In the Summer 1961 edition of Film Quarterly, Stan Vanderbeek was the first person to refer to experimental filmmaking as the “underground.” A filmmaker himself, Vanderbeek was frustrated that his work and the films of his peers — such as Stan Brakhage, Hilary Harris, Robert Breer and Robert Frank — was not being considered as serious art by the broader cinematic culture.
Eventually, the term “underground film” would become part of the regular movie vernacular, but was it adopted slowly or quickly after its first appearance in 1961?
Jonas Mekas‘s “Movie Journal” column in the Village Voice was the main organ promoting experimental and avant-garde cinema in the early 1960s. A survey of the column from that time period has shown that Mekas did not use the term “underground film” very frequently.
At approximately the same time of the Film Quarterly issue, Mekas devoted a column on May 4, 1961 to three filmmakers. Mekas began the column with:
Stan Vanderbeek,...
Eventually, the term “underground film” would become part of the regular movie vernacular, but was it adopted slowly or quickly after its first appearance in 1961?
Jonas Mekas‘s “Movie Journal” column in the Village Voice was the main organ promoting experimental and avant-garde cinema in the early 1960s. A survey of the column from that time period has shown that Mekas did not use the term “underground film” very frequently.
At approximately the same time of the Film Quarterly issue, Mekas devoted a column on May 4, 1961 to three filmmakers. Mekas began the column with:
Stan Vanderbeek,...
- 10/14/2018
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Stan Vanderbeek was one of the most prolific filmmakers of the experimental film scene, churning out primarily collage films featuring original footage cut up with found imagery.
At the same time, he was also a prodigious film theorist, producing articles on film theory in much the same way he made his films — by combining original writing with text and images created by others. One of Vanderbeek’s most famous articles is “The Cinema Delimina” published in the Summer 1961 edition of Film Quarterly (vol. Xiv no. 4), in which he is the first person to use the term “underground” to refer to what was then mostly referred to as “experimental cinema.”
To be clear, though, Vanderbeek actually did not use the exact term “underground film.”
The gist of the article appears to be Vanderbeek arguing that experimental films should be considered as something better than...
At the same time, he was also a prodigious film theorist, producing articles on film theory in much the same way he made his films — by combining original writing with text and images created by others. One of Vanderbeek’s most famous articles is “The Cinema Delimina” published in the Summer 1961 edition of Film Quarterly (vol. Xiv no. 4), in which he is the first person to use the term “underground” to refer to what was then mostly referred to as “experimental cinema.”
To be clear, though, Vanderbeek actually did not use the exact term “underground film.”
The gist of the article appears to be Vanderbeek arguing that experimental films should be considered as something better than...
- 9/30/2018
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
From the Oakland Tribune, Monday, April 28, 1958. Article text:
Brussels, Belgium, April 28: A New York art film director yesterday was awarded second prize in the international experimental film competition and four other Americans won lesser awards.
The $5,000 prize went to Len Lye, New York, for his film “Free Radicals.”
The $10,000 first prize went to Walerian Borowczyk and Jan Lenica for their Polish film “Dom” (House).
Hilary Harris, New York; Francis Thompson, New York; Stan Brakhage, Denver, Colo., and Kenneth Anger, a San Franciscan who lives in Paris won medals.
Nearly half of the 133 films entered were from the United States. There were some boos in the World’s Fair Auditorium when Belgian Interior Minister Pierre Vermeylen announced the results. An international jury studied the films for a week before deciding.
Underground Film Journal notes: This was the 2nd edition of the Brussels Experimental Film Festival.
The film for which Kenneth Anger...
Brussels, Belgium, April 28: A New York art film director yesterday was awarded second prize in the international experimental film competition and four other Americans won lesser awards.
The $5,000 prize went to Len Lye, New York, for his film “Free Radicals.”
The $10,000 first prize went to Walerian Borowczyk and Jan Lenica for their Polish film “Dom” (House).
Hilary Harris, New York; Francis Thompson, New York; Stan Brakhage, Denver, Colo., and Kenneth Anger, a San Franciscan who lives in Paris won medals.
Nearly half of the 133 films entered were from the United States. There were some boos in the World’s Fair Auditorium when Belgian Interior Minister Pierre Vermeylen announced the results. An international jury studied the films for a week before deciding.
Underground Film Journal notes: This was the 2nd edition of the Brussels Experimental Film Festival.
The film for which Kenneth Anger...
- 10/7/2013
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
Embedded above is a brief segment from the 1999 British TV show Dope Sheet on Mary Ellen Bute, the experimental animation pioneer who produced over a dozen abstract animated films between the 1930s and ’50s. While her contribution to experimental film has largely been overlooked except by hardcore animation buffs, there’s been a slow resurgence in interest in her work.
Her name crossed my path in a significant way this past week or so while I was building the beginning stages of my underground film timeline. The timeline currently credits her with just 11 films, 10 of which are abstract animations and one, The Boy Who Saw Through, is a live action short film that, according to the above documentary, stars an extremely young Christopher Walken. The documentary also credits Bute for having made 15 animated films between 1935 and 1956.
However, there’s some dispute between the information I currently have. For example, the timeline says her first film,...
Her name crossed my path in a significant way this past week or so while I was building the beginning stages of my underground film timeline. The timeline currently credits her with just 11 films, 10 of which are abstract animations and one, The Boy Who Saw Through, is a live action short film that, according to the above documentary, stars an extremely young Christopher Walken. The documentary also credits Bute for having made 15 animated films between 1935 and 1956.
However, there’s some dispute between the information I currently have. For example, the timeline says her first film,...
- 7/19/2010
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
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