Stan Brakhage
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.
A Visit to Stan Brakhage
(Himself)
Sonic Youth: Koncertas Stan Brakhage Prisiminimui (April 12, 2003)
(Self (archive footage))
Encomium
(Self)
In the Mirror of Maya Deren
(Himself)
Stan & Jane Brakhage
(Self)
Brakhage Crosses Central Park
(Self)
Cat's Cradle
(Self)
Window Water Baby Moving
(Self (uncredited))
Dog Star Man: Part IV
Doodlin': Impressions Of Len Lye
(Self)
Flesh of Morning
Brakhage
(Self)
Reflecting Thought: Stan Brakhage
(Self)
Please Leave a Message: Anthology Film Archives Voicemails Through the Ages
Trumpit
I Met Stan Brakhage (At Moma, N.Y.C)
Vakvagany
(Himself)
A Visit to Stan Brakhage
Garden Path
Cannibal! The Musical
(Noon Sr.)
Z (Zee Not Zed)
Joseph Cornell: Worlds in a Box
(Self)
The One Romantic Venture of Edward
The Extraordinary Child
I... Dreaming
As I Was Moving Ahead, Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty
(Self)
Song 1
The Stars Are Beautiful
(Narrator (voice))
Faust's Other: An Idyll
Wedlock House: An Intercourse
Birth of a Nation
(Self)
Prelude: Dog Star Man
Dog Star Man: Part I
Dog Star Man: Part II
Dog Star Man: Part III
Dog Star Man
As Is Was
The Art of Vision
(Man)
Free Radicals: A History of Experimental Film
(Himself)
For Stan
(Himself)
Grand Opera: An Historical Romance
(Himself (voice))
Filmmakers
(Himself)
Invocation: Maya Deren
(Himself)
Watunna
(Narrator)
Tortured Dust
Looking at Forest of Bliss
(Himself)
Stan Brakhage Exits the Cinema and Enters the Light of Day
(Himself)
Reality's Invisible
(Himself)
Jonas in the Desert
(Self)
Notes on Marie Menken
(Himself (archive footage))
Keepers of the Frame
(Himself)
Keeping an Eye on Stan
Stan Brakhage on Jim Davis
Stan Brakhage on Gregory Markopoulos
Abstract Cinema
(Himself)
Diaries, Notes, and Sketches
(Self)
Life with Stan #4: Stan Painting
Screening Room
(Himself)
Visions in Meditation
(Director)
Arabics
(Director)
Persian Series
(Director)
Untitled Film of Geoffrey Holder's Wedding
(Director)
Dog Star Man: Part I
(Director)
The Boy and the Sea
(Director)
Delicacies of Molten Horror Synapse
(Director)
The Art of Vision
(Director)
Glaze of Cathexis
(Director)
Cat's Cradle
(Director)
Window Water Baby Moving
(Director)
Mothlight
(Director)
Eye Myth
(Director)
The Wold-Shadow
(Director)
Faust's Other: An Idyll
(Director)
Study in Color and Black and White
(Director)
Scenes from Under Childhood, Section One
(Director)
Desistfilm
(Director)
Wedlock House: An Intercourse
(Director)
The Act of Seeing with One's Own Eyes
(Director)
The Stars Are Beautiful
(Director)
The Garden of Earthly Delights
(Director)
Kindering
(Director)
I... Dreaming
(Director)
The Dante Quartet
(Director)
Night Music
(Director)
Rage Net
(Director)
Untitled (For Marilyn)
(Director)
Black Ice
(Director)
Stellar
(Director)
Crack Glass Eulogy
(Director)
The Dark Tower
(Director)
Comingled Containers
(Director)
Lovesong
(Director)
Unglassed Windows Cast a Terrible Reflection
(Director)
Rounds
(Director)
Thigh Line Lyre Triangular
(Director)
Prelude: Dog Star Man
(Director)
The Wonder Ring
(Director)
Centuries of June
(Director)
The Text of Light
(Director)
The Process
(Director)
The God of Day Had Gone Down Upon Him
(Director)
The Way to Shadow Garden
(Director)
Dog Star Man: Part II
(Director)
Blue Moses
(Director)
Dog Star Man: Part III
(Director)
Dog Star Man: Part IV
(Director)
Autumnal
(Director)
From: First Hymn to the Night – Novalis
(Director)
Chinese Series
(Director)
Window Water Baby Moving
(Director of Photography)
Two: Creeley/McClure
(Director)
The Machine of Eden
(Director)
Burial Path
(Director)
Sirius Remembered
(Director)
The Dead
(Director)
Anticipation of the Night
(Director)
Reflections on Black
(Director)
A Child’s Garden and the Serious Sea
(Director)
Boulder Blues and Pearls and...
(Director)
The Mammals of Victoria
(Director)
Short Films 1975: #1 (Jane’s Memory)
(Director)
Short Films 1975: #2 (Dante’s Styx)
(Director)
Short Films 1975: #3 (Hollis Frampton)
(Director)
Short Films 1975: #4 (Lady in Glass)
(Director)
Short Films 1975: #5 (Niagara Falls)
(Director)
Short Films 1975: #6 (Stars, Chickens, Eyes, Candles)
(Director)
Short Films 1975: #7 (Turning the Raccoon Loose)
(Director)
Short Films 1975: #8 (Small Town Streets)
(Director)
Flesh of Morning
(Director)
The Riddle of Lumen
(Director)
Three Homerics
(Director)
Ephemeral Solidity
(Director)
Persian Series 1-5
(Director)
Loving
(Director)
Pasht
(Director)
Fire of Waters
(Director)
The Horseman, the Woman, and the Moth
(Director)
The Extraordinary Child
(Director)
Interim
(Director)
Song 1
(Director)
Song 2
(Director)
Song 3
(Director)
Song 4
(Director)
Song 5
(Director)
Song 6
(Director)
Song 7
(Director)
Song 8
(Director)
Song 10
(Director)
Song 9
(Director)
Song 11
(Director)
Song 12
(Director)
Song 13
(Director)
Song 14
(Director)
Naughts
(Director)
Elementary Phrases
(Director)
Ballad of the Colorado Ute
(Editor)
Ballad of the Colorado Ute
(Cinematography)
Murder Psalm
(Director)
Song of the Mushroom
(Director)
Creation
(Director)
The Women
(Director)
Sincerity
(Director)
Gadflies
(Director)
Silent Sound Sense Stars Subotnick and Sender
(Director)
Wecht
(Director)
The Weir-Falcon Saga
(Director)
Mr. Tompkins Inside Himself
(Director)
Mr. Tompkins Inside Himself
(Writer)
Mr. Tompkins Inside Himself
(Editor)
Deus Ex
(Director)
Desert
(Director)
The Domain of the Moment
(Director)
Thot-Fal'N
(Director)
Visions in Meditation #1
(Director)
I Take These Truths
(Director)
Eyes
(Director)
Star Garden
(Director)
Duplicity III
(Director)
Visions in Meditation #2: Mesa Verde
(Director)
Visions in Meditation #3: Plato's Cave
(Director)
Visions in Meditation #4: D.H. Lawrence
(Director)
Arabic Numeral Series 12
(Director)
Nightcats
(Director)
Zone Moment
(Director)
Unconscious London Strata
(Director)
The Cat of the Worm's Green Realm
(Director)
Yggdrasill: Whose Roots Are Stars in the Human Mind
(Director)
"..." Reel 5
(Director)
Daybreak and Whiteye
(Director)
Door
(Director)
Western History
(Director)
Sexual Meditation: Room with View
(Director)
Sexual Meditation: Hotel
(Director)
The Shores of Phos: A Fable
(Director)
The Animals of Eden and After
(Director)
The Peaceable Kingdom
(Director)
Sincerity I
(Director)
Angels'
(Director)
Lovemaking
(Director)
Three Films: Blue White/Bloodstone/Vein
(Director)
Scenes from Under Childhood, Section Two
(Director)
Scenes from Under Childhood, Section Three
(Director)
Scenes from Under Childhood, Section Four
(Director)
Skein
(Director)
Aquarien
(Director)
Sexual Meditation: Open Field
(Director)
Roman Numeral: II
(Director)
Max
(Director)
Water for Maya
(Director)
Song 16
(Director)
Song 17
(Director)
Song 18
(Director)
Song 19
(Director)
Song 20
(Director)
Song 21
(Director)
Song 22
(Director)
Song 24
(Director)
Song 25
(Director)
Song 26
(Director)
Song 28
(Director)
Song 29
(Director)
15 Song Traits
(Director)
My Mountain Song 27
(Director)
Song 27 (Part II) Rivers
(Director)
American 30's Song
(Director)
Window Suite of Children's Songs
(Director)
Loud Visual Noises
(Director)
Jane
(Director)
The Harrowing
(Director)
Tryst Haunt
(Director)
Sexual Meditation: Faun's Room, Yale
(Director)
Sexual Meditation: Office Suite
(Director)
Garden Path
(Director)
In Between
(Director)
Oh Life - a Woe Story - the A Test News
(Director)
Black Vision
(Director)
Films by Stan Brakhage: An Avant-Garde Home Movie
(Director)
Persian Series #6
(Director)
Persian Series #7
(Director)
Persian Series #8
(Director)
Persian Series #9
(Director)
Persian Series #10
(Director)
Persian Series #11
(Director)
Persian Series #12
(Director)
Fox Fire Child Watch
(Director)
The Trip to Door
(Director)
Egyptian Series
(Director)
Persian Series #13
(Director)
Persian Series #14
(Director)
Persian Series #15
(Director)
Persian Series #16
(Director)
Persian Series #17
(Director)
Persian Series #18
(Director)
Seasons...
(Director)
Eye Myth Educational
(Director)
Eye Myth Educational
(Writer)
Jesus Trilogy and Coda
(Director)
Self Song/Death Song
(Director)
Chartres Series
(Director)
Ascension
(Director)
Resurrectus Est
(Director)
Dark Night of The Soul
(Director)
Panels for the Walls of Heaven
(Director)
By Brakhage: An Anthology
(Producer)
SB (One Minute for Vienna)
(Director)
The 'b' Series
(Director)
The Birds Of Paradise
(Director)
Shockingly Hot
(Director)
Prelude 1
(Director)
Prelude 2
(Director)
Prelude 3
(Director)
Prelude 4
(Director)
Prelude 5
(Director)
Prelude 6
(Director)
Prelude 7
(Director)
Prelude 8
(Director)
Prelude 9
(Director)
Prelude 10
(Director)
Prelude 11
(Director)
Prelude 12
(Director)
Prelude 13
(Director)
Prelude 14
(Director)
Coupling
(Director)
Stately Mansions Did Decree
(Director)
Drawings by Billy and His Friends
(In Memory Of)
Persian Series #1
(Director)
Persian Series #2
(Director)
Persian Series #3
(Director)
The Way to Shadow Garden
(Sound Designer)
The Way to Shadow Garden
(Cinematography)
Lovesong 3
(Director)
Lovesong 4
(Director)
Lovesong 5 & 6
(Director)
Persian Series #4
(Director)
Roman Numeral: I
(Director)
Window
(Director)
Dog Star Man
(Director)
Persian Series #5
(Director)
Sketches
(Director)
Nuptiae
(Director of Photography)
20 Little Films
(Director)
Ballad of the Colorado Ute
(Director)
Colorado Legend
(Cinematography)
Colorado Legend
(Director of Photography)
Colorado Legend
(Director)
Colorado Legend
(Editor)
23rd Psalm Branch
(Director)
"..." Reel 3
(Director)
The Governor
(Director)
Arabic Numeral Series 1
(Director)
Arabic Numeral Series 2
(Director)
Arabic Numeral Series 3
(Director)
Arabic Numeral Series 4
(Director)
Arabic Numeral Series 5
(Director)
Arabic Numeral Series 6
(Director)
Arabic Numeral Series 7
(Director)
Arabic Numeral Series 8
(Director)
Arabic Numeral Series 9
(Director)
Arabic Numeral Series 0 + 10
(Director)
Arabic Numeral Series 11
(Director)
Arabic Numeral Series 13
(Director)
Arabic Numeral Series 14
(Director)
Arabic Numeral Series 15
(Director)
Arabic Numeral Series 16
(Director)
Arabic Numeral Series 17
(Director)
Arabic Numeral Series 18
(Director)
Arabic Numeral Series 19
(Director)
23rd Psalm Branch: Part I
(Director)
Passage Through: A Ritual
(Director)
Cannot Exist
(Director)
Occam's Thread
(Director)
Gift
(Director)
Cannot Not Exist
(Director)
Made Manifest
(Director)
I...
(Director)
23rd Psalm Branch: Part II
(Director)
Roman Numeral: III
(Director)
Roman Numeral: IV
(Director)
Roman Numeral: V
(Director)
Roman Numeral: VI
(Director)
Roman Numeral: VII
(Director)
Roman Numeral: VIII
(Director)
Roman Numeral: IX
(Director)
Clancy
(Director)
In Consideration of Pompeii
(Director)
Christ Mass Sex Dance
(Director)
The Lion and the Zebra Make God's Raw Jewels
(Director)
Prelude 15
(Director)
Prelude 16
(Director)
Prelude 17
(Director)
Prelude 18
(Director)
Prelude 19
(Director)
Prelude 20
(Director)
Prelude 21
(Director)
Prelude 22
(Director)
Prelude 23
(Director)
Prelude 24
(Director)
By Brakhage: An Anthology, Volume One
(Director)
By Brakhage: An Anthology, Volume Two
(Director)
The Loom
(Director)
4A
(Director)
Blue Value
(Director)
Micro Garden
(Director)
Short Films 1975
(Director)
Blossom-Gift/Favor
(Director)
We Hold These
(Director)
Thigh Line Lyre Triangular
(Cinematography)
Thigh Line Lyre Triangular
(Editor)
Window Water Baby Moving
(Editor)
Song 5
(Cinematography)
Song 5
(Editor)
Song 1
(Cinematography)
Song 1
(Editor)
The Stars Are Beautiful
(Cinematography)
The Stars Are Beautiful
(Editor)
The Stars Are Beautiful
(Writer)
Jane
(Editor)
In Between
(Cinematography)
In Between
(Editor)
Interim
(Cinematography)
Interim
(Editor)
Interim
(Writer)
In Between
(Writer)
Unglassed Windows Cast a Terrible Reflection
(Writer)
Unglassed Windows Cast a Terrible Reflection
(Cinematography)
Unglassed Windows Cast a Terrible Reflection
(Editor)
Desistfilm
(Cinematography)
Desistfilm
(Editor)
Desistfilm
(Writer)
The Extraordinary Child
(Cinematography)
The Extraordinary Child
(Editor)
The Extraordinary Child
(Writer)
The Way to Shadow Garden
(Editor)
The Way to Shadow Garden
(Writer)
Reflections on Black
(Cinematography)
Reflections on Black
(Editor)
Reflections on Black
(Writer)
The Wonder Ring
(Cinematography)
The Wonder Ring
(Editor)
Thot-Fal'N
(Cinematography)
Thot-Fal'N
(Editor)
Cloud Chamber
(Director)
Bird
(Director)
Worm and Web Love
(Director)
City Streaming
(Director)
Marilyn's Window
(Director)
Confession
(Director)
Flight
(Director)
Babylon Series #1
(Director)
Babylon Series #2
(Director)
Babylon Series #3
(Director)
Highs
(Director)
Centre
(Director)
Rembrandt, Etc., and Jane
(Director)
Blue Moses
(Cinematography)
Blue Moses
(Editor)
Blue Moses
(Writer)
Sincerity V
(Director)
Vision of the Fire Tree
(Director)
Nightmare Series
(Director)
Faustfilm: An Opera: Part I
(Director)
Faust 3: Candida Albacore
(Director)
Faust IV
(Director)
Moilsome Toilsome
(Director)
23rd Psalm Branch: Part II
(Cinematography)
23rd Psalm Branch: Part II
(Editor)
The Art of Vision
(Editor)
The Art of Vision
(Cinematography)
The Art of Vision
(Producer)
For Life, Against the War
(Director)
Sexual Saga
(Director)
Hymn to Her
(Director)
Sweetgrass
(Thanks)
Tortured Dust
(Director)
Alternating Currents
(Director)
Fireloop
(Director)
Last Hymn to the Night - Novalis
(Director)
Very
(Director)
Night Mulch
(Director)
Other
(Director)
The Presence
(Director)
Sol
(Director)
“He was born, he suffered, he died.”
(Director)
Dominion
(Director)
Sincerity II
(Director)
Short Films 1976
(Director)
Trio
(Director)
Tragoedia
(Director)
The Dream, NYC, The Return, The Flower
(Director)
Airs
(Director)
Absence
(Director)
Soldiers and Other Cosmic Objects
(Director)
Sluice
(Director)
Sincerity III
(Director)
Purity and After
(Director)
Duplicity I
(Director)
Duplicity II
(Director)
@
(Director)
Sincerity IV
(Director)
Sexual Meditation #1: Motel
(Director)
Salome
(Director)
RR
(Director)
Nodes
(Director)
Aftermath
(Director)
The Aerodyne
(Director)
Dance Shadows by Danelle Helander
(Director)
Matins
(Director)
The Thatch of Night
(Director)
Agnus Dei Kinder Synapse
(Director)
Interpolations I-V
(Director)
Spring Cycle
(Director)
Paranoia Corridor
(Director)
The Lost Films
(Director)
Earthen Aerie
(Director)
Two Found Objects of Charles Boultenhouse
(Director)
Through Wounded Eyes
(Director)
Polite Madness
(Director)
The Fur of Home
(Director)
Concrescence
(Director)
Beautiful Funerals
(Director)
Divertimento
(Director)
The Female Mystique and Spare Leaves (for Gordon)
(Director)
"..." Reel 1
(Director)
"..." Reel 4
(Director)
"..." Reel 2
(Director)
The Earthsong of the Cricket
(Director)
Cricket Requiem
(Director)
Dance
(Director)
Dog Star Man
(Editor)
Dog Star Man
(Writer)
Dog Star Man
(Director of Photography)
Scenes from Under Childhood
(Director)
Hell Spit Flexion
(Director)
Short Films 1975: #9 (Forest Love Scene)
(Director)
Short Films 1975: #10 (Painted Lightning)
(Director)
Tortured Dust Part I
(Director)
Tortured Dust Part II
(Director)
Tortured Dust Part III
(Director)
Tortured Dust Part IV
(Director)
The Act of Seeing with One's Own Eyes
(Director of Photography)
The Act of Seeing with One's Own Eyes
(Editor)
Lovesong 2
(Director)
The Text of Light
(Director of Photography)
Stan's Window & Work in Progress
(Director)
Jane
(Director of Photography)
Cornell's Portrait of June
(Director)
Trio
(Cinematography)
Sartre's Nausea
(Director)
Blood's Tone
(Director)