Kenneth Anger
Kenneth Anger (born Kenneth Wilbur Anglemeyer; February 3, 1927 - May 11, 2023) was an American underground experimental filmmaker, actor and author. Working exclusively in short films, he produced almost forty works since 1937, nine of which in particular have been grouped together as the "Magick Lantern Cycle," and form the basis of Anger's reputation as one of the most influential independent filmmakers in cinema history. His films variously merge surrealism with homoeroticism and the occult, and have been described as containing "elements of erotica, documentary, psychodrama, and spectacle." Anger himself has been described as "one of America's first openly gay filmmakers, and certainly the first whose work addressed homosexuality in an undisguised, self-implicating manner," and his "role in rendering gay culture visible within American cinema, commercial or otherwise, is impossible to overestimate." Some of his particularly homoerotic works, such as Fireworks (1947) and Scorpio Rising (1964), were produced prior to the legalisation of homosexuality in the United States. He has also focused upon occult themes in many of his films, being fascinated by the notorious English occultist Aleister Crowley, and is a follower of Crowley's religion, Thelema. This influence is evident from films like Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome (1954), Invocation of My Demon Brother (1969) and Lucifer Rising (1972). Anger has described filmmakers such as Auguste and Louis Lumière and Georges Méliès as influences, and has been cited as an important influence on later film directors like Martin Scorsese, David Lynch and John Waters.He has also been described as having "a profound impact on the work of many other filmmakers and artists, as well as on music video as an emergent art form using dream sequence, dance, fantasy, and narrative." During the 1960s and 70s he associated and worked with a number of different figures in popular culture and the occult, including Church of Satan founder Anton LaVey, sexologist Alfred Kinsey, artist Jean Cocteau, playwright Tennessee Williams and musicians Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Jimmy Page and Marianne Faithfull. He is also the author of the controversial best seller Hollywood Babylon (1959) and its sequel Hollywood Babylon II (1986), in which he claims to expose many of the rumours and secrets of Hollywood celebrities. Description above from the Wikipedia article Kenneth Anger, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
24 Hour Sunset
Lucifer Rising
(The Magus (uncredited))
Fireworks
(Dreamer (uncredited))
Disinfo.Con
(Self)
FLicKeR
(Self)
The Rolling Stones - The First 20 Years
(Self)
Anger Me
(Himself)
Darryl F. Zanuck: 20th Century Filmmaker
(Self)
The Dead
He Stands in a Desert Counting the Seconds of His Life
(Self (archive footage))
Arabesque for Kenneth Anger
Hedy Lamarr: Secrets of a Hollywood Star
The Spells of Kenneth Anger
(himself)
72 Hours In André Balazs’ Chateau Marmont With Kenneth Anger
(Self)
The Beach Boys and The Satan
(Self)
The 1000 Eyes of Dr Maddin
Added Attractions: The Hollywood Shorts Story
(Self (uncredited))
Kenneth Anger’s Hollywood Babylon
(Himself)
Night of Pan
(Lucifer)
42 One Dream Rush
(Lucifer)
Kenneth Anger: Film as Magical Ritual
(Himself)
The Films of Kenneth Anger: Volume Two
The Films of Kenneth Anger: Volume One
Langlois
(Self)
365 Day Project
Jonas in the Desert
(Self)
Mansfield 66/67
(Self)
Notes on Marie Menken
(Himself)
Birth of a Nation
(Self)
Cinemagician: Conversations with Kenneth Anger
The Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome
(Hecate)
Invocation of My Demon Brother
(The Magick (uncredited))
Anton LaVey: Into the Devil's Den
(Himself)
Busby Berkeley: Going Through the Roof
(Self)
Prisoner of Mars
Rescued from the Closet
(Self)
Look Back at Anger
(Self)
Magick Lantern Cycle
(Dreamer / Hecate / The Magick / The Magus)
Arena
(Self)
SexTV
Kustom Kar Kommandos
(Writer)
Rabbit's Moon
(Writer)
Kustom Kar Kommandos
(Editor)
Rabbit's Moon
(Editor)
Lucifer Rising
(Director)
Invocation of My Demon Brother
(Director)
Fireworks
(Writer)
Fireworks
(Director)
The Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome
(Writer)
The Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome
(Director)
Eaux d'artifice
(Director)
Kustom Kar Kommandos
(Director)
Puce Moment
(Writer)
Rabbit's Moon
(Director)
Scorpio Rising
(Director)
Puce Moment
(Director)
The Man We Want to Hang
(Director)
Scorpio Rising
(Director of Photography)
Magick Lantern Cycle
(Director)
My Surfing Lucifer
(Director)
Anger Sees Red
(Director)
Anger Sees Red
(Writer)
Hollywood Babylon
(Novel)
Don't Smoke That Cigarette
(Director)
Mouse Heaven
(Director)
Ich will!
(Director)
Brush of Baphomet
(Director)
Airships 1, 2, 3
(Director)
Missoni
(Director)
The Nest
(Director)
Invocation of My Demon Brother
(Editor)
Invocation of My Demon Brother
(Director of Photography)
Invocation of My Demon Brother
(Writer)
Tinsel Tree
(Director)
The Films of Kenneth Anger: Volume Two
(Director)
The Films of Kenneth Anger: Volume Two
(Writer)
The Films of Kenneth Anger: Volume One
(Director)
The Films of Kenneth Anger: Volume One
(Writer)
Magick Lantern Cycle
(Writer)
Magick Lantern Cycle
(Cinematography)
Magick Lantern Cycle
(Editor)
Lucifer Rising
(Editor)
Senators in Bondage
(Producer)
Senators in Bondage
(Writer)
Senators in Bondage
(Director)
Senators in Bondage
(Editor)
Technicolor Skull
(Director)
42 One Dream Rush
(Director)
Uniform Attraction
(Director)
Elliott's Suicide
(Director)
I'll Be Watching You
(Director)
Foreplay
(Director)
Eaux d'artifice
(Director of Photography)
Rabbit's Moon
(Director of Photography)
The Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome
(Director of Photography)
Lucifer Rising
(Producer)
Kustom Kar Kommandos
(Director of Photography)
Escape Episode
(Director)
Puce Moment
(Editor)
Puce Moment
(Producer)
Eaux d'artifice
(Producer)
Eaux d'artifice
(Editor)
Fireworks
(Editor)
The Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome
(Editor)
Scorpio Rising
(Writer)
Scorpio Rising
(Editor)
Rabbit's Moon
(Director)
Prisoner of Mars
(Director)
Who Has Been Rocking My Dreamboat
(Writer)
Prisoner of Mars
(Writer)
Who Has Been Rocking My Dreamboat
(Director)
Magick Lantern Cycle
(Director of Photography)