual Meditations: Hotel, Faun’s Room – Yale, Office Suite, Room with View, Open Field (Stan Brakhage)
JAN-MAR 1980 CALENDAR
Encounter Cinema
A Series of Independent/Experimental Films and Filmmakers
Co-sponsored by the Craft and Folk Art Museum
and the UCLA Film Archive
in cooperation with the UCLA Department of Fine Arts Productions
Series under the direction of Douglas Edwards. Project coordinated by Geoff Gilmore.
Funded in part by a grant from the NEA
Venue: all screenings at Melnitz Auditorium (UCLA)
admission: $2 general, $1.50 students, CAFAM members, and Friends of the Archive
1/8/80
8pm
Special Presentation:
L.A. Optical
A selection of both personal and commercial work done by Southern California filmmakers specializing in the use of the optical printer and computer graphics systems. Filmmakers represented will include: Rob Blalack, Jeff Carpenter, Chris Casady, Larry Cuba, and Richard Taylor. Several filmmakers will be in attendance to discuss their work.
1/13/80
2pm
Narrative Directions: Richard Myers
Myers in person
Floorshow
Coronation
1/15/80
8pm
Essential Cinema: Sex and the American Independent/Experimental Film
Program IV
A continuing survey of the reflections of sex, sexual attitudes and eroticism in the American avant-garde cinema.
Scorpio Rising (Kenneth Anger)
The Secret of Wendell Sampson (Mike Kuchar)
Fragments (Mike Kuchar)
Trixi (Stephen Dwoskin)
Lovemaking (Scott Bartlett)
Crocus (Suzan Pitt)
Chinamoon (Barbara Linkevitch)
1/22/80
8pm
Tom DeWitt In Person
Atmosfear, Fall, The Leap, and others, as well as recent films and video works (in collaboration with Vibeke Sorensen) in their LA premieres.
1/24/80
8pm
Robert Polidori In Person
including Genetic Codes, Muremur Dipthong, D/Isolation, Erbalunga
1/29/80
8pm
Narrative Directions:
New York/New Wave Super-8 Narratives
Film critic and lecturer Edit de Ak will present and discussion a selection of works drawn from current Super-8 narrative filmmaking activity associated with the “New Wave” music scene in New York City. Artists represented will (tentatively) include: James Norris, Scott & Beth B, Eric Mitchell, Vivienne Dick, Pat Place, Alan Moore, and Becky Johnson. Presented in association with the Foundation for Art Resources (F.A.R.).
2/5/80
8pm
Curt McDowell In Person
San Francisco-based filmmaker McDowell will present and discuss a retrospective selection of his award-winning films, including excerpts from his erotic feature Thundercrack and the feature work-in-progress Sparkle’s Tavern.
Special admission prices for this presentation only: $3 general; $2 students and CAFAM members. Box office proceeds will go toward the completion of Sparkle’s Tavern.
2/10/80
2pm
Narrative Directions:
Scott B & Beth B
artists in person
including G-man, Letters to Dad, Black Box, in their LA premieres
2/12/80
8pm
Essential Cinema: Sex and the American Independent/Experimental Film
Program V
A continuing survey of the reflections of sex, sexual attitudes and eroticism in the American avant-garde cinema.
Salome (Nazimova)
Lot in Sodom (James Sibley Watson & Melville Webber)
Fragment of Seeking (Curtis Harrington)
The Adventures of Jimmy (James Broughton)
Ineluctible Modality of the Visible (Lenny Lipton)
Cybele (Donald Richie, 1968)
2/19/80
8pm
Shirley Clarke In Person
Four Journeys in Mystic Time, 24 Frames-Per-Second, and the tentative premiere of Video Theatre.
2/26/80
8pm
Danny Lyon In Person
incl Los Niños Abandonados, and El Otro Lado in its LA premiere
3/2/80
2pm
Lawrence Wiener In Person
including Done To, and Altered To Suit in their LA premieres
3/4/80
8pm
Essential Cinema:
Films by Len Lye
including Colour Box, Rainbow Dance, Trade Tattoo, Swinging the Lambeth Walk, The Birth of the Robot, and other titles
APR-JUN 1980 CALENDAR
Encounter Cinema
A Series of Independent/Experimental Films and Filmmakers
Co-sponsored by the Craft and Folk Art Museum
and the UCLA Film Archive
in cooperation with the UCLA Department of Fine Arts Productions
Series under the direction of Douglas Edwards. Project coordinated by Geoff Gilmore.
Funded in part by a grant from the NEA
Venue: all screenings at Melnitz Auditorium (UCLA)
admission: $2.50 general, $2 students, CAFAM members, and Friends of the Archive
4/6/80
2pm
Robert Huot In Person
“a selection of his earlier 16mm as well as his recent Super-8 works”
4/8/80
8pm
Essential Cinema: Sex and the American Independent/Experimental Film
Program VI
A continuing survey of the reflections of sex, sexual attitudes and eroticism in the American avant-garde cinema.
The Club (George Griffin)
Sneakin’ and Peekin’ (Tom Palazzolo)
Moons Pool (Gunvor Nelson)
Hand and Body Transformations (Byron Grush, 1976)
I Don’t Know (Penelope Spheeris)
Screw (Margaret Bailey Doogan, 1977)
Hot Nasty (Tom Palazzolo)
Stand Up and Be Counted (Freude & Scott Bartlett)
Cathedral (Ronald Chase, 1972)
Blue Streak (Mark Rappaport, 1971)
4/15/80
8pm
Walter Gutman In Person
Sappho, The Erotic Signal, Anaktoria Among the Roses
4/22/80
8pm
Kurt Kren In Person
“a dozen short films completed between 1960 and 1979”
4/29/80
8pm
Robert Richter In Person
Vietnam: An American Journey
5/6/80
8pm
Tim Bruce In Person
including Corrigan, Having Recovered, Visit, A Cup of Tea – A Film
5/11/80
2pm
Special Presentation:
Journeys From Berlin/1971 by Yvonne Rainer
5/13/80
8pm
Dennis Pies In Person
4 live performance pieces including:
Voice Presence for Hand Held Screen
The Nares Chamber
Terminal Self for Wax Screen
The Green Child (premiere)
and a selection of animated films:
Surface Work, Merkaba, Aura Corona, Luma Nocturna, Sonoma, Hand Piece
5/20/80
8pm
Jon Jost In Person
Last Chants for a Slow Dance
5/25/80
2pm
Essential Cinema:
Absolute Animation
A survey of recent works which confront the “essence” of film animation. Filmmakers represented will include Jules Engel, Frank Mouris, John Whitney Sr., Larry Cuba, Adam Beckett, Dennis Pies, Norman McLaren, Barry Spinello, George Griffin, and Al Jarnow.
5/27/80
8pm
Andrej Zdravic In Person
Home, Maria’s World, Breath, Venice, and selections from New York Studies.
6/3/80
8pm
Willie Varela In Person
“a retrospective selection”
JUL-SEP 1980 CALENDAR
Encounter Cinema
A Series of Independent/Experimental Films and Filmmakers
Co-sponsored by the Craft and Folk Art Museum
and the UCLA Film Archive
in cooperation with the UCLA Department of Fine Arts Productions
Series under the direction of Douglas Edwards. Project coordinated by Geoff Gilmore.
Funded in part by a grant from the NEA
Venue: all screenings at Melnitz Auditorium (UCLA)
admission: free (this calendar only)
1979 WHITNEY BIENNIAL FILM EXHIBITION
The Whitney Museum of American Art Biennial Exhibition is an invitational survey of some of the most important and provocative art produced during the preceding two years by living American artists. The 1979 Biennial was the first in the Whitney’s history to present a selection of film. John G. Hanhardt, Curator of Film and Video, and Mark Segal, Assistant Curator, were responsible for the selection of major new works of the American avant-garde by both well-known and emerging artists. The result is a six-part survey of 19 films by 18 artists. It includes works in the autobiographical or diary mode, explorations of narrative structures, animation, performance-based work, and films that investigate a multitude of compositional and structural issues.
7/1/80
8pm
1979 Whitney Biennial Film Program I:
Six Colorful Inside Jobs (John Baldessari)
One Way Boogie Woogie (James Benning)
7/15/80
8pm
1979 Whitney Biennial Film Program II:
Divided Loyalties (Warren Sonbert)
Lived Time (Martha Haslanger, 1978)
Landscape and Room (David Haxton)
Analytical Studies II: Un-framed-lines (Paul Sharits, 1978)
7/29/80
8pm
1979 Whitney Biennial Film Program III:
Four Shadows (Larry Gottheim, 1978)
The March on Paris 1914 – of Generaloberst Alexander von Kluck – and His Memory of Jessie Holladay (Walter Gutman, 1977)
8/12/80
8pm
1979 Whitney Biennial Film Program IV:
77 (Robert Breer)
LMNO (Robert Breer)
Valse Triste (Bruce Conner)
Otherwise Unexplained Fires (Hollis Frampton)
Sincerity III (Stan Brakhage)
8/26/80
8pm
1979 Whitney Biennial Film Program V:
5 Films (Stuart Sherman, 1978)
Incontinence (Manuel Delanda)
The Burghers of Fort Worth (Howard Fried, 1977)
Roslyn Romance (Is It Really True?) Intro I and II (Bruce Baillie)
Notes for Jerome (Jonas Mekas)
9/9/80
8pm
1979 Whitney Biennial Film Program VI:
Suite California Stops and Passes (Parts I and II) (1978) (Robert Nelson)
OCT-DEC 1980 CALENDAR
Encounter Cinema
A Series of Independent/Experimental Films and Filmmakers
Co-sponsored by the Craft and Folk Art Museum
and the UCLA Film Archive
in cooperation with the UCLA Department of Fine Arts Productions
Series under the direction of Douglas Edwards. Project coordinators: Geoff Gilmore/UCLA Film Archives; David Moreno/Traction Gallery
Funded in part by a grant from the NEA
Venue: all Tuesday screenings at Melnitz Auditorium (UCLA), all Thursday screenings at the Traction Gallery, 800 Traction Ave, 2nd floor (enter on Hewitt) downtown L.A.
admission: $2.50 general, $2 students, CAFAM members, and Friends of the Archive
10/7/80
7pm, Melnitz
Essential Cinema:
Stan Brakhage’s “The Art of Vision”
“Complete 4 ½ hour version (1961-65)”
10/9/80
8pm, Traction
Gary Adkins In Person
Poor Richard’s Index (Reels 2, 4, and 5) (1977-80), Eucalyptus (1978), Curtailments (1979), and other works
10/14/80
8pm, Melnitz
Peter Gidal In Person
Room Film 1973, Condition of Illusion (1975), 4th Wall (1978)
10/21/80
8pm, Melnitz
Pete Lipskis In Person
first Southern California appearance
Good Friday (1974-75), Eye Dentified Image (1975-76), Trance American Impressions (1975-77), Floating Reflections (1977-78)
10/28/80
8pm, Melnitz
Roger Jacoby In Person
How to be a Homosexual (1977-80), LA premiere
11/4/80
8pm, Melnitz
Essential Cinema:
Film Experiments of the 1930’s
A selection of formal and stylistic experiments in filmmaking completed during the years 1930-39, including:
The Story of the Unknown Soldier (Henri Storck, 1930)
Surf and Seaweed (Ralph Steiner, 1931)
Autumn Fire (Herman G. Weinberg, 1931)
Land Without Bread (Luis Buñuel)
Pie in the Sky (Kazan/Steiner/Lerner, 1934)
The Sea Horse (Jean Painlevé)
Joie de Vivre (Anthony Gross & Hector Hoppin)
Trade Tattoo (Len Lye)
X Rays (Rontgenstrahlen) (Martin Rikli, 1937)
11/6/80
8pm, Traction
Rosalind Schneider In Person
a representative selection including Andrea Acting Out (1974), The Jeff Film (1977), Tulip (1973), Spring Thing (1974), and the premiere of Earth Saga (1980)
11/11/80
8pm, Melnitz
Bruce Elder In Person
including The Art of Worldly Wisdom (1979)
11/18/80
8pm, Melnitz
Taka Iimura In Person
including 24 Frames Per Second (revised version 1978), Sync Sound (revised version 1978), One Frame Duration (1977), Ma (Intervals) (1975-77), and Repeated/Reversed Time (revised version 1980)
11/25/80
8pm, Melnitz
Mike Jittlov In Person
L.A. animation wizard and Filmex favorite Jittlov will present and discuss a selection of his completed works – including Good Grief, The Interview, Animato, and the Academy Award-nominated [sic] pixillation masterpiece The Wizard of Space and Time [sic], as well as animation tests and “in progress” footage.
The accompanying flyer indicates this to be the lineup Jittlov put together:
The Films of Mike Jittlov
On Screen and in Living Person!
An Astounding and Oft-Chucklesome Presentation of Filmic Works Most Rare!
Good Grief
The Interview
Swing Shift
Animato
Time Tripper
Collector: Mouse Mania
Disney Out-Take Reel
The Wizard of Speed and Time
12/2/80
8pm, Melnitz
Essential Cinema:
Absolute Animation, program II
The second program in a survey of works which confront the “essence” of film animation.
Titles will include:
Primary Stimulus (Robert Russett)
Rainbow Dance (Len Lye)
69 (Robert Breer)
Studies 5, 7, and 11 (Fischinger)
Music of the Spheres (Jordan Belson)
Plans and Elevations (Al Jarnow)
3/78 (Larry Cuba)
Yantra (James Whitney)
Mosaic (Norman McLaren)
Surface Work (Dennis Pies)
The Long Bodies (Douglass Crockwell, 1947)
Diagram Film (Paul Glabicki)
12/4/80
8pm, Traction
William Farley In Person
including Sea Space (1972-73), Being (1974-75), The Bell Rang to an Empty Sky (1976-77), and Marthain, The Irish Film (1977-79).
JAN-MAR 1981 CALENDAR
Encounter Cinema
A Series of Independent/Experimental Films and Filmmakers
Co-sponsored by the Craft and Folk Art Museum
and the UCLA Film Archive
in cooperation with the UCLA Department of Fine Arts Productions
Series under the direction of Douglas Edwards. Project coordinators: Geoff Gilmore/UCLA Film Archives; David Moreno/Traction Gallery
Funded in part by a grant from the NEA
Venue: all Tuesday screenings at Melnitz Auditorium (UCLA), all Thursday screenings at the Traction Gallery, 800 Traction Ave downtown L.A.
admission: $2.50 general, $2 students, CAFAM members, and Friends of the Archive
1/8/81
8pm, Traction
Ericka Beckman In Person
Out of Hand (1980) and a selection of earlier films including Hit and Run (1977), We Imitate; We Break Up (1978), The Broken Rule (1979)
1/13/81
8pm, Melnitz
Essential Cinema:
Dziga Vertov/Sight & Sound
Man With the Movie Camera
Enthusiasm (Peter Kubelka restoration)
1/20/81
8pm, Melnitz
Special Presentation:
Amy Taubin/Artist & Critic
A teacher and frequent lecturer, Taubin will present and discuss her new film In the Bag (1980), short films from a performance work (1973), an excerpt from an independent feature work-in-progress, as well as the classic French avant-garde film The Smiling Mme. Beudet (1922) by Germaine Dulac. Taubin will address the subject of “feminism and the avant-garde film.”
1/27/81
8pm, Melnitz
Narrative Directions:
Correction Please – Or How We Got Into Pictures
(film by Noël Burch)
plus On the Marriage Broker Joke… by Owen Land
2/3/81
8pm, Melnitz
Essential Cinema:
Ian Hugo/Jim Davis
Jim Davis films include Color and Light (1950), Light Reflections (1949), Analogies (1953), and Evolution (1955)
Ian Hugo films include Jazz of Lights (1954), Melodic Inversion (1958), The Gondola Eye (1961-71), Bells of Atlantis (1953), Aphrodisiac II (1972), and Re-Born (1979).
2/5/81
8pm, Traction
Chris Welsby In Person
including Seven Days (1974), Streamline (1976), Sea/Shore (1979), and Estuary (1980)
2/10/81
8pm, Melnitz
Howard Guttenplan In Person
including European Diary ‘78, European Diary ‘79 (Criss Crossings), San Francisco Diary ‘79 (Shadow Trail), Caracas Diary ‘78, and Middle East Diary ‘76.
2/17/81
8pm, Melnitz
Vincent Grenier In Person
Light Shaft (1975), Interieur Interiors (To A.K.) (1978), Closer Outside (1980), Architecture (1980), and an untitled work (1980).
2/24/81
8pm, Melnitz
Paul Winkler In Person
Backyard (1976), Bark Rind (1977), Sydney Harbour Bridge (1977), as well as several more recent works
3/3/81
8pm, Melnitz
Narrative Directions:
Peter Greenaway/2 Films
A Walk Through H (1978)
Vertical Features Remake (1979)
3/5/81
8pm, Traction
Paul Sharits In Person
including Declarative Mode (1976-77), Analytical Studies II: Un-Framed Lines (1971-76), and “recent Super-8 work”
This program was apparently canceled because it was later listed as “re-scheduled” for 6/11/81.
3/10/81
8pm, Melnitz
Chuck Hudina In Person
Grease (1972-74), and a selection of short works including Ruby Red (1975) and several new titles.
3/17/81
8pm, Melnitz
Vivienne Dick In Person
including Beauty Becomes the Beast, She Had Her Gun All Ready, and others
APR-JUN 1981 CALENDAR
Encounter Cinema
A Series of Independent/Experimental Films and Filmmakers
Co-sponsored by the Craft and Folk Art Museum
and the UCLA Film Archive
in cooperation with the UCLA Department of Fine Arts Productions
Series under the direction of Douglas Edwards. Project coordinators: Geoff Gilmore/UCLA Film Archives; David Moreno/Traction Gallery
Funded in part by a grant from the NEA
Venue: all Tuesday screenings at Melnitz Auditorium (UCLA), all Thursday screenings at the Traction Gallery, 800 Traction Ave downtown L.A.
admission: $2.50 general, $2 students, CAFAM members, and Friends of the Archive
4/23/81
8pm, Traction
Chris Monger In Person
Repeater (1980)
plus: Maid-Up by Laurie McFadden
The calendar includes a still from Monger’s feature Enough Cuts for a Murder, but this title isn’t listed, so it was presumably just used for illustrative purposes.
4/28/81
8pm, Melnitz
Amy Greenfield In Person
including Encounter (1969), Dirt (1971), Element (1973), One-O-One (1976), and several recent works
5/5/81
8pm, Melnitz
Special Presentation:
Cinema Without Borders
Personal and experimental work in Super-8 representing various independent filmmakers from Mexico will be presented by Raul Lopez Herrera, filmmaker and director of the International Film Festival in Zacatecas. Mr. Lopez Herrera will introduce and discuss the following program:
Ensayo (Carlos Hoesflich, 1981)
Personal Diary (Luciano Frias, 1981)
Karate (Jose Nieto, 1980)
Landscape Light (Alberto Tejada & Carlos R. Majul, 1981)
Camera Obscura (Alberto Tejada, 1979)
Tapaceria (Carlos R. Majul, 1980)
Vientos de Mayo (Raul Lopez Herrera, 1981)
La Piel de Arquitectura (Raul Lopez Herrera, 1981)
Las Preferencias (Mario Luna, 1980)
In addition, the following three Los Angeles based filmmakers will be included:
Ritmo (Francisco E. Martinez, 1981)
Portrait of a Painting (Carlos Anzaldua, 1981)
Asco ‘72-’75 (Harry Gamboa, 1979)
5/12/81
8pm, Melnitz
Jon Jost In Person
Chameleon
5/14/81
8pm, Traction
Fred Worden In Person
Four Frames (1975), Vudoo (1978), Panovision (1979), Venetian Blind (1978), and other works
5/19/81
8pm, Melnitz
Stuart Pound In Person
Codex (1979), Stylus (1980)
5/26/81
8pm, Melnitz
Walter Ungerer In Person
The Animal (1976)
Meet Me, Jesus (1966)
6/2/81
8pm, Melnitz
Michael Mideke In Person
Paths of Fire, The Veiled Forest, Goats, Devil’s Canyon, Pine Spring at Jones Mountain, Waterlights, Rainbird, and other titles.
6/9/81
8pm, Melnitz
James Broughton In Person
apparently including Mother’s Day, Loony Tom, The Bed, The Golden Positions, Erogeny, and other “more recent films”
6/11/81
8pm, Traction
Paul Sharits In Person
This program was re-scheduled from 3/5/81, but this re-schedule listing doesn’t mention the inclusion of Super-8 films like the original listing had.
JUL-SEP 1981 CALENDAR
Encounter Cinema
A Series of Independent/Experimental Films and Filmmakers
Co-sponsored by the Craft and Folk Art Museum
and the UCLA Film Archive
in cooperation with the UCLA Department of Fine Arts Productions
Series under the direction of Douglas Edwards. Project coordinated by Geoff Gilmore.
Funded in part by a grant from the NEA
Venue: all screenings at Melnitz Auditorium (UCLA), 8pm
admission: free (this calendar only)
1981 WHITNEY BIENNIAL FILM EXHIBITION
A film program circulated nationally by The American Federation of Arts
…The 1981 Biennial Exhibition, which included film installations by Paul Sharits and Beni Efrat and video installations by Frank Gillette and Buky Schwartz, was sponsored by the American Can Company Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.
7/28/81
1981 Whitney Biennial Film Program I:
Eureka (Ernie Gehr)
The Doctor’s Dream (Ken Jacobs)
Gloria (Hollis Frampton)
Other (Stan Brakhage)
Creation (Stan Brakhage)
8/4/81
1981 Whitney Biennial Film Program II:
Journeys From Berlin/1971 (Yvonne Rainer)
8/11/81
1981 Whitney Biennial Film Program III:
6 Films (Fountain/Car, Baseball/TV, Flying, Hand/Water, Rock/String, Roller Coaster/Reading) (Stuart Sherman)
On the Marriage Broker Joke… (Owen Land)
TZ (Robert Breer)
Life Dances On (Robert Frank)
8/18/81
1981 Whitney Biennial Film Program IV:
Grand Opera (James Benning)
8/25/81
1981 Whitney Biennial Film Program V:
Hidden Tracings (Barry Gerson)
Exposed Fragrances (Barry Gerson)
Painting Room Lights (1980)
Circus Riders (Martha Haslanger)
Lucifer Rising (Kenneth Anger)
Tree of Knowledge: Elective Affinities, Part IV (Larry Gottheim)
9/1/81
1981 Whitney Biennial Film Program VI:
Empty Suitcases (Bette Gordon)
Loose Ends (Chick Strand)
Charmed Particles (Andrew Noren)
FALL 1981 CALENDAR
Academy/Encounter Cinema Seminar Series
Light, Color, Movement, and Time: Aspects of the Avant-Garde Film
Presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Academy Foundation in association with the Craft and Folk Art Museum and the UCLA Film Archives
An unusual opportunity to survey the broad range of aesthetic and technical concerns of avant-garde cinema in an intensive dialogue with some of the world’s foremost independent artists. Each seminar will include a formal lecture presentation by a guest filmmaker, the screening of an illustrative selection of his/her recent work, and discussion between the guest and participants. Enrollment is limited, and each program promises to be both informative and provocative as the issues of today’s film vanguard and their implications for the popular cinema of tomorrow are addressed in an intimate and lively fashion.
Saturday afternoons, 1pm to 5pm
Academy Little Theater
8949 Wilshire Blvd
Beverly Hills
Series enrollment fee (5 seminars): $100
Limited to 70 participants
Individual seminar fee (if space available): $25
10/10/81: ROBERT BREER: Animation: Representation, Abstraction, Montage
10/24/81: YVONNE RAINER: Pleasure and Non-Pleasure in Narrative Cinema
11/7/81: JOHN WHITNEY, SR.: Computer Animation at a Crossroads with Music and Visual Art
11/21/81: CHICK STRAND: A Humanistic Approach to Avant-Garde Film
12/12/81: STAN AND JANE BRAKHAGE: The Psychology of Moving Visual Thinking
WINTER 1982 CALENDAR
Encounter Cinema
A Series of Independent/Experimental Films and Filmmakers
Co-sponsored by the Craft and Folk Art Museum
and the UCLA Film Archives
Series under the direction of Douglas Edwards. Project coordinators: Geoff Gilmore/UCLA Film Archives; David Moreno/Traction Gallery
Funded in part by a grant from the NEA, and from the California Arts Council. Presented with the cooperation of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Venue: all Tuesday screenings at Melnitz Auditorium (UCLA), all Thursday screenings at the Traction Gallery, 800 Traction Ave downtown L.A.
admission: $2.50 general, $2 students, CAFAM members, and Friends of the Archive
WOMEN INDEPENDENT FILMMAKERS / A CONTEMPORARY AND HISTORICAL SURVEY
1/21/82
8pm, Traction
Joanna Kiernan in person
Inner City, Trilogy, Dream-Work
1/26/82
8pm, Melnitz
Chick Strand in person
recent work including Loose Ends, Soft Fiction
2/2/82
8pm, Melnitz
Barbara Hammer in person
Sync Touch, Our Trip, Haircut, Arequipa, Available Space, Double Strength
2/9/82
8pm, Melnitz
Women Independents Survey 1971-1981
A 2 ½ hour compendium of works by 18 leading contemporary women filmmakers, including: Kathy Rose, Bette Gordon, Suzan Pitt, Martha Haslanger, Marjorie Keller, Kathleen Laughlin, Barbara Linkevitch, Sally Cruikshank, Lillian Schwartz, Su Friedrich, Holly Fisher, Coni Beeson, and Freude Bartlett.
2/18/82
8pm, Traction
Janis Crystal Lipzin in person
L.A. Carwash, Periodic Vibrations in an Elastic Medium, The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar, Visible Inventory Six: Motel Dissolve, and Visible Inventory Nine: Pattern of Events.
2/23/82
8pm, Melnitz
Madeleine Gekiere in person
Gekiere’s films deal with the transformation of form and motion, and the magical properties of the film medium. She will present a representative selection of her recent work.
3/2/82
8pm, Melnitz
Doris Chase in person
no titles specified
3/11/82
8pm, Traction
Alexis Krasilovsky in person
Independent filmmaker and holographic artist Krasilovsky will present and discuss a selection of her films and holograms, including the rarely seen, full-length version of her controversial film End of the Art World.
3/16/82
8pm, Melnitz
Women Independents Survey 1920-1970
A 2-hour overview of the contributions made to the field of avant-garde film by such influential women artists as Germaine Dulac, Lotte Reiniger, Marie Menken, Maya Deren, Claire Parker, Mary Ellen Bute, Shirley Clarke, Storm de Hirsch, Gunvor Nelson, Joyce Wieland, and others.
SPRING 1982 CALENDAR
Encounter Cinema
A Series of Independent/Experimental Films and Filmmakers
Co-sponsored by the Craft and Folk Art Museum
and the UCLA Film Archives
Series under the direction of Douglas Edwards. Anthology salute coordinated by Robert Haller. UCLA Film Archives liaison: Geoff Gilmore.
Funded in part by a grant from the NEA, and from the California Arts Council. Presented with the cooperation of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Venue: all screenings at Melnitz Auditorium (UCLA) except April 5 at the Goldwyn
admission: April 5 $3 all tickets; remaining programs $3 general, $2 students, CAFAM members, and Friends of the Archive
A SALUTE TO ANTHOLOGY FILM ARCHIVES
…The prints for this series of screenings – all drawn from Anthology’s collection of over three thousand – are of two kinds: avant-garde works archivally preserved by Anthology, and distinguished narrative films that are available for screening only under Anthology auspices.
This series is also a tribute to the founders of Anthology, most especially Jonas Mekas and the late Jerome Hill, who created an institution that is as engaged with filmmaking today as it is with the protection of our cinematic heritage.
4/5/82
8pm, Samuel Goldwyn Theater
in person: Shirley Clarke, John Frankenheimer, Robert Haller
Ballet Mécanique (Murphy & Léger)
Excelsior-Reifen (Ruttmann, 1923-25)
In the Street (Helen Levitt)
Rose Hobart (Joseph Cornell)
Brussels Loops (Pennebaker & Clarke, 1958)
Castro Street (Bruce Baillie)
Eat (Andy Warhol)
4/13/82
8pm, Melnitz
Songs 1-14 (Stan Brakhage)
The Last Clean Shirt (Alfred Leslie)
4/20/82
8pm, Melnitz
in person: Taylor Mead
Queen of Sheba Meets the Atom Man (Ron Rice)
4/27/82
8pm, Melnitz
Aimless Walk (Alexander Hammid, 1930)
Prague Castle (Alexander Hammid, 1932)
The Highway Sings (Alexander Hammid, 1937)
Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome (Kenneth Anger)
5/6/82
8pm, Melnitz
La Cascade de Feu (Méliès, 1904)
La Fee Carabosse (Méliès, 1906)
Un Locatire Diabolique (Méliès, 1909)
Voyage a Travers l’impossible (Méliès, 1904)
Enthusiasm (Peter Kubelka restoration) (Dziga Vertov)
5/11/82
8pm, Melnitz
Der Firmling (Karl Valentin, 1934)
Michael (Dreyer, 1924)
5/18/82
8pm, Melnitz
in person: Marjorie Keller
Rose Hobart (Joseph Cornell)
Centuries of June (Joseph Cornell & Stan Brakhage)
The Children’s Party (Joseph Cornell & Lawrence Jordan)
Bookstalls (Joseph Cornell)
Contrathemis (Dwinell Grant, 1941)
5/25/82
8pm, Melnitz
A Study in Choreography for Camera (Maya Deren)
Out-takes from Choreography (Maya Deren)
Footage from Deren’s unfinished Haiti film (Maya Deren)
STILL FORMATTING THE DATA —– MORE COMING SOON!!
LIGHTSTRUCK 