
Stan Brakhage
Biography
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 …
Known For
As I Was Moving Ahead, Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty
Self
Cannibal! The Musical
Noon Sr.
Window Water Baby Moving
Self (uncredited)
Stellar
Director
Mothlight
Director
The Act of Seeing with One's Own Eyes
Director
The Dante Quartet
Director
Diaries, Notes, and Sketches
Self
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Filmography
Acting (62)
Movies (61)
Please Leave a Message: Anthology Film Archives Voicemails Through the Ages
2022
Free Radicals: A History of Experimental Film
2011as Himself
For Stan
2009as Himself
Dinner with Brakhage and Gamow
2008Notes on Marie Menken
2006as Self (archive footage)
A Visit to Stan Brakhage
2006
Brakhage Crosses Central Park
2006as Self
Preserving Cultural Traditions in a Period of Instability
2004as Voice
Encomium
2003as Self
Sonic Youth: Koncertas Stan Brakhage Prisiminimui (April 12, 2003)
2003as Self (archive footage)
A Visit to Stan Brakhage
2003as Himself
Keeping an Eye on Stan
2003Vakvagany
2002as Himself
Stan Brakhage Exits the Cinema and Enters the Light of Day
2002as Himself
Life with Stan #4: Stan Painting
2002
In the Mirror of Maya Deren
2002as Himself
Garden Path
2001
As I Was Moving Ahead, Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty
2000as Self
Looking at Forest of Bliss
2000as Himself
Keepers of the Frame
1999as Himself
Brakhage
1998as Self
I Met Stan Brakhage (At Moma, N.Y.C)
1998
Birth of a Nation
1997as Self
Stan Brakhage on Jim Davis
1997
Stan Brakhage on Gregory Markopoulos
1997
Cannibal! The Musical
1996as Noon Sr.
BRAKHAGE ON BRAKHAGE
1996as self
As Is Was
1995
Jonas in the Desert
1994as Self
Abstract Cinema
1993as Himself
Z (Zee Not Zed)
1993
Joseph Cornell: Worlds in a Box
1991as Self
Watunna
1989as Narrator
Faust's Other: An Idyll
1988
I... Dreaming
1988
Doodlin': Impressions Of Len Lye
1987as Self
Invocation: Maya Deren
1986as Himself
Reflecting Thought: Stan Brakhage
1985as Self
Tortured Dust
1984
Stan & Jane Brakhage
1981as Self
Grand Opera: An Historical Romance
1979as Himself (voice)
The Stars Are Beautiful
1974as Narrator (voice)
Notes on the Buffalo Conference: “Autobiography in American Independent Cinema”
1973
Reality's Invisible
1972as Himself
Filmmakers
1969as Himself
Diaries, Notes, and Sketches
1968as Self
The Art of Vision
1965as Man
Dog Star Man
1965
Dog Star Man: Part IV
1964
Song 1
1964
Dog Star Man: Part III
1964
Dog Star Man: Part I
1963
Dog Star Man: Part II
1963
Prelude: Dog Star Man
1962
Wedlock House: An Intercourse
1959
Window Water Baby Moving
1959as Self (uncredited)
Cat's Cradle
1959as Self
The One Romantic Venture of Edward
1956
Trumpit
1956
Flesh of Morning
1956
The Extraordinary Child
1954Television (1)
Crew (447)
Movies (447)
Derealization
2025Visual Effects
20 Little Films
2012Director
Drawings by Billy and His Friends
2011In Memory Of
By Brakhage: An Anthology, Volume Two
2010Director
Sweetgrass
2009Thanks
By Brakhage: An Anthology, Volume One
2003Director
Chinese Series
2003Director
Stan's Window & Work in Progress
2003Director
Max
2002Director
Seasons...
2002Director
SB
2002Director
Panels for the Walls of Heaven
2002Director
Ascension
2002Director
Song of the Mushroom
2002Director
Resurrectus Est
2002Director
Persian Series #13
2001Director
Persian Series #15
2001Director
Persian Series #16
2001Director
Persian Series #14
2001Director
Persian Series #18
2001Director
Lovesong 2
2001Director
Persian Series #17
2001Director
Lovesong
2001Director
Garden Path
2001Director
Micro Garden
2001Director
Dark Night of The Soul
2001Director
Rounds
2001Director
Lovesong 3
2001Director
Night Mulch
2001Director
Very
2001Director
Lovesong 4
2001Director
Lovesong 5 & 6
2001Director
Occam's Thread
2001Director
Water for Maya
2000Director
Persian Series #7
2000Director
Persian Series #8
2000Director
Persian Series #6
2000Director
Dance
2000Director
Persian Series #10
2000Director
Persian Series #11
2000Director
Persian Series #12
2000Director
Jesus Trilogy and Coda
2000Director
The God of Day Had Gone Down Upon Him
2000Director
Persian Series #9
2000Director
Cloud Chamber
1999Director
Persian Series #5
1999Director
Stately Mansions Did Decree
1999Director
Persian Series #4
1999Director
Persian Series #2
1999Director
Persian Series #3
1999Director
Persian Series #1
1999Director
Coupling
1999Director
The Dark Tower
1999Director
Moilsome Toilsome
1999Director
Cricket Requiem
1999Director
The Earthsong of the Cricket
1999Director
Worm and Web Love
1999Director
The Birds Of Paradise
1999Director
The Lion and the Zebra Make God's Raw Jewels
1999Director
"..." Reel 4
1998Director
"..." Reel 5
1998Director
"..." Reel 2
1998Director
"..." Reel 3
1998Director
"..." Reel 1
1998Director
The Female Mystique and Spare Leaves (for Gordon)
1998Director
The Cat of the Worm's Green Realm
1997Director
Self Song & Death Song
1997Director
Divertimento
1997Director
Yggdrasill: Whose Roots Are Stars in the Human Mind
1997Director
Last Hymn to the Night - Novalis
1997Director
Comingled Containers
1996Director
Prelude 19
1996Director
Prelude 23
1996Director
Prelude 21
1996Director
Prelude 16
1996Director
Prelude 14
1996Director
Prelude 11
1996Director
Prelude 24
1996Director
Prelude 20
1996Director
Prelude 22
1996Director
Prelude 13
1996Director
Prelude 7
1996Director
Sexual Saga
1996Director
Prelude 15
1996Director
Prelude 8
1996Director
Shockingly Hot
1996Director
The Fur of Home
1996Director
Beautiful Funerals
1996Director
Concrescence
1996Director
Prelude 17
1996Director
Prelude 18
1996Director
Prelude 12
1996Director
Blue Value
1996Director
Through Wounded Eyes
1996Director
Polite Madness
1996Director
Prelude 10
1996Director
Prelude 9
1996Director
Two Found Objects of Charles Boultenhouse
1996Director
Earthen Aerie
1995Director
Prelude 1
1995Director
Prelude 5
1995Director
Prelude 6
1995Director
I...
1995Director
I Take These Truths
1995Director
Prelude 4
1995Director
The "Lost" Films
1995Director
Prelude 2
1995Director
Spring Cycle
1995Director
The 'b' Series
1995Director
Prelude 3
1995Director
We Hold These
1995Director
Paranoia Corridor
1995Director
In Consideration of Pompeii
1995Director
The Mammals of Victoria
1994Director
Naughts
1994Director
Elementary Phrases
1994Director
Black Ice
1994Director
From: First Hymn to the Night – Novalis
1994Director
Cannot Not Exist
1994Director
Chartres Series
1994Director
Alternating Currents
1994Director
Cannot Exist
1994Director
Blossom-Gift/Favor
1993Director
Stellar
1993Director
Tryst Haunt
1993Director
Autumnal
1993Director
Boulder Blues and Pearls and...
1993Director
Three Homerics
1993Director
Study in Color and Black and White
1993Director
Ephemeral Solidity
1993Director
The Harrowing
1993Director
Untitled (For Marilyn)
1992Director
Interpolations 1-5
1992Director
Crack Glass Eulogy
1991Director
Christ Mass Sex Dance
1991Director
Delicacies of Molten Horror Synapse
1991Director
A Child’s Garden and the Serious Sea
1991Director
Agnus Dei Kinder Synapse
1991Director
Vision of the Fire Tree
1990Director
Babylon Series #2
1990Director
Babylon Series #3
1990Director
Visions in Meditation #3: Plato's Cave
1990Director
Glaze of Cathexis
1990Director
City Streaming
1990Director
Passage Through: A Ritual
1990Director
Visions in Meditation #4: D.H. Lawrence
1990Director
The Thatch of Night
1990Director
Babylon Series #1
1989Director
Visions in Meditation #1
1989Director
Visions in Meditation #2: Mesa Verde
1989Director
Faust IV
1989Director
Matins
1988Director
Faust's Other: An Idyll
1988Director
I... Dreaming
1988Director
Rage Net
1988Director
Faust 3: Candida Albacore
1988Director
Marilyn's Window
1988Director
The Dante Quartet
1987Director
Kindering
1987Director
Faustfilm: An Opera
1987Director
Loud Visual Noises
1987Director
Fireloop
1986Director
Night Music
1986Director
The Loom
1986Director
Confession
1986Director
Dance Shadows by Danelle Helander
1986Director
The Aerodyne
1986Director
Jane
1985Director
Jane
1985Director of Photography
Jane
1985Editor
Tortured Dust
1984Director
Egyptian Series
1984Director
Tortured Dust Part 1
1984Director
Tortured Dust Part 2
1984Director
Tortured Dust Part 4
1984Director
Tortured Dust Part 3
1984Director
Hell Spit Flexion
1983Director
Arabic Numeral Series 14
1982Director
Arabic Numeral Series 17
1982Director
Arabic Numeral Series 19
1982Director
Arabic Numeral Series 15
1982Director
Arabic Numeral Series 18
1982Director
Arabic Numeral Series 16
1982Director
Unconscious London Strata
1981Director
Arabic Numeral Series 12
1981Director
Arabic Numeral Series 1
1981Director
Arabic Numeral Series 3
1981Director
Arabic Numeral Series 2
1981Director
Made Manifest
1981Director
The Garden of Earthly Delights
1981Director
Arabic Numeral Series 5
1981Director
RR
1981Director
Arabic Numeral Series 6
1981Director
Nodes
1981Director
Aftermath
1981Director
Arabic Numeral Series 9
1981Director
Arabic Numeral Series 11
1981Director
Arabic Numeral Series 4
1981Director
Arabic Numeral Series 0 + 10
1981Director
Arabic Numeral Series 7
1981Director
Arabic Numeral Series 8
1981Director
Arabic Numeral Series 13
1981Director
Roman Numeral: V
1980Director
Roman Numeral: VI
1980Director
Sincerity V
1980Director
Other
1980Director
Murder Psalm
1980Director
Duplicity III
1980Director
Roman Numeral: IV
1980Director
Salome
1980Director
Roman Numeral: VIII
1980Director
Roman Numeral: VII
1980Director
4A
1980Director
Roman Numeral: IX
1980Director
Roman Numeral: II
1979Director
@
1979Director
Creation
1979Director
Sincerity IV
1979Director
Roman Numeral: III
1979Director
Roman Numeral: I
1979Director
Purity and After
1978Director
Burial Path
1978Director
Sluice
1978Director
Thot-Fal'N
1978Cinematography
Thot-Fal'N
1978Director
Thot-Fal'N
1978Editor
Duplicity I
1978Director
Duplicity II
1978Director
Centre
1978Director
Sincerity III
1978Director
Bird
1978Director
Nightmare Series
1978Director
The Domain of the Moment
1977Director
The Governor
1977Director
Soldiers and Other Cosmic Objects
1977Director
Tragoedia
1977Director
Window
1976Director
Sketches
1976Director
Airs
1976Director
Rembrandt, Etc., and Jane
1976Director
Short Films 1976
1976Director
Highs
1976Director
Desert
1976Director
The Dream, N.Y.C., The Return, The Flower
1976Director
Trio
1976Cinematography
Trio
1976Director
Absence
1976Director
Gadflies
1976Director
Short Films 1975: #6 (Stars, Chickens, Eyes, Candles)
1975Director
Short Films 1975: #5 (Niagara Falls)
1975Director
Short Films 1975: #10 (Painted Lightning)
1975Director
Short Films 1975: #9 (Forest Love Scene)
1975Director
Sincerity II
1975Director
Short Films 1975: #4 (Lady in Glass)
1975Director
Short Films 1975: #3 (Hollis Frampton)
1975Director
Short Films 1975
1975Director
Short Films 1975: #2 (Dante’s Styx)
1975Director
Short Films 1975: #7 (Turning the Raccoon Loose)
1975Director
Short Films 1975: #8 (Small Town Streets)
1975Director
Short Films 1975: #1 (Jane’s Memory)
1975Director
The Text of Light
1974Director
The Text of Light
1974Director of Photography
The Stars Are Beautiful
1974Cinematography
The Stars Are Beautiful
1974Director
The Stars Are Beautiful
1974Editor
The Stars Are Beautiful
1974Writer
Flight
1974Director
Sol
1974Director
Clancy
1974Director
Aquarien
1974Director
Hymn to Her
1974Director
Skein
1974Director
“He was born, he suffered, he died.”
1974Director
Star Garden
1974Director
Dominion
1974Director
Sexual Meditation: Open Field
1973Director
Sincerity I
1973Director
The Women
1973Director
Gift
1973Director
The Wold-Shadow
1972Director
Sexual Meditation: Office Suite
1972Director
Eye Myth Educational
1972Director
Eye Myth Educational
1972Writer
The Act of Seeing with One's Own Eyes
1972Director
The Act of Seeing with One's Own Eyes
1972Director of Photography
The Act of Seeing with One's Own Eyes
1972Editor
The Process
1972Director
Sexual Meditation: Faun's Room, Yale
1972Director
Sexual Meditation: Hotel
1972Director
The Riddle of Lumen
1972Director
The Presence
1972Director
Wecht
1972Director
The Shores of Phos: A Fable
1972Director
Sexual Meditation: Room with View
1971Director
Western History
1971Director
Fox Fire Child Watch
1971Director
The Trip to Door
1971Director
Angels'
1971Director
Door
1971Director
Deus Ex
1971Director
The Peaceable Kingdom
1971Director
Scenes from Under Childhood, Section Four
1970Director
Eyes
1970Director
Sexual Meditation #1: Motel
1970Director
Scenes from Under Childhood
1970Director
The Machine of Eden
1970Director
The Animals of Eden and After
1970Director
The Weir-Falcon Saga
1970Director
Scenes from Under Childhood, Section Three
1969Director
Window Suite of Children's Songs
1969Director
Scenes from Under Childhood, Section Two
1969Director
Nuptiae
1969Director of Photography
My Mtn. Song 27 Part II: Rivers
1969Director
Song 28
1969Director
American 30s Song
1969Director
Song 29
1969Director
Scenes from Under Childhood, Section One
1968Director
My Mountain: Song 27
1968Director
Song 26
1968Director
The Horseman, the Woman, and the Moth
1968Director
Lovemaking
1968Director
23rd Psalm Branch: Part II
1967Cinematography
23rd Psalm Branch: Part II
1967Director
23rd Psalm Branch: Part II
1967Editor
Song 24
1967Director
Eye Myth
1967Director
23rd Psalm Branch
1967Director
23rd Psalm Branch: Part I
1967Director
For Life, Against the War
1967Director
Song 25
1967Director
Song 21
1966Director
Pasht
1966Director
Song 18
1966Director
Song 16
1966Director
Song 20
1966Director
Song 17
1966Director
Song 22
1966Director
Song 19
1966Director
Fire of Waters
1965Director
Two: Creeley/McClure
1965Director
Song 12
1965Director
Song 11
1965Director
Song 13
1965Director
Song 9
1965Director
Song 14
1965Director
Song 10
1965Director
The Art of Vision
1965Cinematography
The Art of Vision
1965Director
The Art of Vision
1965Editor
The Art of Vision
1965Producer
Dog Star Man
1965Director
Dog Star Man
1965Director of Photography
Dog Star Man
1965Editor
Dog Star Man
1965Writer
15 Song Traits
1965Director
Blood's Tone
1965Director
Three Films: Blue White/Blood's Tone/Vein
1965Director
Black Vision
1965Director
Dog Star Man: Part IV
1964Director
Song 5
1964Cinematography
Song 5
1964Director
Song 5
1964Editor
Song 1
1964Cinematography
Song 1
1964Director
Song 1
1964Editor
Song 3
1964Director
Song 2
1964Director
Song 7
1964Director
Song 4
1964Director
Song 6
1964Director
Song 8
1964Director
Dog Star Man: Part III
1964Director
Dog Star Man: Part I
1963Director
Mothlight
1963Director
Dog Star Man: Part II
1963Director
Oh Life - a Woe Story - the A Test News
1963Director
Prelude: Dog Star Man
1962Director
Blue Moses
1962Cinematography
Blue Moses
1962Director
Blue Moses
1962Editor
Blue Moses
1962Writer
Mr. Tompkins Inside Himself
1962Director
Mr. Tompkins Inside Himself
1962Editor
Mr. Tompkins Inside Himself
1962Writer
Silent Sound Sense Stars Subotnick and Sender
1962Director
Ballad of the Colorado Ute
1961Cinematography
Ballad of the Colorado Ute
1961Director
Ballad of the Colorado Ute
1961Editor
Sartre's Nausea
1961Director
Films by Stan Brakhage: An Avant-Garde Home Movie
1961Director
Thigh Line Lyre Triangular
1961Cinematography
Thigh Line Lyre Triangular
1961Director
Thigh Line Lyre Triangular
1961Editor
Colorado Legend
1960Cinematography
Colorado Legend
1960Director
Colorado Legend
1960Director of Photography
Colorado Legend
1960Editor
The Dead
1960Director
Wedlock House: An Intercourse
1959Director
Window Water Baby Moving
1959Director
Window Water Baby Moving
1959Director of Photography
Window Water Baby Moving
1959Editor
Cat's Cradle
1959Director
Pittsburgh
1959Cinematography
Sirius Remembered
1959Director
Anticipation of the Night
1958Director
Daybreak and Whiteye
1957Director
Loving
1957Director
Zone Moment
1956Director
Nightcats
1956Director
Flesh of Morning
1956Director
Untitled Film of Geoffrey Holder's Wedding
1955Director
In Between
1955Cinematography
In Between
1955Director
In Between
1955Editor
In Between
1955Writer
The Wonder Ring
1955Cinematography
The Wonder Ring
1955Director
The Wonder Ring
1955Editor
Centuries of June
1955Director
Reflections on Black
1955Cinematography
Reflections on Black
1955Director
Reflections on Black
1955Editor
Reflections on Black
1955Writer
The Extraordinary Child
1954Cinematography
The Extraordinary Child
1954Director
The Extraordinary Child
1954Editor
The Extraordinary Child
1954Writer
The Way to Shadow Garden
1954Cinematography
The Way to Shadow Garden
1954Director
The Way to Shadow Garden
1954Editor
The Way to Shadow Garden
1954Sound Designer
The Way to Shadow Garden
1954Writer
Desistfilm
1954Cinematography
Desistfilm
1954Director
Desistfilm
1954Editor
Desistfilm
1954Writer
Unglassed Windows Cast a Terrible Reflection
1953Cinematography
Unglassed Windows Cast a Terrible Reflection
1953Director
Unglassed Windows Cast a Terrible Reflection
1953Editor
Unglassed Windows Cast a Terrible Reflection
1953Writer
The Boy and the Sea
1953Director
Interim
1952Cinematography
Interim
1952Director
Interim
1952Editor
Interim
1952Writer
Persian Series 1-5
Director
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