Directing
Stan Brakhage
EN, XX, DE, ES cinema · 436 credits
Born
14 January 1933
Died
9 March 2003 (aged 70)
Birthplace
Kansas City, Missouri, USA
Also known as James Stanley Brakhage · 스탠 브래키지 · スタン・ブラッケージ · 斯坦·布拉哈格 · Стэн Брэкидж · სტენ ბრეკიჯი
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.
Known for
Filmography
Songs
as Self (Uncredited), Director, Editor, Cinematography, Writer
Visions in Meditation
Director
Arabic Numeral Series
Director
Persian Series
Director
Derealization
Visual Effects
Brakhage by Mothlight
as Self (voice)
20 Little Films
Director
By Brakhage: An Anthology, Volume Two
Actor, Director, Writer
For Stan
as Himself
Sweetgrass
Thanks
Notes on Marie Menken
2006
Notes on Marie Menken
as Self (archive footage)
Sonic Youth: Koncertas Stan Brakhage Prisiminimui (April 12, 2003)
as Self (archive footage)
Encomium
as Self
By Brakhage: An Anthology, Volume One
Actor, Director, Writer
Chinese Series
Director
In the Mirror of Maya Deren
as Himself
Vakvagany
2002
Vakvagany
as Himself
Seasons...
Director
Ascension
Director
Resurrectus Est
Director
SB
Director
Max
Director
Garden Path
Actor, Director
Lovesong
Director
Rounds
Director
Persian Series #16
Director
Lovesong 4
Director
Lovesong 5 & 6
Director
Lovesong 3
Director
Occam's Thread
Director
Micro-Garden
Director
Very
Director
Night Mulch
Director
Lovesong 2
Director
Water for Maya
Director
Persian Series #11
Director
Persian Series #6
Director
Persian Series #10
Director
Dance
2000
Dance
Director
The Dark Tower
Director
Coupling
Director
Persian Series #2
Director
Persian Series #3
Director
Persian Series #1
Director
Persian Series #4
Director
Persian Series #5
Director
Cloud Chamber
Director
Worm and Web Love
Director
Moilsome Toilsome
Director
Cricket Requiem
Director
Brakhage
as Self
"..." Reel 5
Director
"..." Reel 3
Director
"..." Reel 4
Director
"..." Reel 2
Director
Divertimento
Director
Cannibal! The Musical
as Noon Sr.
Comingled Containers
Director
Shockingly Hot
Director
Prelude 9
Director
Prelude 11
Director
Prelude 7
Director
Prelude 8
Director
Prelude 13
Director
Prelude 10
Director
Prelude 14
Director
Prelude 15
Director
Prelude 16
Director
Prelude 21
Director
Prelude 22
Director
Prelude 24
Director
Prelude 17
Director
Prelude 19
Director
Prelude 20
Director
Prelude 23
Director
Prelude 18
Director
Blue Value
Director
Sexual Saga
Director
The Fur of Home
Director
Beautiful Funerals
Director
Polite Madness
Director
Concrescence
Director
I Take These Truths
Director
The 'b' Series
Director
Prelude 3
Director
Prelude 4
Director
Prelude 1
Director
Prelude 2
Director
Prelude 5
Director
Prelude 6
Director
I...
Director
We Hold These
Director
The "Lost" Films
Director
Spring Cycle
Director
Paranoia Corridor
Director
Earthen Aerie
Director
Black Ice
Director
Elementary Phrases
Director
Naughts
Director
Chartres Series
Director
Cannot Exist
Director
Cannot Not Exist
Director
Abstract Cinema
as Himself
Stellar
Director
Autumnal
Director
Ephemeral Solidity
Director
Three Homerics
Director
The Harrowing
Director
Tryst Haunt
Director
For Marilyn
Director
Crack Glass Eulogy
Director
Glaze of Cathexis
Director
City Streaming
Director
Babylon Series #2
Director
Babylon Series #3
Director
The Thatch of Night
Director
Watunna
1989
Watunna
as Narrator
Babylon Series #1
Director
Faust IV
Director
I... Dreaming
Actor, Director
Faust's Other: An Idyll
Actor, Director
Rage Net
Director
Marilyn's Window
Director
Matins
Director
Kindering
Director
The Dante Quartet
Director
Loud Visual Noises
Director
Faustfilm: An Opera
Director
Invocation: Maya Deren
as Himself
Night Music
Director
The Loom
Director
Confession
Director
Fireloop
Director
The Aerodyne
Director
Jane
Director, Editor, Director of Photography
Tortured Dust
Actor, Director
Egyptian Series
Director
Hell Spit Flexion
Director
Made Manifest
Director
RR
Director
Nodes
Director
Aftermath
Director
Murder Psalm
Director
Duplicity III
Director
Roman Numeral: VII
Director
Roman Numeral: IV
Director
Roman Numeral: VIII
Director
Roman Numeral: IX
Director
Roman Numeral: VI
Director
Roman Numeral: V
Director
4A
1980
4A
Director
Sincerity V
Director
Other
Director
Salome
Director
Grand Opera: An Historical Romance
as Himself (voice)
Creation
Director
Roman Numeral: II
Director
Roman Numeral: I
Director
Roman Numeral: III
Director
Sincerity IV
Director
@
Director
Burial Path
Director
Thot-Fal'N
Director, Editor, Cinematography
Bird
Director
Centre
Director
Nightmare Series
Director
Sluice
Director
Purity and After
Director
Duplicity II
Director
Sincerity III
Director
Duplicity I
Director
Tragoedia
Director
Desert
Director
Window
Director
Highs
Director
Trio
Director, Cinematography
Absence
Director
Short Films 1976
Director
Airs
Director
Sincerity II
Director
The Stars Are Beautiful
as Narrator (voice), Director, Editor, Writer, Cinematography
The Text of Light
Director, Director of Photography
Star Garden
Director
Skein
Director
Aquarien
Director
Clancy
Director
Flight
Director
Hymn to Her
Director
Sol
Director
Dominion
Director
Notes on the Buffalo Conference: “Autobiography in American Independent Cinema”
Actor
The Women
Director
Sincerity I
Director
Gift
1973
Gift
Director
The Wold-Shadow
Director
The Act of Seeing with One's Own Eyes
Director, Editor, Director of Photography
The Process
Director
The Riddle of Lumen
Director
Wecht
1972
Wecht
Director
Eye Myth Educational
Writer, Director
The Presence
Director
Deus Ex
1971
Deus Ex
Director
Western History
Director
Door
Director
Angels'
Director
The Machine of Eden
Director
The Weir-Falcon Saga
Director
Eyes
Director
Filmmakers
as Himself
American 30s Song
Director
Song 28
Director
Song 29
Director
Nuptiae
1969
Nuptiae
Director of Photography
Lovemaking
Director
My Mountain: Song 27
Director
Song 26
Director
Eye Myth
Director
Song 24
Director
Song 25
Director
23rd Psalm Branch
Director
23rd Psalm Branch: Part II
Director, Cinematography, Editor
Pasht
Director
Song 21
Director
Song 20
Director
Song 17
Director
Song 22
Director
Song 18
Director
Song 19
Director
Song 16
Director
The Art of Vision
as Man, Director, Editor, Producer, Cinematography
Dog Star Man
Actor, Director, Writer, Director of Photography, Editor
Two: Creeley/McClure
Director
Fire of Waters
Director
Song 10
Director
Song 12
Director
Song 14
Director
Song 13
Director
Song 9
Director
Song 11
Director
Black Vision
Director
Dog Star Man: Part IV
Actor, Director
Song 1
Actor, Director, Editor, Cinematography
Dog Star Man: Part II
Actor, Director
Dog Star Man: Part III
Actor, Director
Song 6
Director
Song 4
Director
Song 2
Director
Song 3
Director
Song 8
Director
Song 5
Director, Cinematography, Editor
Song 7
Director
Dog Star Man: Part I
Actor, Director
Mothlight
Director
Prelude: Dog Star Man
Actor, Director
Blue Moses
Director, Cinematography, Writer, Editor
Mr. Tompkins Inside Himself
1962
Mr. Tompkins Inside Himself
Editor, Director, Writer
Thigh Line Lyre Triangular
Director, Cinematography, Editor
Ballad of the Colorado Ute
Editor, Cinematography, Director
Sartre's Nausea
Director
The Dead
Director
Colorado Legend
Editor, Director of Photography, Director, Cinematography
Cat's Cradle
as Self, Director
Window Water Baby Moving
as Self (uncredited), Director, Director of Photography, Editor
Wedlock House: An Intercourse
Actor, Director
Sirius Remembered
Director
Pittsburgh
Cinematography
Loving
Director
Flesh of Morning
Actor, Director
Trumpit
Actor
Zone Moment
Director
Nightcats
Director
Untitled Film of Geoffrey Holder's Wedding
1955
Untitled Film of Geoffrey Holder's Wedding
Director
The Wonder Ring
Director, Cinematography, Editor
Centuries of June
Director
Reflections on Black
1955
Reflections on Black
Director, Writer, Editor, Cinematography
In Between
Director, Cinematography, Editor, Writer
The Extraordinary Child
Actor, Director, Editor, Cinematography, Writer
Desistfilm
Director, Editor, Writer, Cinematography
The Way to Shadow Garden
1954
The Way to Shadow Garden
Director, Cinematography, Sound Designer, Writer, Editor
Unglassed Windows Cast a Terrible Reflection
Director, Editor, Cinematography, Writer
Interim
Director, Writer, Editor, Cinematography