Documentary director best known for his unusual collaborations with German director Herzog died earlier today Les Blank, among whose directorial efforts is the British Film Academy-winning documentary Burden of Dreams, about the bizarre events surrounding the making of Werner Herzog's Amazon-set Fitzcarraldo, died in Berkeley, California, earlier today, according to an article found on the web site Deadline.com. Blank, who had been suffering from cancer, was 77. Pictured above: Herzog is the maddeningly obsessive star of the 1982 documentary Burden of Dreams. Near the end of the 1960s, Blank was directing industrial and promotional shorts in order to bankroll his i documentary shorts, including Chicago Film Festival winner The Blues Accordin' to Lightnin' Hopkins (1969) and God Respects Us When We Work, But Loves Us When We Dance (1969), about the burgeoning "flower children" scene. Music and the cultural context encompassing it were frequent themes in Blank's work. Examples include the norteño...
- 4/7/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Happy Fourth of July to all of Bad Lit’s U.S. readers! Celebrate Independence Day by reading all about great independent cinema. Loads of reviews and other surprises in the underground film link list this week:
It seems film festival notices have been going out: Kill Your Television, Hooka Face and the Virgin Boy and Wheels of Death all have been accepted into the Atlanta Underground Film Festival. And Hanging at Picnic Rock has been appropriately selected for the Melbourne Underground Film Festival. If you want a print of the 2010 Chicago Underground Film Festival poster, then indiePulse has the details. Art:21 has an absolutely fascinating history of an early “forgotten” film pioneer, Alice Guy-Blaché, the Head of Production of Gaumont from 1896 to 1906. Rhizome has video and images from Harun Farocki’s Deep Play installation, which is an artistic interpretation of the 2006 FIFA World Cup. j. j. murphy reviews the...
It seems film festival notices have been going out: Kill Your Television, Hooka Face and the Virgin Boy and Wheels of Death all have been accepted into the Atlanta Underground Film Festival. And Hanging at Picnic Rock has been appropriately selected for the Melbourne Underground Film Festival. If you want a print of the 2010 Chicago Underground Film Festival poster, then indiePulse has the details. Art:21 has an absolutely fascinating history of an early “forgotten” film pioneer, Alice Guy-Blaché, the Head of Production of Gaumont from 1896 to 1906. Rhizome has video and images from Harun Farocki’s Deep Play installation, which is an artistic interpretation of the 2006 FIFA World Cup. j. j. murphy reviews the...
- 7/4/2010
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
The 6th annual Portland Underground Film Festival is ready to once again take over the historic Clinton St. Theater for four straight nights of demented and deranged movies on June 10-13.
The big highlight of the event — from Bad Lit’s perspective — is the closing night film: The touching and heartwarming story of a man who became a beloved alien, clown and, most importantly, a vampire. That’s right, it’s Every Other Day Is Halloween, the documentary portrait of Dick Dyzel, who transformed himself into Bozo, Captain 20 and Count Gore DeVol on local Washington, D.C. TV.
As for the rest of the fest, there’s the always popular “Bike Porn” short film program; the made-in-Oregon feature The Corners; the Jaws documentary The Shark Is Still Working and more. Plus, don’t miss the short film program that includes Spree All the Way to Mexico, made by one of...
The big highlight of the event — from Bad Lit’s perspective — is the closing night film: The touching and heartwarming story of a man who became a beloved alien, clown and, most importantly, a vampire. That’s right, it’s Every Other Day Is Halloween, the documentary portrait of Dick Dyzel, who transformed himself into Bozo, Captain 20 and Count Gore DeVol on local Washington, D.C. TV.
As for the rest of the fest, there’s the always popular “Bike Porn” short film program; the made-in-Oregon feature The Corners; the Jaws documentary The Shark Is Still Working and more. Plus, don’t miss the short film program that includes Spree All the Way to Mexico, made by one of...
- 6/8/2010
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
Webster University Film Series Presents
Weekend, Aug 21, 22 & 23 at 7:30 Pm
Automorphosis (2009, USA, 73 min.) is a film directed by Harrod Blank, son of the legendary documentary filmmaker Les Blank (Burden of Dreams). Don’t assume he’s just riding on his dad’s coat tails though, especially since Les Blank is known mostly by avid cinephiles and movie geeks. Harrod is a fascinating artist and a quality filmmaker in his own rite. This is Harrod’s third film on the subject of car-art, following his first feature-length documentary Wild Wheels (1992) and his short film Driving The Dream (1998). If you love movies, cars and/or art, this is a film you want to see!
What if you could morph your car into a mobile work of art, and drive it down the road for all to see? What would it look like? What would the world think of you? How would you be changed?...
Weekend, Aug 21, 22 & 23 at 7:30 Pm
Automorphosis (2009, USA, 73 min.) is a film directed by Harrod Blank, son of the legendary documentary filmmaker Les Blank (Burden of Dreams). Don’t assume he’s just riding on his dad’s coat tails though, especially since Les Blank is known mostly by avid cinephiles and movie geeks. Harrod is a fascinating artist and a quality filmmaker in his own rite. This is Harrod’s third film on the subject of car-art, following his first feature-length documentary Wild Wheels (1992) and his short film Driving The Dream (1998). If you love movies, cars and/or art, this is a film you want to see!
What if you could morph your car into a mobile work of art, and drive it down the road for all to see? What would it look like? What would the world think of you? How would you be changed?...
- 8/20/2009
- by Travis
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
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