Below is a list of significant events and films in underground film history between the years 1960 and 1969. Reference key of sources appears at the bottom of the page.
1960
MAJOR EVENTS
July 14: Jonas Mekas, his brother Adolfas and Barbara Stone are arrested in Connecticut while scouting locations for a film.
July 21: The Village Voice publishes a negative review of Pull My Daisy written by Maya Deren.
July 29 — August 6: Jonas Mekas films Guns of the Trees on Long Island, and in and around NYC [Journal Note: Most likely, these are not the only shooting dates of the film, but are what Mekas recounted in his “Movie Journal” column.]
J.M.
September 28: “A number of film-makers met at the New York office of producer Lewis Allen to found what they called ‘The New American Cinema Group’.” From this group would derive the term “New American Cinema.”
S.R.
S.M.
P.A.S. adds that the meeting was called by Jonas Mekas, included 23 filmmakers and composed a revolutionary manifesto.
Article
September 30: Jonas Mekas presents the first draft of the New American Cinema Group’s Manifesto, which is approved by the group.
Jonas Mekas picks Maya Deren to fill-in for him as film critic for the Village Voice during the summer when he takes off to make Guns of the Trees.
P.A.S.
Peter Emanuel Goldman graduates from Brown University.
S.R.
Ron Rice, Vernon Zimmerman and Bruce Baillie finish first films.
S.R.
The Bleeker Street Theater hosts a screening of the complete works of Maya Deren.
P.A.S.
J.J. Pauvert publishes Kenneth Anger‘s Hollywood Babylon.
P.A.S.
In Film Culture 20, Jonas Mekas lists the significant new film-makers working at the time: Joseph Strick (The Savage Eye); Lionel Rogosin (Come Back Africa); John Cassavetes (Shadows); Robert Frank and Alfred Leslie (Pull My Daisy); Maya Deren (The Very Eye of Night); Charles Boultenhouse (Hand Written); Bert Stern (Jazz on a Summer’s Day); Shirley Clarke (The Connection) and Adolfas Mekas (Guns of the Trees).
D.C.
SIGNIFICANT FILMS
AUSTRIA
Peter Kubelka
Arnulf Rainer (1958-60)
P.A.S.
D.C. lists as 1957
U.S.
Robert Branaman
Wichita Film
S.R.
Homage to Jean Tinguely’s Hommage to New York
S.R.
P.A.S.
Inner and Outer Space
S.R.
P.A.S.
Larry Jordan
Hymn in Praise of the Sun
S.R.
Minerva Looks Out Into the Zodiac
S.R.
George and Mike Kuchar
A Tub Named Desire
S.R.
J.S.
I Was a Teen Age Rumpot
J.S.
S.R. gives two years: 1958 & 1960
Ron Rice
The Flower Thief
D.C.
S.R. and P.A.S. both mention film stars Taylor Mead
Achoo Mr. Kerroochev
S.R.
Skullduggery Part I
S.R.
Black and Whites, Days and Nights
S.R.
1961
MAJOR EVENTS
January 7: The New American Cinema Group meets at 414 Park Avenue South and votes to establish a distribution center for their work.
May: Shirley Clarke screens her feature film The Connection out of competition at the Cannes Film Festival to much acclaim.
June 16 to July 16: The Spoleto Festival in Italy screens a selection of films from the New American Cinema for an entire month.
Summer: In Film Quarterly vol. XIV no. 4, Stan Vanderbeek has his article “The Cinema Delimina — Films From the Underground” published. It is the first time the word “underground” is used to describe experimental film.
Bruce Baillie begins free screening series in the Bay Area.
D.C.
P.A.S. describes it as Canyon Cinema being founded by Baillie
S.M. quotes Baillie as saying that the screenings began “around 1960” in the back yard of a house he was renting in San Francisco with his girlfriend Kikuko. He initially screened films weekly and informally names his makeshift outdoor theater “Canyon Cinema.”
The New American Cinema Group becomes incorporated.
S.M.
Jack Smith and Ken Jacobs stage The Human Wreckage Show.
D.C.
Maya Deren dies.
P.A.S.
James Broughton weds. (To whom is not mentioned by source.) Asks Stan Brakhage to film the ceremony.
P.A.S.
SIGNIFICANT FILMS
U.S.
Sundays (1960-61)
S.R.
S.M. lists as just 1961 and with the title On Sundays
Mr. Hayashi
S.R.
P.A.S.
S.M.
The Sculpture of David Lynn
S.R.
S.M. lists as David Lynn’s Sculpture
The Gymnasts
S.R.
S.M.
Friend Fleeing
S.R.
S.M. lists film as 1962 and title Friend Feeling
Allures
D.C.
P.A.S. lists as 1961
S.R. lists twice with two separate dates: 1960 and 1961
Dog Star Man: Prelude
P.A.S.
Thigh Line Lyre Triangular
S.R.
D.C.
P.A.S.
Films by Stan Brakhage
S.R.
D.C.
P.A.S. lists as 1962 and as title Films by Stan Brakhage: An Avant-Garde Home Movie
Robert Branaman
The Filmore Bus
S.R.
Curtis Harrington
Night Tide
D.C.
Little Stabs at Happiness (1958-61)
starring Jack Smith
S.R.
P.A.S. lists as 1959-63
The Death of P’Town
starring Jack Smith
S.R.
Larry Jordan
The Movie Critic
S.R.
The Circus Savage
S.R.
Eye Music in Red Major
S.R.
Arabesque for Kenneth Anger
S.R.
D.C.
Bagatelle for Willard Maas
S.R.
Sidewalks (1961– ) (unfinished)
S.R.
Bert Stern
Jazz on a Summer’s Day
S.R.
Wheeels # 1 (1958-61)
S.R.
Skullduggery Part II (1960-61)
S.R.
Snapshots of the City
S.R.
John Whitney
Catalogue
S.R.
D.C.
Vernon Zimmerman
Lemon Hearts (1960-61)
starring Taylor Mead
S.R.
1962
MAJOR EVENTS
June 1: In advance of publishing their first full catalog, the Film-Makers’ Cooperative sends out a letter listing several films available for rent.
June 25: Stan Vanderbeek hosts a screening of experimental comedies — featuring work by Robert Breer, Carmen D’Avino and Dan Drasin — at the Maidman Theatre, 416 West 42nd Street.
J.M.
June 28 — July 4: The Charles Theatre hosts a Film-maker’s Festival. [What was screened is unknown.]
J.M.
July: Cavalier magazine publishes an article on experimental film written by Rudy Franchi.
J.M.
December: Canyon Cinema publishes the first issue of the News, edited by Alexandra Ossipoff.
S.M.
Jonas Mekas takes over the cooperative distribution center project called for in item number six in the manifesto drafted by the New American Cinema Group in 1960. Since that first meeting, all the filmmakers involved had basically given up on this project.
P.A.S.
S.R. and D.C. just say that the Film-makers’ Cooperative is founded; while J.S. includes that it is founded by Jonas Mekas
S.M. notes that the Film-makers’ Cooperative publishes its own catalogue of films it distributes and encourages theater owners to book programs dedicated to single film artists.
Tony Conrad graduates from Harvard with a B.A. in Mathematics.
S.R.
Film Culture 29 publishes Sidney Peterson’s article, “A Note on Comedy in the Experimental Film.”
P.A.S.
Kenneth Anger begins living in Brooklyn in Willard Maas and Marie Menken‘s apartment.
P.A.S.
Gregory Markopoulos is awarded a grant from the Ingram Merrill Foundation to complete the feature film Twice a Man.
J.M.
SIGNIFICANT FILMS
U.S.
Have You Thought of Talking to the Director?
S.R.
P.A.S.
S.M.
News #3
S.R.
Everyman
S.R.
Here Am I
S.M.
Rudy Burckhardt
How Wide Is Sixth Avenue
S.R.
Shoot the Moon (with Red Grooms)
S.R.
Red Grooms
Shoot the Moon
with Rudy Burckhardt
S.R.
Blonde Cobra (1959-62)
started by Bob Fleischner
starring Jack Smith
S.R.
D.C.
J.S. gives date just as 1959
J.M. says “photographed by Bob Fleischner, edited and sound prepared by Ken Jacobs“
Stephen Lovi
A Portrait of the Lady in the Yellow Hat
P.A.S.
Ron Rice
Senseless
S.R.
Croquet Quacks (1962– )
S.R.
The Life and Death of a Car (1962– )
S.R.
Kar Bop (1962– )
S.R.
Vernon Zimmerman
To L.A. … With Lust (1961-62)
starring Taylor Mead
S.R.
1963
MAJOR EVENTS
By at least June 13, the Bleecker Street Cinema had ended its relationship with the Film-Makers’ Co-op and Film Culture to host underground film midnight screenings here.
J.M.
The July 13 issue of The New Yorker publishes an article on underground film-makers; which Jonas Mekas contends characterizes them as “angry.”
J.M.
June 15: Twice a Man by Gregory Markopoulos has its first public screening at the Gramercy Arts Theatre (138 East 27th Street). The were three screenings, all arranged by the Smolin Gallery to benefit the “completion of the sound track to the film.”
J.M.
By July 25, Naomi Levine has “just” finished her first movie.
J.M.
October 4: Gregory Markopoulos’s Twice a Man opens at the Gramercy Arts Theatre.
J.M.
Prior to October 24, Jonas Mekas views a rough cut of Ken Jacobs‘s Star Spangled to Death.
J.M.
November 11: The Gramercy Arts Theatre screens a night of films by Kenneth Anger, including Scorpio Rising, Fireworks, Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome, Eaux D’Artifice and Puce Moment.
J.M.
Prior to November 14, poet Gregory Corso and Jay Socin screen a work-in-progress piece called Happy Death.
J.M.
December 2: Dick Higgins screens Flaming City in New York.
J.M.
December 7: Jack Smith‘s Flaming Creatures screens at a midnight show at the Tivoli Theatre on 8th Ave. at 50th St.
J.M.
December 31: After smuggling Jack Smith‘s Flaming Creatures into the third Experimental Film Exposition at Knokke-le-Zoute, Belgium, Jonas Mekas, Barbara Rubin and P. Adams Sitney attempt to screen the film against the festival’s wishes. They are prevented from doing so by a police officer and the Minister of Justice.
J.M.
George and Mike Kuchar become involved with the underground film scene in NYC.
J.S.
James Broughton serves as a judge at the third International Experimental Film Competition at Knokke-le-Zoute, Belgium.
P.A.S.
Gregory Markopoulos enters Twice a Man into the third Experimental Film Competition at Knokke-le-Zoute in Belgium where he wins a $2,000 prize.
P.A.S.
A contemporaneous newspaper article states that Markopoulos shared the second place $2,000 with Stan Vanderbeek‘s Breathdeath (WATCH)
Slavko Vorkapich gives ten lectures at the Museum of Modern Art entitled “The Visual Nature of the Film Medium.” The lecture series ended with a screening of Bruce Conner‘s A Movie. The series is attended by Gregory Markopoulos, Jonas Mekas, Willard Van Dyke and Andy Warhol.
D.E.J.
Andy Warhol buys a 16mm camera and films Jack Smith filming Normal Love and poet John Giorno sleeping.
D.E.J.
Andy Warhol drives to Los Angeles for an art show with friend Taylor Mead and films Tarzan and Jane, Regained Sort Of.
D.E.J.
SIGNIFICANT FILMS
FRANCE
Alexandre Alexeieff (with Clair Parker, his wife)
Le Nez
D.C.
U.S.
A Hurrah for Soldiers (1962-63)
S.R.
P.A.S.
To Parsifal
S.R.
P.A.S.
S.M.
D.C. just lists as Parsifal
Rudy Burckhardt
Miracle on the BMT
starring Red Grooms and Mimi Grooms
S.R.
Totem (1962-63)
S.R.
D.C. just lists 1963 and also credits “with the Alwin Nicolais Dance Company”
Fusion (1963)
with the Alwin Nicolais Dance Company
sponsored by the Spring Mills Company to promote their linen
D.C.
Scrambles (1960-63)
S.R.
George Dumpson’s Place (1961-63)
S.R.
Ian Hugo
The Gondola Eye
S.R.
Larry Jordan
The Forty and One Nights, or, Jess’s Didactic Nickelodeon (1960-63)
with Jess Collins
S.R.
Moires: Dali/Oster Newsreel
S.R.
Film Magazine of the Arts
S.R.
Rabbitshit Haikus (1962-63)
P.A.S.
S.R. lists A Fool’s Haikus as 1963–, which may be the same as this
Paul Morrisey
Taylor Mead Dances
starring Taylor Mead
S.R.
Pat O’Neill
By the Sea
D.C.
Barbara Rubin
Christmas on Earth
S.M.
D.C.
J.S.
P.A.S.
D.E.J.
S.R. lists as 1962-63 and adds that it stars Dolores Flores aka Mario Montez
J.M., in his April 18 column, says Jack Smith “just” finished the film; also claiming the film cost $300 to make
Normal Love (1963– )
P.A.S.
S.R. also adds that it stars Mario Montez, Naomi Levine, Gerard Malanga
Tarzan and Jane Regained … Sort of (1963)
starring Taylor Mead, Naomi Levine
S.R.
D.C.
D.E.J. spells title with different punctuation: Tarzan and Jane, Regained Sort Of
Eat
S.R.
D.C.
P.A.S.
Sleep
S.R.
J.S.
P.A.S.
D.C. lists as 1963-64
Vernon Zimmerman
Scarface and Aphrodite
S.R.
1964
MAJOR EVENTS
January (exact date unknown): The New American Cinema Exposition is established in Munich, Germany, led by P. Adams Sitney. The Exposition travels to Amsterdam, Stockholm, Vienna, London and Paris.
J.M.
Weekend of January 24-26: Andy Warhol‘s Sleep screens at the Gramercy Arts Theatre. (Exact screening day/time not given.)
J.M.
January 25: Jonas Mekas goes to visit Ron Rice, who had been committed to the hospital while filming an actress appearing in Jack Smith‘s Normal Love. Rice is released during Mekas’s visit.
J.M.
February 8-9: Ron Rice screens Chumlum at the Gramercy Arts Theatre.
J.M.
March 3: Jonas Mekas and others are arrested for screening Flaming Creatures. (He writes of the “detective from the District Attorney’s office who arrested us”.)
J.M.
S.R. notes that Ken Jacobs is arrested as the theater manager screening Flaming Creatures.
Week of March 5: The New Bowery Theatre hosts a Kuchar brothers’ movie festival.
J.M.
March 7: Michael A. Getz, the theater manager of the Cinema Theater in Los Angeles is arrested for showing an “obscene” film, Scorpio Rising by Kenneth Anger. May 13: Getz is convicted by a jury. December: Getz’s conviction is overturned by a superior court.
Prior to March 19: Jonas Mekas is arrested for screening Jean Genet’s Un Chant d’Amour.
S.M.
April 25: Dick Higgins’s Invocation of Canyons and Boulders is screened in one of the “secret showcases of underground cinema.”
J.M.
Prior to May 14: Stan Brakhage buys a complete package of 8 mm. production equipment at an auction in Boulder, Colorado.
J.M.
June 12: The New York Criminal Court declares Flaming Creatures as “obscene.” The trial of the case included testimony from Lew Allen, Willard van Dyke, Herman G. Weinberg, Susan Sontag, Shirley Clarke, Joseph Kaster, Allen Ginsberg, Dr. E. Hornick and Dr. John Thompson.
J.M.
July 25: Andy Warhol films Empire. Present at the filming are Jonas Mekas, Gerard Malanga, John Palmer, Marie Desert and a Henry X.
J.M.
Prior to November 12: Andy Warhol‘s Kiss was banned from screening at the University of Manitoba (Winnipeg) by the Manitoba Board of Film Censors.
J.M.
Prior to December 10: A case against a screening of Jean Genet’s Un Chant d’Amour in San Francisco by the San Francisco Mime Troupe is dismissed by the District Attorney.
J.M.
December 11: A symposium entitled 8 mm.: Avant-Garde of the Future!? is given at the Eventorium in New York City. The panel included Lenny Lipton, Alfred Leslie, Serge Gavronsky, Mike and George Kuchar and others. At the event, George Kuchar delivers a manifesto. (Read the manifesto here.)
J.M.
December 21: Naomi Levine screens two films, Jaremelu and Yes, at the Film-Makers’ Cinematheque.
J.M.
Prior to December 31: Ron Rice dies from pneumonia while living in Mexico.
J.M.
The Venice Film Festival awards Jonas Mekas‘ The Brig the Best Documentary award.
S.R.
12 filmmakers receive $118,500 in grants from the Ford Foundation. Recipients include Kenneth Anger, Jordan Belson, Bruce Conner and Ed Emshwiller.
Article
P.A.S. just notes that “independent filmmakers” won the grants, one of whom was Kenneth Anger.
Jordan Belson is offered a $10,000 grant from the Ford Foundation, even though he had given up filmmaking earlier in the decade. Initially, he refused the money, but ultimately accepted it and makes the film Re-Entry.
P.A.S.
Stan Brakhage publishes his seminal book Metaphors on Vision.
P.A.S.
D.C. says publication year is 1963
Police seize Jean Genet’s Un Chant d’amour during a screening in San Francisco hosted in an abandoned church used as the headquarters of the S.F. Mime Troupe. Police took the actual film and the movie projector as “evidence” at a second showing of the film of the night. Eventually, no charges were pressed by the D.A.
S.M.
Storm De Hirsch‘s Goodbye in the Mirror screens out of competition at the Cannes Film Festival and is invited to screen at the Locarno Film Festival on July 27.
S.M.
SIGNIFICANT FILMS
U.S.
Vein
P.A.S.
Song I
P.A.S.
Songs II & III
P.A.S.
Song IV
P.A.S.
Song V
P.A.S.
Songs VI & VII
P.A.S.
Song VIII
P.A.S.
D.C. just lists as Songs and as made “1964 onwards”
Robert Branaman
Big Sur Movie (1964– )
unfinished
S.R.
David Brooks
Nightspring Daystar
D.C.
Ernest Callenbach
Varoom (1963-64)
S.M.
Peter Emanuel Goldman
Night Crawlers
S.R.
Duncan Hines
S.R.
Red Grooms
Lurk
with Rudy Burckhardt
S.R.
Man or Mouse
S.R.
Larry Jordan
Jewelface (1962-64)
S.R.
Duo Concertantes (1962-64)
S.R.
P.A.S.
contains Patricia Gives Birth to a Dream by the Doorway and The Centennial Exposition
Dream Merchant
S.R.
Pink Swine
S.R.
Ein Traum de Liebended (A Dream of Lovers)
S.R.
Stanton Kaye
Georg (1962-64)
S.R.
Greed
S.R.
Naomi Levine
Yes
S.R.
Gerard Malanga
Academy Leader
S.R.
Taylor Mead
My Home Movies
D.C.
Pat O’Neill
Bump City
D.C.
Raymond Saroff
Happenings I (1962-64)
S.R.
Happenings II (1962-64)
S.R.
Ben Van Meter
The Poontang Trilogy
S.R.
S.M. lists as 1966 and gives title as Poon-Tang Trilogy
Haircut
S.R.
D.C.
P.A.S. lists as 1963
Blow Job
S.R.
D.C.
J.S. lists as 1963
Empire
D.C.
P.A.S.
S.R. adds “with John Palmer”
Kiss
starring Naomi Levine, Gerard Malanga
S.R.
J.S. lists as 1963
Naomi and Rufus Kiss
starring Naomi Levine
S.R.
Roller Skate
S.R.
Dance Movie
S.R.
Salome and Delilah
S.R.
Pause
S.R.
Apple
S.R.
Messy Lives
S.R.
The End of Dawn
S.R.
Lips
S.R.
Couch
J.S.
S.R. also says starring Naomi Levine, Gerard Malanga
The Thirteen Most Beautiful Women
S.R.
The Thirteen Most Beautiful Men
starring Gerard Malanga
also called The Thirteen Most Beautiful Boys
S.R.
Batman Dracula
starring Jack Smith
J.S.
S.R. says also starring Naomi Levine and just calls Batman
Shoulder
S.R.
The Lester Persky Story — A Soap Opera
starring Naomi Levine, Gerard Malanga
S.R.
Henry Geldzahler
S.R.
Mario Banana
starring Mario Montez
J.S.
1965
MAJOR EVENTS
February 15: Peter Goldman previews his first feature film, Echoes of Silence, at the Film-Makers’ Cinematheque.
J.M.
February 18: The Cinematheque in New York City holds a screening of Bruce Baillie‘s films.
S.M.
March 6: Andy Warhol‘s Empire premieres at the Film-Makers’ Cinematheque.
J.M., who credits the film to both Warhol and John Palmer.
November-December: The Film-Makers’ Cinematheque hosts the New Cinema Festival, a festival of expanded cinema performances by Angus McLise, Nam June Paik, Jerry Joffen, Jack Smith, Ed Emshwiller, Ken Jacobs and more. Smith’s performance is called Rehearsal for the Destruction of Atlantis.
J.M.
November 26: The Gate theater in Sausalito, CA screens the World Premiere of Bruce Baillie‘s Quixote.
Harry Smith gives a “hilariously aggressive” lecture at Yale where he claims Giordano Bruno was the inventor of cinema.
P.A.S.
Peter Kubelka comes to the United States.
P.A.S.
Gregory Markopoulos is finally able to reclaim the negative for The Dead Ones from the lab where he had left it since 1949.
D.E.J.
SIGNIFICANT FILMS
FRANCE
Etienne O’Leary
Day Tripper
D.C.
ITALY
Gianfranco Barucello and Alberto Griffi
La Verifica Incerta
D.C.
U.S.
Anger Aquarian Arcanum
prelude for Anger Magick Lantern Cycle
S.R.
KKK (Kustom Kar Kommandos)
D.C.
S.R. lists as 1964–
P.A.S. says film is just an episode from a longer, unfinished work
Quixote (1964-65)
S.R.
S.M. lists as just 1965
D.C. lists as 1965-66
P.A.S. lists film as 1965, revised 1967
Dog Star Man (1961-65)
D.C. lists as 1961-65
P.A.S. lists as 1961-65, just 1965 and ’61-66
S.R. lists as 1959-64
Two: Creeley/McClure
S.R.
Pasht
S.R.
D.C.
P.A.S.
Three Films (Blue White / Blood’s Tone / Vein)
S.R.
D.C. lists as just Three Films
Fire of Waters
S.R.
D.C.
P.A.S.
Black Vision
S.R.
The Art of Vision (1961-65)
D.C.
Song IX & X
P.A.S.
Song XI
P.A.S.
Song XII
P.A.S.
Song XIII
P.A.S.
Song XIV
P.A.S.
XV Song Traits
P.A.S.
Song XVI
P.A.S.
Song XVII & XVIII
P.A.S.
Song XIX & XX
P.A.S.
Robert Branaman
Night Lights & Day Hi’s (1964-65)
S.R.
Gorda Adorg (1964-65)
S.R.
Goldmouth
S.R.
Rudy Burckhardt
Lurk (1964-65)
S.R.
James Davis
Death and Transfiguration (1961-65)
S.R.
Impulses
S.R.
Peter Emanuel Goldman
Echoes of Silence (1962-65)
S.R.
Pestilent City
S.R.
D.C.
Reflections on a Mexican Vision (1965– )
S.R.
unfinished
Lisa and Joey in Connecticut: “You’ve Come Back!” “You’re Still Here!”
S.R.
The Sky Socialist (1965– )
S.R.
Naomi Is a Vision of Loveliness
starring Naomi Levine
S.R.
Thirties Man: Chapter One of the Big Blackout of ’65
S.R.
Larry Jordan
Hamfat Asar
S.R.
P.A.S.
Romantic Adventure of Edward
1955, recut 1957, 1965
S.R.
Corruption of the Damned
S.R.
Hold Me While I’m Naked
S.R.
J.S. lists as 1964 and adds “starring Donna Kerness”
D.E.J. lists as 1966
The Leopard Skin (1964-65)
S.R.
Not a Case of Lateral Displacement
S.R.
Adjacent Yes, But Simultaneous
S.R.
This Film Will Be Interrupted After 11 Minutes By a Commercial
S.R.
Drips and Strips (1961-65)
S.R.
Andy Warhol
starring Gerard Malanga
S.R.
Lights (1965– )
unfinished
S.R.
Andrew Meyer
The Poor Little Match Girl
starring Gerard Malanga
S.R.
Guvnor Nelson and Dorothy Wiley
Schmeerguntz
S.R.
Oh Dem Watermelons
S.R.
S.M.
Thick Pucker (1964-65)
S.R.
Confessions of a Black Mother Succuba
D.C.
P.A.S.
S.R. lists as 1964-65
Oiley Pelosa the Pumph Man (1964-65)
S.R.
Jimmy Tirrof
Brigit’s Dream
D.C.
Wheeels # 4 (1958-65)
S.R.
Dance of the Looney Spoons (1958-65)
S.R.
D.C. lists as just 1965
Revenge of the Looney Spoons (1958-65)
S.R.
Science Friction (1958-65)
S.R.
A Damn Rib Bed (1964-65)
S.R.
Night Eating
S.R.
Fluids
S.R.
Phenomena
S.R.
Facescapes
S.R.
The Human Face Is a Monument
S.R.
Variation 5
S.R.
Sight
S.R.
D.C. includes credit “With Bob Morris and Carolee Schneemann”
Room Service
S.R.
D.C. includes credit “With Yvonne Rainer“
Pastorale: Et al
S.R.
Move-Movies
S.R.
Feedback # 1
S.R.
Birth of the American Flag (1965– )
S.R.
Panels for the Walls of the World # 1
S.R.
Bill Vehr
Avocada
S.R.
D.C.
Kitchen
S.R.;
D.C.
Harlot
D.C.
P.A.S.
S.R. adds “starring Mario Montez, Gerard Malanga”
Screen Test Number One
S.R.
D.C. just lists as Screen Test
Screen Test Number Two
starring Mario Montez
S.R.
D.C. just lists as Screen Test
Life of Juanita Castro
S.R.
D.C.
Vinyl
D.C.
S.R. also lists “starring Gerard Malanga”
Horse
S.R.
D.C.
Drunk
S.R.
Suicide
S.R.
Bitch
S.R.
Beauty Number Two
S.R.
P.A.S. gives title as Beauty #2
Prison
S.R.
Poor Little Rich Girl
S.R.
P.A.S. gives title as Poor Little Rich Girl: Party Sequence
My Hustler
S.R.
J.S.
D.C. lists as 1966
Space
S.R.
Camp
starring Jack Smith
J.S.
S.R. says also starring Mario Montez and Gerard Malanga
1966
MAJOR EVENTS
August 16: In San Francisco, several filmmakers, including Bruce Conner, Ben Van Meter, Robert Nelson and Emory Menefee, meet at the Haight movie theater — commonly called “The Straight” — to discuss starting a film distribution cooperative. This is to become the Canyon Cinema Cooperative.
S.M. acknowledges that there’s a discrepancy regarding this specific date. Canyon originally printed in its Cinemanews magazine that the meeting took place on Aug. 14, but an interview with Bruce Conner places the date on Aug. 16.
D.C. just says that Canyon Cinema Co-op is born.
September 15: Andy Warhol premieres The Chelsea Girls for a one-week run in New York City. The film is 8 hours long, but projected simultaneously on two screens for 4 hours.
J.M.
September 23: In Austin, Texas, the Gulf Coast Film-Makers’ Co-Op screens Bruce Baillie‘s Tung and Robert Nelson‘s Confessions of a Black Mother Succuba.
October: Robert Downey Sr. previews his film Chafed Elbows for critics and “film people.”
J.M.
The Film-Makers’ Cooperative establishes the End of the Century Newsreel series, which distributes newsreel films to colleges and theaters.
J.M.
Mel Lyman opens the Boston Film-Makers’ Cinematheque.
Ken Jacobs becomes the first director of the Millennium Film Workshop, a position he holds until 1968.
P.A.S.
The Sydney Filmmakers Cooperative is founded in Australia.
S.M.
SIGNIFICANT FILMS
ENGLAND
Len Lye
Particles in Space (1961-66)
D.C.
S.R. credits as just 1966
Malcolm Le Grice
Castle 1 (The Light-Bulb Film)
D.C.
U.S.
Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome
1954, recut 1966
S.R.
D.C.
P.A.S. calls this the “Sacred Mushroom” version
Tung
S.R.
D.C.
P.A.S.
Castro Street
S.R.
D.C.
P.A.S.
Still Life
S.R.
D.C.
P.A.S.
All My Life
S.R.
D.C.
P.A.S.
Newsreel
S.R.
D.C.
Termination
S.R.
S.M.
Yellow Horse (1965-66)
S.R.
Scenes From Under Childhood (1966– )
S.R.
D.C. lists as “1968 onwards”
timeline_watch_button
Songs XXI & XXII
Robert Branaman
Ginsberg
S.R.
Looking for Mushrooms (1960-66)
D.C.
S.R. also credits as partially photographed by Robert Branaman
Tony Conrad
The Flicker (1965) (1966)
S.R.
D.C. lists as just 1966
The Eye of Count Flickerstein
S.R.
Nathaniel Dorsky
Summerwind
S.R.
Stephen Dwoskin
Alone
D.C., who calls filmmaker “Steve”
Peter Emanuel Goldman
The Sensualist
S.R.
Red Grooms
Washington’s Wig Wham
S.R.
Fat Feet
S.R.
Victor Guren
Archangel
S.R.
William Hindle
29 Merci Merci
D.C.
John Jones
Claes Oldenburg Hangs a Picture
S.R.
Larry Jordan
The Old House, Passing
P.A.S.
Stanton Kaye
Brandy
S.R.
Peter Kubelka
Unsere Afrikareise (1961-66)
D.C.
P.A.S.
Bardo Follies
P.A.S.
D.C. lists as 1967
Film in Which There Appear Sprocket Holes, Edge Lettering, Dirt Particles, Etc. (1965-66)
S.R.
D.C.
P.A.S. lists as just 1966
Gerard Malanga
Son of Academy Leader
S.R.
A Private Moment
S.R.
Cambridge Diary
S.R.
The Illiac Passion (1964-66)
starring Andy Warhol, Clara Hoover, Jack Smith, Gerard Malanga
S.R.
D.C. credits title as Prometheus Bound — The Illiac Passion
P.A.S. lists as 1968
Galaxie
D.C.
P.A.S.
S.R. describes film as portraits of Jasper Johns, W. H. Auden, Robert Scull and more
Himself as Herself
S.R.
D.C.
Ming Green
S.R.
D.C.
P.A.S.
Eros O Basileus (1966– )
S.R.
Taylor Mead
European Diaries
D.C.
The Millbrook Report
S.R.
D.C. lists as Report From Millbrook
The Circus Notebook
S.R.
Hare Krishna
S.R.
D.C.
Yoko Ono
Number 4
D.C.
Wrist Trick
D.C.
Dots
D.C.
Sears Catalogue
D.C.
Ray Gun Virus
S.R.
D.C.
P.A.S.
Piece Mandala/End War
P.A.S.
D.C. lists as 1967 and gives title as Peace Mandala/End War
Warren Sonbert
Hall of Mirrors
starring Gerard Malanga
S.R.
See Saw Seems (1965-66)
S.R.
If You Say So (1965-66)
S.R.
Snow Show (1965-66)
S.R.
Collide-oscope
S.R.
When in the Course of (1966– )
S.R.
Spherical Space
D.C. also lists credit “With Elaine Summers”
Computer Art (number one)
D.C.
Ben Van Meter
Color Film
S.R.
Up Tight, L.A. Is Burning … Shit
S.R.
Whips
S.R.
Faces
S.R.
More Milk Yvette
starring Mario Montez
S.R.
Hedy (The Fourteen Year Old Girl)
starring Mario Montez
S.R.
D.C. lists as Hedy (The Shopper)
P.A.S. lists title as just Hedy
J.S. and D.E.J. also just lists title as Hedy, but lists year as 1965
The Bed
S.R.
The Chelsea Girls
J.S.
P.A.S.
S.R. also says starring Gerard Malanga
D.C. lists as 1965-66
J.M. stays stars Mary Woronov, Gerard Malanga, International Velvet, Marie Menken, Dorothy Dean, Pope Ondine, Edie Sedgewick, Eric Emerson, Donald Lyons, Edwin Hood, Patrick, Arthur Loeb, Ingrid Superstar, Randy Borscheidt, Angels Davis, The Velvet Underground & Nico
I a Man
D.C.
James Whitney
Lapis (1963-1966)
P.A.S.
1967
MAJOR EVENTS
February 26: Canyon Cinema officially incorporates.
S.M. actually gives two dates for this: Chapter 1 says Feb. 26, while Chapter 2 says Feb. 20.
An Introduction to the American Underground Film by Sheldon Renan is published. Read about the book here.
Jacques Ledoux, director of the Cinémathèque Royale de Belgique, visits the U.S. to find films for the next International Experimental Film Competition. He also gives color film stock to several filmmakers, including James Broughton, in hopes they’ll make something for the Competition.
P.A.S.
Kenneth Anger has his footage for Lucifer Rising stolen.
P.A.S.
Bruce Baillie suffers a near fatal bout of hepatitis.
P.A.S.
SIGNIFICANT FILMS
AUSTRALIA
Albie Thoms
Bolero
D.C.
BELGIUM
Philippe Graff
Narcose
D.C.
Roland Lethem
La Ballade des Amants Maudits
D.C.
ENGLAND
Mike Dunford
Bogen
D.C.
Schnitte für ABABA
D.C.
FRANCE
Etienne O’Leary
Homeo
D.C.
GERMANY
Gerd Conradt
Frederic Rzewski isst bei Carlone — Via della Luce 55 — Rom Italien — 26 August
D.C.
William and Birgit Hein
S+W
D.C.
Lutz Mommartz
Eisenbahn
D.C.
U.S.
Lucifer Rising (1966-67)
D.C. lists as the “stolen version”
S.R. lists as just 1966–
D.E.J. lists as 1966-80
Song XXIII: 23rd Psalm Branch
1966-67
P.A.S.
S.R. lists as just 1966
Songs XXIV & XXV
Song XXVI
Stephen Dwoskin
Chinese Checkers
D.C., who calls filmmaker “Steve”
Burton C. Gershfield
Now That the Buffalo’s Gone
D.C.
Hilary Harris
Nine Variations on a Dance Theme
D.C.
William Hindle
FFFTCM (Fan Fare for the Common Man)
D.C.
Kurt Kren
15/67 TV
D.C.
The Great Blondino
P.A.S.
S.M. lists as made with William T. Wiley
S.R. lists as 1966-67
Hot Leatherette (1966-67)
S.R.
Jimmy Witherspoon & Penny Bright (1966-67)
S.R.
The Off-Handed Jape (1966-67)
S.R.
Super Spread (1966-67)
S.R.
Half Open and Lumpy (1966-67)
S.R.
Awful Backlash (1966-67)
S.R.
P.A.S. lists as just 1967; calls film The Awful Backlash
Pat O’Neill
7362 (1965-67)
D.C.
Michael Snow
Wavelength
P.A.S.
D.E.J.
D.C. calls filmmaker “Mike”
Joyce Wieland
1933
D.C.
Sailboat
D.C.
1968
SIGNIFICANT FILMS
BELGIUM
Louis Langled
Junkies Island
D.C.
ENGLAND
Mike Dunford
C Movie
D.C.
Jeff Keen
Marvo Movies (1967-68)
D.C.
Malcolm Le Grice
Castle 2
D.C.
Blind White Duration
D.C.
FRANCE
Pierre Clementi
Visa de Censure (1967-68)
D.C.
ITALY
Antonio DeBernardi
Dei
D.C.
Guido Lombardi
Sviluppo Number 2
D.C.
U.S.
David Brooks
Eel Creek
D.C.
Stephen Dwoskin
Me Myself and I
D.C., who calls filmmaker “Steve”
Ron Finne
How Old Is the Water
D.C.
Ulrich Hertzog
Film 2 Tiel 1
D.C.
William Hindle
Chinese Firedrill
D.C.
Billabong
D.C.
David Lourie
Project One
D.C.
Paul Morrissey
Flesh
D.C.
D.E.J.
S.R. credits to Andy Warhol and lists Paul Morrissey as co-producer, plus says starring Joe D’Allesandro
Larry Jordan
Gymnopedies
P.A.S.
Yoko Ono
Smile
D.C.
No President aka The Kidnapping and Auctioning of Wendell Wilkie By the Love Bandit (1967-68)
J.S.
P.A.S. lists as 1969 and only uses title No President
Michael Stewart
Free-Form
D.C.
Albie Thoms
Marinetti
D.C.
John Whitney
Permutations
D.C.
1969
MAJOR EVENTS
January: Intermedia Film Cooperative forms in Vancouver, British Columbia.
S.M.
In an ad in Esquire magazine, the company Bauer touts its super 8 camera as “The Underground Movie Camera.”
D.E.J.
Sometime during the Summer, Film Culture magazine publishes its 47th issue.
SIGNIFICANT FILMS
GERMANY
William and Birgit Hein
625
D.C.
U.S.
Momentum (1968-69)
D.C.
P.A.S. lists as just 1969
Special effects for Doppelgänger (Journey to the Far Side of the Sun (1968-69))
D.C.
Fred Drummond
Shower Proof
D.C.
Stephen Dwoskin
Take Me
D.C., who calls filmmaker “Steve”
William Hindle
Watersmith
D.C.
Tom, Tom, the Piper’s Son
P.A.S.
D.C. lists film as 1968-69 and doesn’t use punctuation in title
Larry Jordan
Our Lady of the Sphere
P.A.S.
Hildur and the Magician
S.M.
Saul Levine
Note to Patti (1968/9)
D.C.
Pat O’Neill
Screen
D.C.
Yoko Ono
Apotheosis
D.C.
Michael Snow
<——–>
P.A.S.
D.C. calls filmmaker “Mike”
One Second in Montreal
Peter Ungerleider
Under My Thumb
D.C.
Joyce Wieland
La Raison avant la Passion
D.C.
REFERENCE KEY:
D.C: David Curtis. Experimental Cinema. New York: Dell Pub., 1978.
D.E.J.: David E. James. The Most Typical Avant-garde: History and Geography of Minor Cinemas in Los Angeles. Berkeley: University of California, 2005.
J.M.: Jonas Mekas. Movie Journal: The Rise of a New American Cinema, 1959-1971. Collier Books, 1972.
J.S.: Jack Sargeant. Deathtripping: the Extreme Underground. Brooklyn: Soft Skull, 2008. (Originally published: London: Creation, 1995.)
P.A.S.: P. Adams Sitney. Visionary Film: the American Avant-garde, 1943-2000. New York: Oxford UP, 2002.
S.M.: Scott MacDonald. Canyon Cinema: the Life and times of an Independent Film Distributor. Berkeley: University of California, 2008.
S.R.: Sheldon Renan. An Introduction to the American Underground Film. New York: Dutton, 1967.