This autumn, Eye Filmmuseum highlights the American avant-garde cinema of the 1960s. The exhibition and film programme feature both iconic and lesser-known works, showcasing the era’s vibrant experimental spirit. Highlights include films by pivotal avant-garde figures such as Jonas Mekas, Maya Deren and Stan Brakhage, as well as contributions from prominent visual artists like Bruce Conner, Yayoi Kusama, Yoko Ono, and Andy Warhol. This exploration of cinematic innovation is set against the backdrop of a changing society.
Dancing bridges, introspective diary fragments and dreamy stop motions – just some examples of experiments carried out by a loose collection of avant-garde filmmakers in the 1960s in the United States. Their aim: to shake off the fetters of Hollywood and the dominant film industry and to reinvent cinema, as it were, as a visual medium.
In this exhibition, Eye showcases the diversity that is such a feature of this era of transdisciplinary film experiments: from independent, unconventional films for cinemas, some self-operated, to expanded experiments such as Andy Warhol’s eight-hour Empire (1964) or Stan VanDerBeek’s imposing 11-channel installation Movie Mural (1965-1968). The latter to be screened in the Netherlands for the first time.
Filmmaker Jonas Mekas, spokesperson for the New American Cinema Group, captures the essence of this wave of filmmakers with one succinct statement. “We don’t want false, polished, slick films – we prefer them rough, unpolished, but alive; we don’t want rosy films: we want them the color of blood.”
Films, Talks & Events
The exhibition continues in Eye cinemas, where the best-known and longer 16mm films by leading makers from the underground scene will be screened in full. The programmes also look at the international context, assess the lasting impact and influence of New American Cinema outside the United States, and examine the situation today. On the night of the American election (5 November 2024), various speakers will discuss how the underground scene of the 1960s highlighted political issues and how that is reflected in the current political climate.
The programme shines a special spotlight on psychedelic film – an important theme in 1960s America, which is undergoing a revival today. Moreover, psychedelics are inextricably linked with the ‘liberal’ character of Amsterdam. In cooperation with the University of Amsterdam.
