This isn’t a terribly exciting or sexy update, but I want to keep pimping out my Underground Film Timeline. Up until now, I’m not sure if it’s usefulness has been all that apparent, but I’m liking where it’s going.

Phase 2 of the Timeline project involved me integrating it better with the Underground Film Journal’s sister site, the Underground Film Guide (UFG). And, yes, by “integrating” I mean adding links on both sites. This is how it works: Let’s say you’re perusing the 1960 — 1969 page of the Timeline and come across the name of filmmaker Storm de Hirsch, who in 1965 made her most famous film Peyote Queen.

De Hirsch isn’t one of the more famous of the ’60s underground filmmakers, like Stan Brakhage, Kenneth Anger, George Kuchar, et. al. So, you click on her name to get more info on her on the UFG where you can see her complete filmography — or, as much as I know of it so far from my research — and a little background info. Then, on her page, you can either click back to the ’60s Timeline or on to the page for Peyote Queen, which also includes a link to the ’60s.

(UPDATE: In 2014, I am working on killing the Underground Film Guide and incorporating that site’s historical data in the Journal.)

I hope other folks find this kind of thing helpful, but really I’m doing this because this is exactly the type of information I like and the way that I want to peruse it. I like to see what’s happening during a specific period of time, as well as get information about a filmmaker or a film specifically.

Also, I actually finished Phase 2 the other day and have already moved onto Phase 3, which I’m even more excited about and I think makes the Timeline really useful. I’m now adding product pages for DVDs that include films found on the Timeline, so if you’re interested in a film, you know where to go find it — if it’s possible to find it.

I’ve only added one product page as of this writing, for Kino Video’s Avant-Garde: Experimental Cinema of the 1920s and ’30s. If you’re not familiar with this DVD compilation, the title pretty much says it all. But now, for example, if you’re on the 1920 — 1929 page of the Timeline, you’ll see a DVD tag next to Charles Sheeler and Paul Strand’s 1921 avant-garde film Manhatta, which takes you to the Avant-Garde product page that has info on the DVD, including links to sites where you can buy or rent it.

Right now, my plan is to make more product pages for the Kino series, then move onto other DVDs like the By Brakhage series, the two-volume Kenneth Anger compilation, the Treasures IV DVD and more. This phase of the project will probably take awhile as I have to build the product pages first, then insert all the links and whatnot.

But, if you haven’t checked out the Timeline yet or in awhile, please do as it’s really starting to come together. Thanks!