Stan Brakhage

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Stan Brakhage (January 14, 1933 – March 9, 2003) was an American non-narrative filmmaker. He is regarded as one of the most important experimental filmmakers of the 20th century. Brakhage was born as Robert Sanders in an orphanage in Kansas City, Missouri. Three weeks after his birth, he was adopted by Ludwig and Clara Brakhage, and he was given the name James Stanley Brakhage. As a child, he appeared on radio as a boy soprano before going to high school in Denver, Colorado and then dropping out of Dartmouth College after several months to make films. He was influenced by the writings of Sergei Eisenstein and the films of Jean Cocteau as well as the Italian neorealism movement. His first film, Interim (1952), was in the neo-realist style and had music by James Tenney. In 1953, Brakhage moved to San Francisco where he associated with poets such as Robert Duncan and Kenneth Rexroth. In late 1954, he moved to New York City where he associated with a number of contemporary artists, among them Maya Deren, Marie Menken, Joseph Cornell, and John Cage. Brakhage's films are usually silent and lack a traditional story, being more analogous to visual poetry than to prose story-telling. He often referred to them as "visual music" or "moving visual thinking." His films range in length from just a few seconds to several hours, but most last between two or three minutes and one hour. His films were intended to be viewed privately. Even though the earlier films were shot on 16mm, the lat

top songs

albums

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Test of Time (1982)

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Interviewed by Pauline Kael (1964)

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STAN BRACKHAGE W PAULINE KAEL

Zamizdat Trade Journal Volume 2

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Test of Time

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The Act of Seeing With One's Own Eyes

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Boulder Blues and Pearls and... (1992)

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Radio broadcasts, 1982, KAIR, University of Colorado

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Test of Time (radio series)

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Commentaries By Brakhage

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By Brakhage: Anthology

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Test of Time 1982

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