Stan Brakhage filmography

Over the course of more than five decades, the American experimental filmmaker Stan Brakhage produced a large body of work. All films in the filmography are assumed to be silent, in color, and are meant to be shown at 24 frames per second, unless otherwise noted. The Brakhage films, comprising his edited originals, intermediate elements, and other original material, are housed at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Film Archive, where a long-term project is underway to preserve and restore his entire film output.^{[citation needed]}

Fifty-six of these films are available on DVD (as two separate volumes) and Blu-ray from the Criterion Collection.^[1]

Legend

Black-and-white

Black-and-white with sound

Color with sound

[1]

Year	Title	Format	Length	Notes
1952	Interim	16 mm	25+1⁄2 minutes	Black-and-white; features music by James Tenney
1953	The Boy and the Sea	16 mm	2 minutes	Black-and-white
1953	Unglassed Windows Cast a Terrible Reflection	16 mm	29 minutes	Black-and-white
1954	Desistfilm	16 mm	7 minutes	Black-and-white, sound
	The Extraordinary Child	16 mm	13 minutes	Black-and-white
	The Way to Shadow Garden	16 mm	11+1⁄2 minutes	Black-and-white, sound
1955	In Between	16 mm	10+1⁄2 minutes	First color film; features music by John Cage
	Reflections on Black	16 mm	12 minutes	Black-and-white, sound
	Untitled film of Geoffrey Holder’s Wedding^[2]	16 mm	Unknown	Co-directed with Larry Jordan
	The Wonder Ring	16 mm	6 minutes
1955–1956	Gnir Rednow	16 mm	6 minutes	Co-directed with Joseph Cornell
1955–1956	Centuries of June	16 mm	6 minutes	Co-directed with Joseph Cornell; also known as Tower House, Bolts of Melody, Portrait of June, and June^[2]
1956	Flesh of Morning	16 mm	22 minutes	Black-and-white, sound; revised by Brakhage in 1986^[2]
	Nightcats	16 mm	8 minutes
	Zone Moment	16 mm	3 minutes
1957	Daybreak and White Eye	16 mm	8 minutes	Black-and-white, sound
1957	Loving	16 mm	5 minutes
1958	Anticipation of the Night	16 mm	40 minutes
1959	Cat's Cradle	16 mm	6 minutes
	Sirius Remembered	16 mm	11 minutes
	Wedlock House: An Intercourse	16 mm	11 minutes	Black-and-white
	Window Water Baby Moving	16 mm	12 minutes

Year	Title	Format	Length	Notes
1960	Mr. Tompkins Inside Himself	16 mm	42 minutes	Adaptation of Mr. Tompkins book by George Gamow
1960	The Dead	16 mm	11 minutes
1961	Thigh Line Lyre Triangular	16 mm	6 minutes
	Films by Stan Brakhage: An Avant-Garde Home Movie	16 mm	4 minutes
	Dog Star Man: Prelude	16 mm	25 minutes	Part of Dog Star Man cycle
1962	Blue Moses	16 mm	10 minutes	Black-and-white, sound
1962	Silent Sound Sense Stars Subotnick and Sender	16 mm	2 minutes	Black-and-white, sound
1962–1963	Sartre's Nausea	16 mm	4 minutes	Black-and-white; title is a reference to Nausea by Jean-Paul Sartre
1962	Dog Star Man: Part 1	16 mm	31 minutes	Part of Dog Star Man cycle
1963	Mothlight	16 mm	3 minutes
	Oh Life, A Woe Story, The A-Test News	16 mm	6 minutes	Black-and-white
	Dog Star Man: Part 2	16 mm	6 minutes	Part of Dog Star Man cycle
1964	Dog Star Man: Part 3	16 mm	8 minutes	Part of Dog Star Man cycle
	Dog Star Man: Part 4	16 mm	6 minutes	Part of Dog Star Man cycle
	Song 1	8 mm	3 minutes	Part of Songs cycle
	Song 2 & Song 3	8 mm	4+1⁄2 minutes	Part of Songs cycle
	Song 4	8 mm	3 minutes	Part of Songs cycle
	Song 5	8 mm	4+1⁄2 minutes	Part of Songs cycle
	Song 6 & Song 7	8 mm	4+1⁄2 minutes	Part of Songs cycle
	Song 8	8 mm	3+1⁄2 minutes	Part of Songs cycle
1965	The Art of Vision	16 mm	270 minutes	Expanded version of the Dog Star Man cycle, using the same footage^[2]
	Black Vision	16 mm	3 minutes	Black-and-white
	Fire of Waters	16 mm	7 minutes	Black-and-white, sound
	Pasht	16 mm	5 minutes
	Three Films: Blue White, Blood’s Tone, Vein	16 mm	9 minutes
	Two: Creeley/McClure	16 mm	3 minutes
	The Female Mystique and Spare Leaves (For Gordon)	16 mm	5 minutes
	Song 9 & Song 10	8 mm	7 minutes	Part of Songs cycle
	Song 11	8 mm	3 minutes	Part of Songs cycle
	Song 12	8 mm	3 minutes	Part of Songs cycle
	Song 13	8 mm	3 minutes	Part of Songs cycle
	Song 14	8 mm	3 minutes	Part of Songs cycle
	15 Song Traits	8 mm	38+1⁄2 minutes	Part of Songs cycle
	Song 16	8 mm	7 minutes	Part of Songs cycle
	Songs 17 & 18	8 mm	5 minutes	Part of Songs cycle
	Songs 19 & 20	8 mm	8 minutes	Part of Songs cycle
	Songs 21 & 22	8 mm	6 minutes	Part of Songs cycle
1966–1967	23rd Psalm Branch	8 mm	69 minutes	Part of Songs cycle; Brakhage later released the film as two halves under the names 23rd Psalm Branch: Part 1 (1979) and 23rd Psalm Branch: Part 2 (1980)^[2]
1967	Scenes from Under Childhood (Section One)	16 mm	24+1⁄2 minutes	Part of Scenes from Under Childhood cycle; available in versions with and without sound
1967	Eye Myth	35 mm	9 seconds
1968	The Horseman, the Woman and the Moth	16 mm	19 minutes
	Love Making	16 mm	36 minutes
	Songs 24 & 25	8 mm	6+1⁄2 minutes	Part of Songs cycle; reissued in 16 mm in 1984^[2]
	Song 26	8 mm	8 minutes	Part of Songs cycle; reissued in 16 mm in 1984^[2]
	My Mtn. Song 27	8 mm	8 minutes	Part of Songs cycle; reissued in a 20 minute-version on 16 mm in 1987^[2]
1969	Song 27 (Part II) Rivers	8 mm	26 minutes	Part of Songs cycle; reissued on 16 mm in 1988^[2]
	Song 28	8 mm	3 minutes	Part of Songs cycle; reissued on 16 mm in 1985^[2]
	Song 29	8 mm	3 minutes	Part of Songs cycle; reissued on 16 mm in 1985^[2]
	American 30's Song	8 mm	35 minutes	Part of Songs cycle; running time given is for 18 frames per second
	Window Suite of Children’s Songs	8 mm	24 minutes	Part of Songs cycle.
	Scenes from Under Childhood (Section Two)	16 mm	40 minutes	Part of Scenes from Under Childhood cycle
	Scenes from Under Childhood (Section Three)	16 mm	25 minutes	Part of Scenes from Under Childhood cycle

Year	Title	Format	Length	Notes
1970	Scenes from Under Childhood (Section Four)	16 mm	45 minutes	Part of Scenes from Under Childhood cycle
	The Weir-Falcon Saga	16 mm	29 minutes
	The Machine of Eden	16 mm	11+1⁄2 minutes
	Animals of Eden and After	16 mm	35 minutes
	Sexual Meditation #1: Motel	Super 8	6 minutes	18 frames per second; part of Sexual Meditations cycle
1971	eyes	16 mm	35 minutes	Part of the "Pittsburgh Trilogy"
	Deus Ex	16 mm	33 minutes	Part of the "Pittsburgh Trilogy"
	The Act of Seeing with One's Own Eyes	16 mm	32 minutes	Part of the "Pittsburgh Trilogy"
	Wecht	16 mm	3 minutes
	Angels	16 mm	2 minutes
	Door	16 mm	3+1⁄2 minutes
	Fox Fire Child Watch	16 mm	3 minutes
	The Peaceable Kingdom	16 mm	8 minutes
	Western History	16 mm	8 minutes
	The Trip to Door	16 mm	12+1⁄2 minutes
	Sexual Meditation: Room with View	16 mm	4 minutes	Part of Sexual Meditations cycle
1972	The Presence	16 mm	3+1⁄2 minutes
	Eye Myth Educational	16 mm	2 minutes	Uses footage from Eye Myth
	Sexual Meditation: Faun's Room, Yale	16 mm	3 minutes	Part of Sexual Meditations cycle
	Sexual Meditation: Office Suite	16 mm	4 minutes	Part of Sexual Meditations cycle
	Sexual Meditation: Hotel	16 mm	6+1⁄2 minutes	Part of Sexual Meditations cycle
	Sexual Meditation: Open Field	16 mm	6 minutes	Part of Sexual Meditations cycle
	The Process	16 mm	9 minutes
	The Riddle of Lumen	16 mm	13 minutes
	The Shores of Phos: A Fable	16 mm	10 minutes
	The Wold Shadow	16 mm	2+1⁄2 minutes
1973	Gift	16 mm	3 minutes
	The Women	16 mm	3+1⁄2 minutes
	Sincerity I	16 mm	27 minutes	Part of Sincerity cycle
1974	Aquarien	16 mm	3 minutes
	Clancy	16 mm	4+1⁄2 minutes
	Dominion	16 mm	4 minutes
	Flight	16 mm	5+1⁄2 minutes
	"He was born, he suffered, he died."	16 mm	7+1⁄2 minutes
	Hymn to Her	16 mm	2+1⁄2 minutes
	Skein	16 mm	5 minutes
	Sol	16 mm	4 minutes
	Star Garden	16 mm	22 minutes
	The Text of Light	16 mm	71 minutes
	The Stars are Beautiful	16 mm	19 minutes	Sound
1975	Short Films: 1975	16 mm	38 minutes	A collection of ten works ranging from 2 1/2 to 6 minutes in length that Brakhage distributed as a single piece. "Jane's Memory" "Dante's Styx" "Hollis Frampton" "Jane's Memory" "Niagara Falls" "Stars, Chickens, Eyes, Candles" "Turning the Raccoon Loose" "Small Town Streets" "Forest Love Scene" "Painted Lightning"^[3]
1975	Sincerity II	16 mm	38 minutes	Part of Sincerity cycle
1976	Gadflies	Super 8	12+1⁄2 minutes	18 frames per second
	Sketches	Super 8	9 minutes	18 frames per second
	Window	Super 8/16 mm	10+1⁄2 minutes	18 frames per second
	Trio	Super 8/16 mm	6+1⁄2 minutes	18 frames per second
	Rembrandt, Etc., and Jane	Super 8/16 mm	17+1⁄2 minutes	18 frames per second
	Desert	Super 8/16 mm	11 minutes	18 frames per second
	Highs	Super 8/16 mm	7 minutes	18 frames per second
	Airs	Super 8/16 mm	24 minutes	18 frames per second
	Absence	Super 8/16 mm	8 minutes	18 frames per second
	Short Films: 1976	16 mm	25 minutes
	The Dream, NYC, The Return, The Flower	Super 8/16 mm	24+1⁄2 minutes	18 frames per second
	Tragoedia	16 mm	35 minutes
1977	The Domain of the Moment	16 mm	15+1⁄2 minutes
	The Governor	16 mm	57+1⁄2 minutes
	Soldiers and Other Cosmic Objects	16 mm	22 minutes
1978	Bird	16 mm	4 minutes
	Burial Path	16 mm	15 minutes	18 frames per second
	Centre	16 mm	13 minutes	18 frames per second
	Nightmare Series	16 mm	20 minutes
	Purity and After	16 mm	5 minutes	18 frames per second
	Sluice	16 mm	6 minutes	18 frames per second
	Duplicity I	16 mm	23 minutes	Part of Duplicity cycle
	Duplicity II	16 mm	20 minutes	Part of Duplicity cycle
	Thot-Fal’N	16 mm	9 minutes	18 frames per second
	Sincerity III	16 mm	35 minutes	Part of Sincerity cycle
1979	@	16 mm	6 minutes	18 frames per second
	Creation	16 mm	17 minutes	18 frames per second
	I	16 mm	6 minutes	18 frames per second; part of the "Roman Numeral Series" (also called the "Romans")
	II	16 mm	9 minutes	18 frames per second; part of the "Roman Numeral Series" (also called the "Romans")
	III	16 mm	2 minutes	18 frames per second; part of the "Roman Numeral Series" (also called the "Romans")
	IV	16 mm	2 minutes	18 frames per second; part of the "Roman Numeral Series" (also called the "Romans")
	V	16 mm	3 minutes	18 frames per second; part of the "Roman Numeral Series" (also called the "Romans")

Year	Title	Format	Length	Notes
1980	VI	16 mm	10 minutes	18 frames per second; part of the "Roman Numeral Series" (also called the "Romans")
	VII	16 mm	5 minutes	18 frames per second; part of the "Roman Numeral Series" (also called the "Romans")
	Made Manifest	16 mm	12 minutes
	Other	16 mm	3 minutes	18 frames per second.
	Salome	16 mm	3 minutes	18 frames per second.
	Sincerity IV	16 mm	37 minutes	Part of Sincerity cycle
	Sincerity V	16 mm	35 minutes	Part of Sincerity cycle
	Duplicity III	16 mm	23+1⁄2 minutes	Part of Duplicity cycle
	Murder Psalm	16 mm	18 minutes
1981	1	16 mm	5+1⁄2 minutes	18 frames per second; part of the "Arabic Numeral Series" (also called the "Arabics")
	2	16 mm	7 minutes	18 frames per second; part of the "Arabic Numeral Series" (also called the "Arabics")
	3	16 mm	10+1⁄2 minutes	18 frames per second; part of the "Arabic Numeral Series" (also called the "Arabics")
	VIII	16 mm	4 minutes	18 frames per second; part of the "Roman Numeral Series" (also called the "Romans")
	IX	16 mm	2 minutes	18 frames per second; part of the "Roman Numeral Series" (also called the "Romans")
	Aftermath	16 mm	8 minutes
	The Garden of Earthly Delights	35 mm	1+1⁄2 minutes
	Nodes	16 mm	3 minutes
	RR	16 mm	8 minutes
	Unconscious London Strata	16 mm	22 minutes
	4	16 mm	10 minutes	18 frames per second; part of the "Arabic Numeral Series" (also called the "Arabics")
	5	16 mm	5 minutes	18 frames per second; part of the "Arabic Numeral Series" (also called the "Arabics")
	6	16 mm	11 minutes	18 frames per second; part of the "Arabic Numeral Series" (also called the "Arabics")
	7	16 mm	11 minutes	18 frames per second; part of the "Arabic Numeral Series" (also called the "Arabics")
	8	16 mm	7 minutes	18 frames per second; part of the "Arabic Numeral Series" (also called the "Arabics")
	9	16 mm	12 minutes	18 frames per second; part of the "Arabic Numeral Series" (also called the "Arabics")
	0 + 10	16 mm	27+1⁄2 minutes	18 frames per second; part of the "Arabic Numeral Series" (also called the "Arabics")
	11	16 mm	10+1⁄2 minutes	18 frames per second; part of the "Arabic Numeral Series" (also called the "Arabics")
	12	16 mm	27 minutes	18 frames per second; part of the "Arabic Numeral Series" (also called the "Arabics")
	13	16 mm	5 minutes	18 frames per second; part of the "Arabic Numeral Series" (also called the "Arabics")
1982	14	16 mm	5+1⁄2 minutes	18 frames per second; part of the "Arabic Numeral Series" (also called the "Arabics")
	15	16 mm	7+1⁄2 minutes	18 frames per second; part of the "Arabic Numeral Series" (also called the "Arabics")
	16	16 mm	8+1⁄2 minutes	18 frames per second; part of the "Arabic Numeral Series" (also called the "Arabics")
	17	16 mm	8 minutes	18 frames per second; part of the "Arabic Numeral Series" (also called the "Arabics")
	18	16 mm	8+1⁄2 minutes	18 frames per second; part of the "Arabic Numeral Series" (also called the "Arabics")
	19	16 mm	9 minutes	18 frames per second; part of the "Arabic Numeral Series" (also called the "Arabics")
1983	Hell Spit Flexion	16 mm/35 mm	1 minute	Part of "The Dante Quartet"
1984	Egyptian Series	16 mm	17 minutes
	Tortured Dust, part 1	16 mm	23 minutes
	Tortured Dust, part 2	16 mm	21+1⁄2 minutes
	Tortured Dust, part 3	16 mm	24+1⁄2 minutes
	Tortured Dust, part 4	16 mm	24+1⁄2 minutes
1985	Jane	16 mm	13 minutes
1986	The Aerodyne	16 mm	3 minutes	Later included as part of Caswallon Trilogy^[4]
	Fireloop	16 mm	3 minutes	Sound by Joel Haertling; later included as part of Caswallon Trilogy
	Dance Shadows by Danelle Helander	16 mm	2+1⁄2 minutes	Later included as part of Caswallon Trilogy
	Confession	16 mm	27 minutes	Also known as Love Sacrifice
	The Loom	16 mm	43+1⁄2 minutes	Also known as Love Sacrifice
	Night Music	16 mm/35 mm	30 seconds	Part of Three Hand-Painted Films
1987	Loud Visual Noises	16 mm	3+1⁄2 minutes	Available in a silent version and a sound version with music by Die Tödliche Doris, Zoviet France, The Hafler Trio, Nurse with Wound, Joel Haertling, and I.H.T.S.O.
	The Dante Quartet	16 mm/35 mm	6 minutes
	Kindering	16 mm	3 minutes	Sound by Architects Office
1988	Faustfilm: An Opera, Part 1	16 mm	43+1⁄2 minutes	Sound; part of the Faustfilm project
	I... Dreaming	16 mm	7 minutes	Sound by Joel Haertling
	Marilyn's Window	16 mm	9 minutes	Title refers to Brakhage's wife, Marilyn Brakhage
	Matins	16 mm	2+1⁄2 minutes
	Rage Net	16 mm/35 mm	1 minute	Part of Three Hand-Painted Films
	Faust's Other: An Idyll	16 mm	44+1⁄2 minutes	Sound; part of the Faustfilm project
	Faust 3: Candida Arbacore	16 mm	27 minutes	Sound by Joel Haertling; part of the Faustfilm project
	Faust IV	16 mm	38+1⁄2 minutes	Sound; part of the Faustfilm project
1989	Visions in Meditation	16 mm	17+1⁄2 minutes	Part of the Visions in Meditation cycle
	Visions in Meditation #2	16 mm	17 minutes	Part of the Visions in Meditation cycle
	Babylon Series #1	16 mm	6 minutes

Year	Title	Format	Length	Notes
1990	Visions in Meditation #3	16 mm	18 minutes	Part of the Visions in Meditation cycle; subtitled "Plato's Cave"
	Visions in Meditation #4	16 mm	19 minutes	Part of the Visions in Meditation cycle; subtitled "D.H. Lawrence"
	Babylon Series #2	16 mm	2 minutes
	Babylon Series #3	16 mm	6 minutes
	City Streaming	16 mm	19+1⁄2 minutes
	The Thatch of Night	16 mm	5 minutes
	Vision of the Fire Tree	16 mm	5 minutes
	Passage Through: A Ritual	16 mm	49 minutes	Music by Philip Corner
	Glaze of Cathexis	16 mm	3 minutes	Part of Three Hand-painted Films
1991	Agnus Dei Kinder Synapse	16 mm	4 minutes
	A Child’s Garden and the Serious Sea	16 mm	74 minutes	One of the Vancouver Island films
	Christ Mass Sex Dance	16 mm	4 minutes	Sound
	Delicacies of Molten Horror Synapse	16 mm	8 minutes
1992	Crack Glass Eulogy	16 mm	6 minutes	Sound
	Interpolations 1–5	35 mm	12 minutes
	Untitled (For Marilyn)	16 mm	11 minutes	The film is officially untitled, but is referred to by the dedication that appears in place of a title card. It is dedicated to his wife Marilyn Brakhage.^[2]
1993	Boulder Blues and Pearls and...	16 mm	23+1⁄2 minutes	Sound
	Blossom Gift Favor	16 mm	2 minutes
	Autumnal	16 mm	5 minutes
	Ephemeral Solidity	16 mm	4+1⁄2 minutes
	The Harrowing	16 mm	2 minutes
	Tryst Haunt	16 mm	3 minutes
	Stellar	16 mm	2+1⁄2 minutes
	Study in Color and Black-and-white	16 mm	2 minutes
	Three Homerics: Diana Holding Back the Night, The Rolling Sea, and Love Again	16 mm	6 minutes
1994	Black Ice	16 mm	6 minutes
	Cannot Exist	16 mm	1 minute
	Cannot Not Exist	16 mm	8 minutes
	Chartres Series	16 mm	8+1⁄2 minutes
	Elementary Phrases	16 mm	34+1⁄2 minutes	Made in collaboration with Phil Solomon
	From: First Hymn to the Night – Novalis	16 mm	2+1⁄2 minutes
	The Mammals of Victoria	16 mm	34+1⁄2 minutes	One of the Vancouver Island films
	Naughts	16 mm	6 minutes
1995	I Take These Truths	16 mm	18 minutes
	We Hold These	16 mm	12 minutes
	I...	16 mm	27 minutes
	In Consideration of Pompeii	16 mm	4+1⁄2 minutes	18 frames per second
	Paranoia Corridor	16 mm	3+1⁄2 minutes
	The "b" Series	16 mm	12+1⁄2 minutes
	Earthen Aerie	16 mm	3 minutes
	The Lost Films	16 mm	45 minutes	Made of nine untitled films completed in 1991 and 1992^[2]
	Spring Cycle	16 mm	11 minutes
	...Preludes 1–6	16 mm	11+1⁄2 minutes
	...Preludes 7–12	16 mm	16+1⁄2 minutes
1996	...Preludes 13–18	16 mm	10 minutes
	...Preludes 19–24	16 mm	10 minutes
	Beautiful Funerals	16 mm	2 minutes
	Blue Value	16 mm	3 minutes
	Concrescence	16 mm	4 minutes	Made in collaboration with Phil Solomon
	The Fur of Home	16 mm	3 minutes
	Polite Madness	16 mm	3 minutes
	Sexual Saga	16 mm	3 minutes
	Through Wounded Eyes	16 mm	7 minutes	Made in collaboration with Joel Haertling
	Two Found Objects of Charles Boultenhouse	16 mm	7 minutes
	Commingled Containers	16 mm	7 minutes
1997	Shockingly Hot	16 mm	4 minutes
	The Cat of the Worm’s Green Realm	16 mm	15+1⁄2 minutes
	Last Hymn to the Night – Novalis	16 mm	19 minutes
	Divertimento	16 mm	2+1⁄2 minutes
	Self Song & Death Song	16 mm	4+1⁄2 minutes
	Yggdrasill: Whose Roots Are Stars in the Human Mind	16 mm	17 minutes
1998	...	16 mm	95 minutes	Also known as Ellipses; consists of five separate reels, the last of which has sound. According to film critic and Brakhage scholar Fred Camper, the filmmaker "[had] said that it's acceptable to show any number of these in any order."^[2]
1999	The Birds of Paradise	16 mm	3 minutes
	Coupling	16 mm	5 minutes
	Cloud Chamber	16 mm	4 minutes
	Cricket Requiem	16 mm	3 minutes
	The Dark Tower	16 mm	3 minutes
	The Earthsong of the Cricket	16 mm	3 minutes
	The Lion and the Zebra Make God’s Raw Jewels	16 mm	8+1⁄2 minutes
	Moilsome Toilsome	16 mm	6 minutes
	Stately Mansions Did Decree	16 mm	5+1⁄2 minutes
	Worm and Web Love	16 mm	4+1⁄2 minutes
	The Persian Series 1–5	16 mm	20 minutes

Stan Brakhage filmography

1950s

1960s

Industrial films and other works

1970s

Other missing works

1980s

1990s

2000s

References

External links

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