
Also known as: James Stanley Brakhage, 스탠 브래키지, スタン・ブラッケージ, 斯坦·布拉哈格
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.
Directing
January 14, 1933
March 9, 2003
70 years old
Kansas City, Missouri, USA
0.4

Brakhage on Brakhage
Self

Derealization
Visual Effects
Please Leave a Message: Anthology Film Archives Voicemails Through the Ages

Brakhage by Mothlight
Self (voice)

20 Little Films
Director

Free Radicals: A History of Experimental Film
Himself

Cyclopean 3D: Life with a Beautiful Woman

Drawings by Billy and His Friends
In Memory Of

By Brakhage: An Anthology, Volume Two
Director

For Stan
Himself

Sweetgrass
Thanks

Dinner with Brakhage and Gamow

Brakhage Crosses Central Park
Self

A Visit to Stan Brakhage
Notes on Marie Menken
Self (archive footage)

Preserving Cultural Traditions in a Period of Instability
Voice
A Visit to Stan Brakhage
Himself

Sonic Youth: Koncertas Stan Brakhage Prisiminimui (April 12, 2003)
Self (archive footage)

Encomium
Self

Keeping an Eye on Stan

Chinese Series
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By Brakhage: An Anthology, Volume One
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Stan's Window & Work in Progress
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In the Mirror of Maya Deren
Himself
Vakvagany
Himself

Stan Brakhage Exits the Cinema and Enters the Light of Day
Himself

Life with Stan #4: Stan Painting

Song of the Mushroom
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Seasons...
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Ascension
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Resurrectus Est
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Panels for the Walls of Heaven
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SB
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Max
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Garden Path

Lovesong
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Rounds
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Garden Path
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Persian Series #13
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Persian Series #14
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Persian Series #15
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Persian Series #16
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Persian Series #17
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Persian Series #18
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Dark Night of The Soul
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Lovesong 3
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Lovesong 4
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Lovesong 5 & 6
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Occam's Thread
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Micro-Garden
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Very
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Night Mulch
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Lovesong 2
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As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty
Self

Looking at Forest of Bliss
Himself

The God of Day Had Gone Down Upon Him
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Water for Maya
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Persian Series #6
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Persian Series #7
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Persian Series #8
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Persian Series #9
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Persian Series #10
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Persian Series #11
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Persian Series #12
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Jesus Trilogy and Coda
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Dance
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Keepers of the Frame
Himself

The Dark Tower
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The Birds Of Paradise
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Coupling
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Stately Mansions Did Decree
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Persian Series #1
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Persian Series #2
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Persian Series #3
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Persian Series #4
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Persian Series #5
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The Lion and the Zebra Make God's Raw Jewels
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Cloud Chamber
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Worm and Web Love
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Moilsome Toilsome
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The Earth Song of the Cricket
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Cricket Requiem
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Brakhage
Self
I Met Stan Brakhage (At Moma, N.Y.C)

"..." Reel 5
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"..." Reel 3
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The Female Mystique and Spare Leaves (for Gordon)
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"..." Reel 1
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"..." Reel 4
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"..." Reel 2
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Birth of a Nation
Self

Stan Brakhage on Jim Davis

Stan Brakhage on Gregory Markopoulos

The Cat of the Worm's Green Realm
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Yggdrasill: Whose Roots Are Stars in the Human Mind
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Self Song & Death Song
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Last Hymn to the Night - Novalis
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Divertimento
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Cannibal! The Musical
Noon Sr.
BRAKHAGE ON BRAKHAGE
self

Comingled Containers
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Shockingly Hot
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Prelude 7
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Prelude 8
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Prelude 9
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Prelude 10
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Prelude 11
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Prelude 12
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Prelude 13
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Prelude 14
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Prelude 15
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Prelude 16
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Prelude 17
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Prelude 18
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Prelude 19
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Prelude 20
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Prelude 21
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Prelude 22
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Prelude 23
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Prelude 24
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Blue Value
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Sexual Saga
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Two Found Objects of Charles Boultenhouse
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Through Wounded Eyes
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Polite Madness
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The Fur of Home
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Concrescence
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Beautiful Funerals
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As Is Was

I Take These Truths
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The 'b' Series
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Prelude 1
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Prelude 2
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Prelude 3
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Prelude 4
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Prelude 5
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Prelude 6
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I...
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In Consideration of Pompeii
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We Hold These
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Spring Cycle
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Paranoia Corridor
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The "Lost" Films
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Earthen Aerie
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Jonas in the Desert
Self

Black Ice
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From: First Hymn to the Night – Novalis
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The Mammals of Victoria
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Naughts
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Elementary Phrases
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Chartres Series
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Cannot Exist
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Cannot Not Exist
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Alternating Currents
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The Life and Times of Allen Ginsberg
Thanks
Z (Zee Not Zed)

Abstract Cinema
Himself

Study in Color and Black and White
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Stellar
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Autumnal
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Boulder Blues and Pearls and...
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Three Homerics
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Ephemeral Solidity
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The Harrowing
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Tryst Haunt
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Blossom-Gift/Favor
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For Marilyn
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Interpolations 1-5
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Joseph Cornell: Worlds in a Box
Self

Delicacies of Molten Horror Synapse
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Crack Glass Eulogy
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A Child’s Garden and the Serious Sea
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Christ Mass Sex Dance
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Agnus Dei Kinder Synapse
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Glaze of Cathexis
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Visions in Meditation #3: Plato's Cave
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Visions in Meditation #4: D.H. Lawrence
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Passage Through: A Ritual
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City Streaming
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Babylon Series #2
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Babylon Series #3
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Vision of the Fire Tree
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The Thatch of Night
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Watunna
Narrator

Visions in Meditation #1
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Visions in Meditation #2: Mesa Verde
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Babylon Series #1
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Faust IV
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I... Dreaming

Faust's Other: An Idyll

Faust's Other: An Idyll
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I... Dreaming
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Rage Net
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Marilyn's Window
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Faust 3: Candida Albacore
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Matins
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Doodlin': Impressions Of Len Lye
Self

Kindering
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The Dante Quartet
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Loud Visual Noises
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Faustfilm: An Opera
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Invocation: Maya Deren
Himself

Night Music
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The Loom
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Confession
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Fireloop
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The Aerodyne
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Dance Shadows by Danelle Helander
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Reflecting Thought: Stan Brakhage
Self

Jane
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Jane
Editor

Jane
Director of Photography

Tortured Dust

Egyptian Series
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Tortured Dust
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Tortured Dust Part 1
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Tortured Dust Part 2
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Tortured Dust Part 3
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Tortured Dust Part 4
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Hell Spit Flexion
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Arabic Numeral Series 14
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Arabic Numeral Series 15
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Arabic Numeral Series 16
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Arabic Numeral Series 17
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Arabic Numeral Series 18
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Arabic Numeral Series 19
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Stan & Jane Brakhage
Self

The Garden of Earthly Delights
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Arabic Numeral Series 12
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Unconscious London Strata
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Arabic Numeral Series 1
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Arabic Numeral Series 2
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Arabic Numeral Series 3
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Arabic Numeral Series 4
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Arabic Numeral Series 5
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Arabic Numeral Series 6
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Arabic Numeral Series 7
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Arabic Numeral Series 8
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Arabic Numeral Series 9
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Arabic Numeral Series 0 + 10
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Arabic Numeral Series 11
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Arabic Numeral Series 13
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Made Manifest
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RR
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Nodes
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Aftermath
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Murder Psalm
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Duplicity III
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Roman Numeral: IV
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Roman Numeral: V
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Roman Numeral: VI
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Roman Numeral: VII
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Roman Numeral: VIII
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Roman Numeral: IX
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4A
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Sincerity V
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Other
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Salome
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Grand Opera: An Historical Romance
Himself (voice)

Creation
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Roman Numeral: II
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Roman Numeral: I
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Roman Numeral: III
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@
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Sincerity IV
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Burial Path
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Thot-Fal'N
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Thot-Fal'N
Cinematography

Thot-Fal'N
Editor

Bird
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Centre
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Nightmare Series
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Sluice
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Sincerity III
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Purity and After
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Duplicity I
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Duplicity II
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The Domain of the Moment
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The Governor
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Tragoedia
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Soldiers and Other Cosmic Objects
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Gadflies
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Desert
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Window
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Sketches
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Highs
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Rembrandt, Etc., and Jane
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Short Films 1976
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Trio
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The Dream, N.Y.C., The Return, The Flower
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Airs
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Absence
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Trio
Cinematography

Short Films 1975: #1 (Jane’s Memory)
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Short Films 1975: #2 (Dante’s Styx)
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Short Films 1975: #3 (Hollis Frampton)
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Short Films 1975: #4 (Lady in Glass)
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Short Films 1975: #5 (Niagara Falls)
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Short Films 1975: #6 (Stars, Chickens, Eyes, Candles)
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Short Films 1975: #7 (Turning the Raccoon Loose)
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Short Films 1975: #8 (Small Town Streets)
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Short Films 1975
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Sincerity II
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Short Films 1975: #9 (Forest Love Scene)
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Short Films 1975: #10 (Painted Lightning)
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The Stars Are Beautiful
Narrator (voice)

The Stars Are Beautiful
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The Text of Light
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Star Garden
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Skein
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Aquarien
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Clancy
Director

The Stars Are Beautiful
Cinematography

The Stars Are Beautiful
Editor

The Stars Are Beautiful
Writer

Flight
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Hymn to Her
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Sol
Director

“He was born, he suffered, he died.”
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Dominion
Director

The Text of Light
Director of Photography

Notes on the Buffalo Conference: “Autobiography in American Independent Cinema”

The Women
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Sincerity I
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Sexual Meditation: Open Field
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Gift
Director

Reality's Invisible
Self

Screening Room
Himself

The Wold-Shadow
Director

The Act of Seeing with One's Own Eyes
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The Process
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The Riddle of Lumen
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Wecht
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Sexual Meditation: Hotel
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The Shores of Phos: A Fable
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Sexual Meditation: Faun's Room, Yale
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Sexual Meditation: Office Suite
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Eye Myth Educational
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Eye Myth Educational
Writer

The Presence
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The Act of Seeing with One's Own Eyes
Director of Photography

The Act of Seeing with One's Own Eyes
Editor
Deus Ex
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Door
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Western History
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Sexual Meditation: Room with View
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The Peaceable Kingdom
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Angels'
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Fox Fire Child Watch
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The Trip to Door
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The Machine of Eden
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The Weir-Falcon Saga
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Eyes
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The Animals of Eden and After
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Scenes from Under Childhood, Section Four
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Sexual Meditation #1: Motel
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Scenes from Under Childhood
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Filmmakers
Himself

Legendary Epics Yarns and Fables Part 2: Stan Brakhage
Himself

Scenes from Under Childhood, Section Two
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Scenes from Under Childhood, Section Three
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Song 28
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Song 29
Director

My Mtn. Song 27 Part II: Rivers
Director

American 30s Song
Director

Window Suite of Children's Songs
Director
Nuptiae
Director of Photography

Diaries, Notes, and Sketches
Self

Scenes from Under Childhood, Section One
Director

The Horseman, the Woman, and the Moth
Director

Lovemaking
Director

Song 26
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My Mountain: Song 27
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Eye Myth
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Song 24
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Song 25
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23rd Psalm Branch
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23rd Psalm Branch: Part I
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23rd Psalm Branch: Part II
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23rd Psalm Branch: Part II
Cinematography

23rd Psalm Branch: Part II
Editor

For Life, Against the War
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Pasht
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Song 16
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Song 17
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Song 18
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Song 19
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Song 20
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Song 21
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Song 22
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The Art of Vision
Man

Dog Star Man

The Art of Vision
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Two: Creeley/McClure
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Fire of Waters
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Song 10
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Song 9
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Song 11
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Song 12
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Song 13
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Song 14
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Three Films: Blue White/Blood's Tone/Vein
Director
15 Song Traits
Director

The Art of Vision
Editor

The Art of Vision
Cinematography

The Art of Vision
Producer

Black Vision
Director

Dog Star Man
Director

Dog Star Man
Writer

Dog Star Man
Director of Photography

Dog Star Man
Editor

Dog Star Man: Part IV

Song 1

Dog Star Man: Part II

Dog Star Man: Part III

Dog Star Man: Part II
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Dog Star Man: Part III
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Dog Star Man: Part IV
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Song 1
Director

Song 2
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Song 3
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Song 4
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Song 5
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Song 6
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Song 7
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Song 8
Director

Song 5
Cinematography

Song 5
Editor

Song 1
Cinematography

Song 1
Editor

Dog Star Man: Part I

Dog Star Man: Part I
Director

Mothlight
Director

Oh Life - a Woe Story - the A Test News
Director

Prelude: Dog Star Man

Prelude: Dog Star Man
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Blue Moses
Director
Silent Sound Sense Stars Subotnick and Sender
Director
Mr. Tompkins Inside Himself
Director
Mr. Tompkins Inside Himself
Writer
Mr. Tompkins Inside Himself
Editor

Blue Moses
Cinematography

Blue Moses
Editor

Blue Moses
Writer

Thigh Line Lyre Triangular
Director

Ballad of the Colorado Ute
Editor

Ballad of the Colorado Ute
Cinematography

Sartre's Nausea
Director

Films by Stan Brakhage: An Avant-Garde Home Movie
Director

Ballad of the Colorado Ute
Director

Thigh Line Lyre Triangular
Cinematography

Thigh Line Lyre Triangular
Editor

The Dead
Director

Colorado Legend
Cinematography

Colorado Legend
Director of Photography

Colorado Legend
Director

Colorado Legend
Editor

Cat's Cradle
Self

Window Water Baby Moving
Self (uncredited)

Wedlock House: An Intercourse

Cat's Cradle
Director

Window Water Baby Moving
Director

Wedlock House: An Intercourse
Director

Window Water Baby Moving
Director of Photography

Sirius Remembered
Director

Window Water Baby Moving
Editor

Pittsburgh
Cinematography

Anticipation of the Night
Director

Loving
Director

Daybreak and Whiteye
Director

Flesh of Morning

Trumpit

The One Romantic Venture of Edward

Flesh of Morning
Director

Nightcats
Director

Zone Moment
Director
Untitled Film of Geoffrey Holder's Wedding
Director

The Wonder Ring
Director

Centuries of June
Director
Reflections on Black
Director

In Between
Director

In Between
Cinematography

In Between
Editor

In Between
Writer
Reflections on Black
Cinematography
Reflections on Black
Editor
Reflections on Black
Writer

The Wonder Ring
Cinematography

The Wonder Ring
Editor

The Extraordinary Child

Desistfilm
Director

The Way to Shadow Garden
Director

The Extraordinary Child
Director

The Way to Shadow Garden
Sound Designer

The Way to Shadow Garden
Cinematography

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
The Boy and the Sea
Director

Unglassed Windows Cast a Terrible Reflection
Director

Unglassed Windows Cast a Terrible Reflection
Writer

Unglassed Windows Cast a Terrible Reflection
Cinematography

Unglassed Windows Cast a Terrible Reflection
Editor

Interim
Director

Interim
Cinematography

Interim
Editor

Interim
Writer

Songs
Self (Uncredited)

Visions in Meditation
Director

Arabic Numeral Series
Director

Persian Series
Director
Persian Series 1-5
Director

Songs
Director

Songs
Editor

Songs
Cinematography

Songs
Writer