Directing
Stan Brakhage
Stan Brakhage (January 14, 1933 - March 9, 2003) is one of the most influential filmmakers in American avant-garde cinema, noted for his unflinching social commentaries and technical innovations. Over his nearly 40-year career, he has made over 200 films of varying length. He made his first film, Interim (1952) at age 18 after dropping out of college. Brakhage films seek to change the way we see. They encourage viewers to eschew traditional narrative structure in favor of pure visual perception that is not reliant on naming what is seen; rather his goal is to create a more visceral visual experience, for he believes that a "stream-of visual-consciousness could be nothing less than the pathway of the soul." To this end, his films are shot in highly sensual colors and utilize minimal soundtracks. His work can be divided into distinct periods. His first short films explored the properties and possibilities of light. In many of his experimental ventures, Brakhage has forgone traditional cinematography in favor of working directly with the film stock itself. He has occasionally painted, inked, scratched and dyed images onto it; he has also tried pasting organic objects on the film. His most famous example is the 1963 short Mothlight in which he glued moth wings onto the stock. Some of his early films were based on his most intimate experiences that included making love to his new bride--depicted on negative film--in Wedlock House: An Intercourse (1959), and an attempt to bring his dead dog back to life with a camera in Sirius Remembered (1959). During the 1960s, Brakhage's iconoclastic views were celebrated for their poetry, but during the '70s, his focus changed to social issues and he alienated many supporters with such disturbing film series as the "Pittsburgh documents" in which he presented many gruesome views of inner city life with films such as Act of Seeing with One's Own Eyes (1971) which was shot in a morgue. He also continued with autobiographical material with the "Sincerity/Duplicity series. During the 1980s, Brakhage's focus again changed--this time he became intrigued with creating truly "abstract" films such as Arabics (1982) which consists of brilliant bursts of colored light which he claims, represent "envisioned music." In addition to filmmaking, Brakhage also wrote books about films and filmmaking and also served as a teacher.
Filmography
Brakhage on Brakhage
Film · 2025
Please Leave a Message: Anthology Film Archives Voicemails Through the Ages
Film · 2022
Brakhage by Mothlight
Film · 2016
Free Radicals: A History of Experimental Film
Film · 2011
Cyclopean 3D: Life with a Beautiful Woman
Film · 2011
By Brakhage: An Anthology, Volume Two
Film · 2010
For Stan
Film · 2009
Dinner with Brakhage and Gamow
Film · 2008
Brakhage Crosses Central Park
Film · 2006
A Visit to Stan Brakhage
Film · 2006
Notes on Marie Menken
Film · 2006
Preserving Cultural Traditions in a Period of Instability
Film · 2004
A Visit to Stan Brakhage
Film · 2003
Sonic Youth: Koncertas Stan Brakhage Prisiminimui (April 12, 2003)
Film · 2003
Encomium
Film · 2003
Keeping an Eye on Stan
Film · 2003
By Brakhage: An Anthology, Volume One
Film · 2003
In the Mirror of Maya Deren
Film · 2002
Vakvagany
Film · 2002
Stan Brakhage Exits the Cinema and Enters the Light of Day
Film · 2002
Life with Stan #4: Stan Painting
Film · 2002
Garden Path
Film · 2001
As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty
Film · 2000
Looking at Forest of Bliss
Film · 2000
Keepers of the Frame
Film · 1999
Brakhage
Film · 1998
I Met Stan Brakhage (At Moma, N.Y.C)
Film · 1998
Birth of a Nation
Film · 1997
Stan Brakhage on Jim Davis
Film · 1997
Stan Brakhage on Gregory Markopoulos
Film · 1997
Cannibal! The Musical
Film · 1996
BRAKHAGE ON BRAKHAGE
Film · 1996
As Is Was
Film · 1995
Jonas in the Desert
Film · 1994
Z (Zee Not Zed)
Film · 1993
Abstract Cinema
Film · 1993
Joseph Cornell: Worlds in a Box
Film · 1991
Watunna
Film · 1989
I... Dreaming
Film · 1988
Faust's Other: An Idyll
Film · 1988
Doodlin': Impressions Of Len Lye
Film · 1987
Invocation: Maya Deren
Film · 1986
Reflecting Thought: Stan Brakhage
Film · 1985
Tortured Dust
Film · 1984
Stan & Jane Brakhage
Film · 1981
Grand Opera: An Historical Romance
Film · 1979
The Stars Are Beautiful
Film · 1974
Notes on the Buffalo Conference: “Autobiography in American Independent Cinema”
Film · 1973
Reality's Invisible
Film · 1972
Screening Room
Series · 1972
Filmmakers
Film · 1969
Legendary Epics Yarns and Fables Part 2: Stan Brakhage
Film · 1969
Diaries, Notes, and Sketches
Film · 1968
The Art of Vision
Film · 1965
Dog Star Man
Film · 1965
Dog Star Man: Part IV
Film · 1964
Song 1
Film · 1964
Dog Star Man: Part III
Film · 1964
Dog Star Man: Part II
Film · 1964
Dog Star Man: Part I
Film · 1963
Prelude: Dog Star Man
Film · 1962
Cat's Cradle
Film · 1959
Window Water Baby Moving
Film · 1959
Wedlock House: An Intercourse
Film · 1959
Flesh of Morning
Film · 1956
Trumpit
Film · 1956
The One Romantic Venture of Edward
Film · 1956
The Extraordinary Child
Film · 1954
Songs
Film