Early & Late Brakhage: Academy Restorations

Since 2004, the Academy Film Archive has been the home of the collection of experimental filmmaker Stan Brakhage (1933–2003).

Early and Late Brakhage: Academy Restorations

Since 2004, the Academy Film Archive has been the home of the collection of experimental filmmaker Stan Brakhage (1933–2003). With a career that spanned more than fifty years, Brakhage’s influence and legacy as an artist of radical innovation cannot be overstated. Ultimately producing a body of work comprising well over three hundred films, Brakhage tirelessly pursued ever-evolving articulations of intimate human vision and experience, inspiring generations of filmmakers in the global avant-garde, as well as directors such as Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, and George Lucas.

The Academy has restored several dozen films by Brakhage, but because of the sheer volume of his output, restoration work is always ongoing. For this program, in the year that would have marked his 90th birthday, we are pleased to present a sampling of restoration work of Brakhage's films by the Academy Film Archive, with a unique focus on films drawn from his earliest years of production alongside films from his last years of activity.

Programmed and note by Academy Film Archive Senior Film Preservationist Mark Toscano.

All films directed by Stan Brakhage. All prints courtesy of the Academy Film Archive, with thanks to Marilyn Brakhage. Desistfilm and Fire of Waters were restored by the Academy Film Archive and The Film Foundation with funding provided by the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation. The Dead was restored by the Academy Film Archive with support from The Film Foundation.

Total program runtime: 76 min.

Desistfilm
1954. 6.5 min. USA. B&W. Sound. 16mm.

The Wonder Ring
1955. 5.5 min. USA. Color. Silent. 16mm.

The Dead
1960. 10.5 min. USA. B&W, Color. Silent. 16mm.

Mothlight
1963. 3.5 min. USA. Color. Silent. 16mm.

Fire of Waters
1965. 6.5 min. USA. B&W. Sound. 16mm.

The Birds of Paradise
1999. 3 min. USA. Color. Silent. 16mm.

Stately Mansions Did Decree
1999. 5.5 min. USA. Color. Silent. 16mm.

Self Song & Death Song
1997. 4 min. USA. Color. Silent. 16mm.

Panels for the Walls of Heaven
2002. 31 min. USA. Color. Silent. 16mm.

Academy Museum film programming generously funded by the Richard Roth Foundation.

Theater accessibility accommodations available upon request. Learn more about our accessibility initiatives.

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