
Biography
Stan Brakhage (January 14, 1933 - March 9, 2003) 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.
Directed 351
2010s
- 2012
20 Little Films
Director
- 2010
By Brakhage: An Anthology, Volume Two
Director
2000s
- 2003
By Brakhage: An Anthology, Volume One
Director
Chinese Series
Director
- 2002
Panels for the Walls of Heaven
Director
Resurrectus Est
Director
SB
Director
Seasons...
Director
Ascension
Director
Song of the Mushroom
Director
Max
Director
- 2001
Persian Series #16
Director
Micro-Garden
Director
Garden Path
Director
Lovesong 5 & 6
Director
Dark Night of The Soul
Director
Lovesong 4
Director
Lovesong
Director
Lovesong 3
Director
Occam's Thread
Director
Rounds
Director
Very
Director
Night Mulch
Director
Lovesong 2
Director
- 2000
Jesus Trilogy and Coda
Director
Persian Series #11
Director
Persian Series #10
Director
The God of Day Had Gone Down Upon Him
Director
Water for Maya
Director
Persian Series #6
Director
1990s
- 1999
The Lion and the Zebra Make God's Raw Jewels
Director
Moilsome Toilsome
Director
Persian Series #1
Director
Persian Series #3
Director
Persian Series #2
Director
Persian Series #4
Director
Persian Series #5
Director
The Earth Song of the Cricket
Director
The Dark Tower
Director
The Birds Of Paradise
Director
Coupling
Director
Cloud Chamber
Director
Worm and Web Love
Director
Cricket Requiem
Director
- 1998
"..." Reel 3
Director
"..." Reel 5
Director
"..." Reel 4
Director
"..." Reel 2
Director
The Female Mystique and Spare Leaves (for Gordon)
Director
- 1997
Self Song & Death Song
Director
Yggdrasill: Whose Roots Are Stars in the Human Mind
Director
The Cat of the Worm's Green Realm
Director
Last Hymn to the Night - Novalis
Director
Divertimento
Director
- 1996
Comingled Containers
Director
Prelude 10
Director
Prelude 11
Director
Prelude 8
Director
Prelude 9
Director
Prelude 7
Director
Prelude 13
Director
Prelude 14
Director
Shockingly Hot
Director
Prelude 16
Director
Prelude 15
Director
Prelude 23
Director
Prelude 18
Director
Prelude 19
Director
Prelude 20
Director
Prelude 21
Director
Prelude 17
Director
Prelude 22
Director
Prelude 24
Director
Blue Value
Director
Sexual Saga
Director
Two Found Objects of Charles Boultenhouse
Director
Beautiful Funerals
Director
Polite Madness
Director
Concrescence
Director
The Fur of Home
Director
- 1995
I Take These Truths
Director
I...
Director
We Hold These
Director
The 'b' Series
Director
Prelude 2
Director
Prelude 4
Director
Prelude 3
Director
Prelude 1
Director
Prelude 5
Director
Prelude 6
Director
In Consideration of Pompeii
Director
Spring Cycle
Director
Paranoia Corridor
Director
The "Lost" Films
Director
Earthen Aerie
Director
- 1994
Black Ice
Director
From: First Hymn to the Night – Novalis
Director
Chartres Series
Director
The Mammals of Victoria
Director
Naughts
Director
Elementary Phrases
Director
Cannot Exist
Director
Cannot Not Exist
Director
- 1993
Stellar
Director
Study in Color and Black and White
Director
Autumnal
Director
Three Homerics
Director
The Harrowing
Director
Tryst Haunt
Director
Boulder Blues and Pearls and...
Director
Ephemeral Solidity
Director
Blossom-Gift/Favor
Director
- 1992
For Marilyn
Director
- 1991
Christ Mass Sex Dance
Director
Agnus Dei Kinder Synapse
Director
Delicacies of Molten Horror Synapse
Director
Crack Glass Eulogy
Director
A Child’s Garden and the Serious Sea
Director
- 1990
Passage Through: A Ritual
Director
Vision of the Fire Tree
Director
Glaze of Cathexis
Director
Visions in Meditation #4: D.H. Lawrence
Director
Visions in Meditation #3: Plato's Cave
Director
City Streaming
Director
Babylon Series #3
Director
Babylon Series #2
Director
The Thatch of Night
Director
1980s
- 1989
Babylon Series #1
Director
Faust IV
Director
Visions in Meditation #1
Director
Visions in Meditation #2: Mesa Verde
Director
- 1988
I... Dreaming
Director
Faust 3: Candida Albacore
Director
Faust's Other: An Idyll
Director
Rage Net
Director
Marilyn's Window
Director
Matins
Director
- 1987
The Dante Quartet
Director
Loud Visual Noises
Director
Faustfilm: An Opera
Director
Kindering
Director
- 1986
The Loom
Director
Dance Shadows by Danelle Helander
Director
Fireloop
Director
Night Music
Director
Confession
Director
The Aerodyne
Director
- 1985
Jane
Director
- 1984
Tortured Dust
Director
Tortured Dust Part 2
Director
Tortured Dust Part 4
Director
Tortured Dust Part 1
Director
Tortured Dust Part 3
Director
Egyptian Series
Director
- 1983
Hell Spit Flexion
Director
- 1982
Arabic Numeral Series 18
Director
Arabic Numeral Series 14
Director
Arabic Numeral Series 15
Director
Arabic Numeral Series 17
Director
Arabic Numeral Series 16
Director
Arabic Numeral Series 19
Director
- 1981
Nodes
Director
Unconscious London Strata
Director
Made Manifest
Director
Aftermath
Director
Arabic Numeral Series 12
Director
Arabic Numeral Series 9
Director
Arabic Numeral Series 8
Director
Arabic Numeral Series 11
Director
Arabic Numeral Series 7
Director
Arabic Numeral Series 0 + 10
Director
Arabic Numeral Series 13
Director
Arabic Numeral Series 4
Director
Arabic Numeral Series 1
Director
Arabic Numeral Series 2
Director
Arabic Numeral Series 3
Director
Arabic Numeral Series 5
Director
Arabic Numeral Series 6
Director
The Garden of Earthly Delights
Director
RR
Director
- 1980
Murder Psalm
Director
Duplicity III
Director
Roman Numeral: VI
Director
Roman Numeral: V
Director
Roman Numeral: VII
Director
Roman Numeral: IV
Director
Roman Numeral: IX
Director
Roman Numeral: VIII
Director
Sincerity V
Director
Other
Director
Salome
Director
1970s
- 1979
@
Director
Roman Numeral: I
Director
Roman Numeral: II
Director
Sincerity IV
Director
Creation
Director
Roman Numeral: III
Director
- 1978
Burial Path
Director
Thot-Fal'N
Director
Bird
Director
Centre
Director
Nightmare Series
Director
Sluice
Director
Duplicity I
Director
Sincerity III
Director
Purity and After
Director
Duplicity II
Director
- 1977
Tragoedia
Director
Soldiers and Other Cosmic Objects
Director
The Domain of the Moment
Director
- 1976
Absence
Director
The Dream, N.Y.C., The Return, The Flower
Director
Desert
Director
Highs
Director
Rembrandt, Etc., and Jane
Director
Trio
Director
Window
Director
Airs
Director
Short Films 1976
Director
- 1975
Short Films 1975: #1 (Jane’s Memory)
Director
Short Films 1975: #2 (Dante’s Styx)
Director
Short Films 1975: #5 (Niagara Falls)
Director
Short Films 1975: #4 (Lady in Glass)
Director
Short Films 1975: #3 (Hollis Frampton)
Director
Short Films 1975: #6 (Stars, Chickens, Eyes, Candles)
Director
Short Films 1975: #8 (Small Town Streets)
Director
Short Films 1975: #7 (Turning the Raccoon Loose)
Director
Short Films 1975
Director
Sincerity II
Director
Short Films 1975: #10 (Painted Lightning)
Director
Short Films 1975: #9 (Forest Love Scene)
Director
- 1974
The Stars Are Beautiful
Director
The Text of Light
Director
Hymn to Her
Director
Star Garden
Director
Aquarien
Director
Skein
Director
Clancy
Director
Flight
Director
“He was born, he suffered, he died.”
Director
Sol
Director
Dominion
Director
- 1973
Sincerity I
Director
Sexual Meditation: Open Field
Director
The Women
Director
- 1972
The Process
Director
The Riddle of Lumen
Director
Sexual Meditation: Faun's Room, Yale
Director
Sexual Meditation: Office Suite
Director
The Act of Seeing with One's Own Eyes
Director
The Wold-Shadow
Director
Sexual Meditation: Hotel
Director
The Shores of Phos: A Fable
Director
Eye Myth Educational
Director
The Presence
Director
- 1971
Fox Fire Child Watch
Director
The Trip to Door
Director
Western History
Director
Sexual Meditation: Room with View
Director
Door
Director
The Peaceable Kingdom
Director
Angels'
Director
- 1970
Eyes
Director
The Machine of Eden
Director
The Animals of Eden and After
Director
The Weir-Falcon Saga
Director
Scenes from Under Childhood
Director
Scenes from Under Childhood, Section Four
Director
Sexual Meditation #1: Motel
Director
1960s
- 1969
Scenes from Under Childhood, Section Three
Director
Scenes from Under Childhood, Section Two
Director
My Mtn. Song 27 Part II: Rivers
Director
Song 28
Director
Song 29
Director
American 30s Song
Director
Window Suite of Children's Songs
Director
- 1968
Scenes from Under Childhood, Section One
Director
The Horseman, the Woman, and the Moth
Director
Lovemaking
Director
Song 26
Director
My Mountain: Song 27
Director
- 1967
Eye Myth
Director
Song 24
Director
Song 25
Director
For Life, Against the War
Director
23rd Psalm Branch
Director
23rd Psalm Branch: Part I
Director
23rd Psalm Branch: Part II
Director
- 1966
Song 18
Director
Song 19
Director
Song 21
Director
Song 22
Director
Song 20
Director
Song 16
Director
Song 17
Director
Pasht
Director
- 1965
Two: Creeley/McClure
Director
Fire of Waters
Director
Three Films: Blue White/Blood's Tone/Vein
Director
Song 14
Director
Song 12
Director
Song 13
Director
Song 11
Director
Black Vision
Director
The Art of Vision
Director
Song 9
Director
Song 10
Director
Dog Star Man
Director
- 1964
Dog Star Man: Part IV
Director
Dog Star Man: Part II
Director
Dog Star Man: Part III
Director
Song 1
Director
Song 6
Director
Song 7
Director
Song 2
Director
Song 3
Director
Song 4
Director
Song 5
Director
Song 8
Director
- 1963
Mothlight
Director
Oh Life - a Woe Story - the A Test News
Director
Dog Star Man: Part I
Director
- 1962
Blue Moses
Director
- 1961
Thigh Line Lyre Triangular
Director
Prelude: Dog Star Man
Director
Sartre's Nausea
Director
Films by Stan Brakhage: An Avant-Garde Home Movie
Director
Ballad of the Colorado Ute
Director
- 1960
The Dead
Director
Colorado Legend
Director
1950s
- 1959
Sirius Remembered
Director
Window Water Baby Moving
Director
Wedlock House: An Intercourse
Director
Cat's Cradle
Director
- 1958
Anticipation of the Night
Director
- 1957
Loving
Director
Daybreak and Whiteye
Director
- 1956
Flesh of Morning
Director
Nightcats
Director
Zone Moment
Director
- 1955
The Wonder Ring
Director
Centuries of June
Director
In Between
Director
- 1954
The Extraordinary Child
Director
Desistfilm
Director
- 1953
Unglassed Windows Cast a Terrible Reflection
Director
- 1952
Interim
Director
No release date
Visions in Meditation
Director
Arabic Numeral Series
Director
Persian Series
Director
Songs
Director
Acted in 28
2010s
- 2011
Cyclopean 3D: Life with a Beautiful Woman
Movie
- 2010
By Brakhage: An Anthology, Volume Two
Movie
2000s
- 2008
Dinner with Brakhage and Gamow
Movie
- 2006
A Visit to Stan Brakhage
Movie
- 2004
Preserving Cultural Traditions in a Period of Instability
Voice
- 2003
By Brakhage: An Anthology, Volume One
Movie
Keeping an Eye on Stan
Movie
- 2001
Garden Path
Movie
1990s
- 1997
Stan Brakhage on Gregory Markopoulos
Movie
Stan Brakhage on Jim Davis
Movie
- 1996
1980s
- 1988
I... Dreaming
Movie
Faust's Other: An Idyll
Movie
- 1984
Tortured Dust
Movie
1970s
- 1973
Notes on the Buffalo Conference: “Autobiography in American Independent Cinema”
Movie
1960s
- 1965
The Art of Vision
Man
Dog Star Man
Movie
- 1964
Dog Star Man: Part IV
Movie
Dog Star Man: Part III
Movie
Dog Star Man: Part II
Movie
Song 1
Movie
- 1963
Dog Star Man: Part I
Movie
- 1961
Prelude: Dog Star Man
Movie
1950s
- 1959
Wedlock House: An Intercourse
Movie
- 1956
Flesh of Morning
Movie
Trumpit
Movie
The One Romantic Venture of Edward
Movie
- 1954
The Extraordinary Child
Movie
Other crew 22
2010s
- 2011
Drawings by Billy and His Friends
In Memory Of
1990s
- 1990
Passage Through: A Ritual
Cinematography
1970s
- 1978
Thot-Fal'N
Cinematography
- 1976
Trio
Cinematography
- 1974
The Stars Are Beautiful
Cinematography
1960s
- 1967
23rd Psalm Branch: Part II
Cinematography
- 1965
The Art of Vision
Cinematography
- 1964
Song 1
Cinematography
Song 5
Cinematography
- 1962
Blue Moses
Cinematography
- 1961
Thigh Line Lyre Triangular
Cinematography
Ballad of the Colorado Ute
Cinematography
- 1960
Colorado Legend
Cinematography
1950s
- 1959
Pittsburgh
Cinematography
- 1958
Anticipation of the Night
Cinematography
- 1955
The Wonder Ring
Cinematography
In Between
Cinematography
- 1954
The Extraordinary Child
Cinematography
Desistfilm
Cinematography
- 1953
Unglassed Windows Cast a Terrible Reflection
Cinematography
- 1952
Interim
Cinematography
No release date
Songs
Cinematography
Edited 22
1990s
- 1990
Passage Through: A Ritual
Editor
1980s
- 1985
Jane
Editor
1970s
- 1978
Thot-Fal'N
Editor
- 1974
The Stars Are Beautiful
Editor
- 1972
The Act of Seeing with One's Own Eyes
Editor
1960s
- 1967
23rd Psalm Branch: Part II
Editor
- 1965
The Art of Vision
Editor
Dog Star Man
Editor
- 1964
Song 5
Editor
Song 1
Editor
- 1962
Blue Moses
Editor
- 1961
Thigh Line Lyre Triangular
Editor
Ballad of the Colorado Ute
Editor
- 1960
Colorado Legend
Editor
1950s
- 1959
Window Water Baby Moving
Editor
- 1955
The Wonder Ring
Editor
In Between
Editor
- 1954
The Extraordinary Child
Editor
Desistfilm
Editor
- 1953
Unglassed Windows Cast a Terrible Reflection
Editor
- 1952
Interim
Editor
No release date
Songs
Editor
Wrote 14
2010s
- 2010
By Brakhage: An Anthology, Volume Two
Writer
2000s
- 2003
By Brakhage: An Anthology, Volume One
Writer
1990s
- 1990
Passage Through: A Ritual
Writer
1970s
- 1974
The Stars Are Beautiful
Writer
- 1972
Eye Myth Educational
Writer
1960s
- 1965
The Art of Vision
Writer
Dog Star Man
Writer
- 1962
Blue Moses
Writer
1950s
- 1955
In Between
Writer
- 1954
The Extraordinary Child
Writer
Desistfilm
Writer
- 1953
Unglassed Windows Cast a Terrible Reflection
Writer
- 1952
Interim
Writer
No release date
Songs
Writer
Camera 6
1980s
- 1985
Jane
Director of Photography
1970s
- 1974
The Text of Light
Director of Photography
- 1972
The Act of Seeing with One's Own Eyes
Director of Photography
1960s
- 1965
Dog Star Man
Director of Photography
- 1960
Colorado Legend
Director of Photography
1950s
- 1959
Window Water Baby Moving
Director of Photography
Produced 1
1960s
- 1965
The Art of Vision
Producer
Visual effects 1
2020s
- 2025
Derealization
Visual Effects
Appearances31
2020s
- 2025
Brakhage on Brakhage
Self
2010s
- 2016
Brakhage by Mothlight
Self (voice)
- 2011
Free Radicals: A History of Experimental Film
Himself
2000s
- 2009
For Stan
Himself
- 2006
Brakhage Crosses Central Park
Self
- 2003
Sonic Youth: Koncertas Stan Brakhage Prisiminimui (April 12, 2003)
Self (archive footage)
Encomium
Self
- 2002
Stan Brakhage Exits the Cinema and Enters the Light of Day
Himself
In the Mirror of Maya Deren
Himself
- 2000
As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty
Self
Looking at Forest of Bliss
Himself
1990s
- 1998
Brakhage
Self
- 1997
Birth of a Nation
Self
- 1994
Jonas in the Desert
Self
- 1993
Abstract Cinema
Himself
- 1991
Joseph Cornell: Worlds in a Box
Self
1980s
- 1987
Doodlin': Impressions Of Len Lye
Self
- 1986
Invocation: Maya Deren
Himself
- 1985
Reflecting Thought: Stan Brakhage
Self
- 1981
Stan & Jane Brakhage
Self
1970s
- 1979
Grand Opera: An Historical Romance
Himself (voice)
- 1974
The Stars Are Beautiful
Narrator (voice)
- 1972
Reality's Invisible
Self
1960s
- 1969
Filmmakers
Himself
Legendary Epics Yarns and Fables Part 2: Stan Brakhage
Himself
- 1968
Diaries, Notes, and Sketches
Self
- 1965
The Making of an Underground Film
Self
1950s
- 1959
Window Water Baby Moving
Self (uncredited)
Cat's Cradle
Self
No release date
Songs
Self (Uncredited)
Thanked in the credits2
2000s
- 2009
Sweetgrass
Thanks
1990s
- 1994
The Life and Times of Allen Ginsberg
Thanks