Stan Brakhage
Born
January 14, 1933
Died
March 9, 2003 (70 years old)
Known For
Directing
Place of Birth
Kansas City, Missouri, USA
Stan Brakhage 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.
Known For
Please Leave a Message: Anthology Film Archives Voicemails Through the Ages
2022

Diaries, Notes, and Sketches
Self
2013

Free Radicals: A History of Experimental Film
Himself
2011

For Stan
Himself
2009

Dinner with Brakhage and Gamow
2008

Brakhage Crosses Central Park
Self
2006

A Visit to Stan Brakhage
2006
Notes on Marie Menken
Self (archive footage)
2006

Preserving Cultural Traditions in a Period of Instability
Voice
2004
A Visit to Stan Brakhage
Himself
2003

Sonic Youth: Koncertas Stan Brakhage Prisiminimui (April 12, 2003)
Self (archive footage)
2003

Keeping an Eye on Stan
2003

Encomium
Self
2003

Life with Stan #4: Stan Painting
2002

Stan Brakhage Exits the Cinema and Enters the Light of Day
Himself
2002

In the Mirror of Maya Deren
Himself
2002
Vakvagany
Himself
2002

Garden Path
2001

As I Was Moving Ahead, Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty
Self
2000

Looking at Forest of Bliss
Himself
2000
Keepers of the Frame
Himself
1999

Brakhage
Self
1998
I Met Stan Brakhage (At Moma, N.Y.C)
1998

Birth of a Nation
Self
1997

Stan Brakhage on Gregory Markopoulos
1997

Stan Brakhage on Jim Davis
1997

Cannibal! The Musical
Noon Sr.
1996
BRAKHAGE ON BRAKHAGE
self
1996
As Is Was
1995

Jonas in the Desert
Self
1994

Abstract Cinema
Himself
1993
Z (Zee Not Zed)
1993

Joseph Cornell: Worlds in a Box
Self
1991
Watunna
Narrator
1989

I... Dreaming
1988

Faust's Other: An Idyll
1988

Doodlin': Impressions Of Len Lye
Self
1987

Invocation: Maya Deren
Himself
1986

Reflecting Thought: Stan Brakhage
Self
1985

Tortured Dust
1984

Stan & Jane Brakhage
Self
1981
Grand Opera: An Historical Romance
Himself (voice)
1979

The Stars Are Beautiful
Narrator (voice)
1974

Screening Room
Himself ยท (1 episode)
1972

Reality's Invisible
Himself
1972

Filmmakers
Himself
1969

The Art of Vision
Man
1965

Dog Star Man
1965

Dog Star Man: Part IV
1964

Dog Star Man: Part III
1964

Song 1
1964

Dog Star Man: Part I
1963

Dog Star Man: Part II
1963

Prelude: Dog Star Man
1962

Window Water Baby Moving
Self (uncredited)
1959

Wedlock House: An Intercourse
1959

Cat's Cradle
Self
1959

Flesh of Morning
1956

Trumpit
1956

The One Romantic Venture of Edward
1956

The Extraordinary Child
1954