A Celebration of Ann Arbor’s Underground & Experimental Filmmakers from the 60s, 70s, and 80s

part of University of Michigan’s LSA Theme Semester: Arts & Resistance

NOTE: AN EXPANDED VERSION OF THIS SCREENING WILL BE PRESENTED AT THE 62ND ANN ARBOR FILM FESTIVAL ON FRIDAY, MARCH 29, 2024 AT THE STATE THEATRE

Friday, December 1, 2023

Askwith Auditorium, Lorch Hall, 611 Tappan St. Ann Arbor, December 1, 7:00 p.m.

Film Screening with Frank Uhle; Free and open to the public

About the event

Ann Arbor, long known for its political and cultural activism, has an equally compelling history of engagement with film and media, much of it driven by students at the University of Michigan. Long before a film program was established here, campus groups like Cinema Guild, Cinema II, and the Ann Arbor Film Cooperative were providing an in-depth education in the subject. With inspiration from the Ann Arbor Film Festival, launched in 1963, the film societies also helped support a wave of 8 and 16mm experimental filmmaking that peaked in the 1970s. In addition to exploring the possibilities of the medium, this work addressed issues like the Vietnam War, the empowerment of women, the restrictive conventions of narrative cinema, and the legal limits of what could be shown onscreen. 

Join us for a free, 70-minute program of rare shorts by Ann Arbor filmmakers compiled by Frank Uhle, author of the award-winning University of Michigan Press / Fifth Avenue Press book Cinema Ann Arbor. The event will begin with a brief presentation about the history of film on campus and conclude with a Q&A with several of the filmmakers.

The screening will include both original 16mm prints and recent digital restorations. 

• Gerard Malanga as the Baron von Richthofen (George Manupelli, 1967) A musical sendup of the WWI flying ace starring poet/Andy Warhol associate Gerard Malanga, then serving as a juror at the fifth Ann Arbor Film Festival. Festival founder Manupelli was a professor at the U-M School of Art and Design. (4 minutes) Shown on 16mm.

• Kick Out the Jams (John and Leni Sinclair, 1969) A promotional film shot in part at Detroit’s Grande Ballroom for the MC5’s debut album. The band and the filmmakers were then living in an FBI-surveilled commune across from “the rock” on Hill Street. (3 minutes)

• The Garden of Forking Paths (Keith Varnum, 1970) A moody black-and-white short filmed on the streets of Ann Arbor and Chicago by U-M student Varnum. Screened at the 1970 Ann Arbor Film Festival. (8 minutes) Shown on 16mm. From the FTVM / Frank Beaver collection.

• Cinema Street (Jay Cassidy, 1971) Two episodes from a series of informational shorts produced for the ninth Ann Arbor Film Festival. Starring “Ticket Fred” LaBour and projectionist Peter Wilde, and filmed at 114 N. Division St. Former Cinema Guild chairman and Ann Arbor Film Festival manager Cassidy has been nominated for three Academy Awards for his work editing films like American Hustle and Silver Linings Playbook. (4 minutes)

• The First Annual Ozone Homecoming Parade (Chris Frayne, 1972) A vivid document of one of Ann Arbor’s signature countercultural celebrations begun when the homecoming parade was cancelled due to lack of interest. Wild costumes, floats, musicians, and local personalities converge in this colorful film by U-M art school graduate Frayne. (5 minutes)

• Perdón Del Gato Rabón (Luis Argueta, 1972) An amusing look at a life drawing class that won an award at the 1972 Ann Arbor Film Festival. U-M engineering student Argueta would go on to make films in a variety of genres including El Silencio de Neto, the first Guatemalan feature submitted for best foreign film Oscar consideration. (5 minutes)

• The Best of May 1968 (Jay Cassidy, 1972) A powerful antiwar film that combines footage from bombing raids over Vietnam with home movies shot by a soldier. Chosen for preservation by the Academy Film Archive. (4 minutes)

• Gemini Fire Extension (Andrew Lugg, 1972) Experimental short featuring performance artist John Orentlicher by Cinema Guild member and future philosophy professor Lugg. (5 minutes)  

• Ozone Burgers (To Go) (Chris Frayne, 1974) Hand-drawn and stop-motion animation are featured in this imaginative film. (1 minute)

• No Smoke (Mary Cybulski and John Tintori, 1975) An experimental short made by two Cinema Guild members to inform audiences about smoking rules in campus auditoriums. Cybulski went on to a career as a script supervisor and set photographer for filmmakers like Ang Lee and Michel Gondry, while Tintori later edited films by John Sayles and others before heading the graduate film program at New York University. (1 minute) Shown on 16mm.

• Circumflex (Larry Hussar, 1976) Spinning lights create geometric patterns in this dynamic abstract film by U-M graduate Hussar. Moog synthesizer soundtrack recorded at Hill Auditorium. (3 minutes) Shown on 16mm. From the FTVM / Frank Beaver collection.

• My Summer Vacation (Woody Sempliner, 1980) The spirit of the season is evoked in a series of static shots. Sempliner was the manager of the Ann Arbor Film Festival when he made this film. (4 minutes) Shown on 16mm.

• Footsi (Pat Oleszko, 1979) A tiny pair of fingers explore the world in this delightful work by Ann Arbor Film Festival performance artist and U-M art school graduate Oleszko. Soundtrack by Robert Sheff, a.k.a. “Blue” Gene Tyranny. (5 minutes) Shown on 16mm.

• 107 ½ (John Nelson, 1979) A stunning exploration of light and sound. Cinema Guild member and two-time Academy Award winning visual effects supervisor Nelson (Gladiator, Blade Runner 2049) describes his film as “an abstract animation that uses color, form, movement, sound, and rhythm to present a story that is completed in the mind of the viewer.” Named after its filming location of 107 ½ North Main St. (3 minutes)

• Voozshh (Dan Bruell, 1983) An amusing animated short by Cinema Guild member Bruell that evokes both Monty Python and Yellow Submarine (4 minutes) Shown on 16mm.

• Skate Witches (Danny Plotnick, 1986) Punky female skateboarders take over the U-M Diag in this Ann Arbor 8mm Film Festival award winner. U-M art school graduate Plotnick serves as director of film studies at San Francisco State University and has published a history of Super 8. (2 minutes)

• 23rd Ann Arbor Film Festival Clear Leader Film (1986) Animation drawn on blank 16mm stock by audience members in the lobby of the Michigan Theatre. Soundtrack by Mark Murrell. (3 minutes)

• The Lunch Club (Mitch Peyser and John Beaver, 1987) Second and third graders at Angell Elementary eat lunch and tell us their stories. U-M students Peyser and Beaver won an award at the Ann Arbor Film Festival. (8 minutes) Shown on 16mm. From the FTVM / Frank Beaver collection.

Plus various short logos and ads made by the campus film societies in the late 1970s/early ‘80s. Special thanks to Alan Young, Frank Beaver, Freddy Fortune, Tom Bray, Cary Loren, Kitty Kahn, Peter Struble, Tasha Lebow, the U-M Department of Film, Television and Media, the Ann Arbor Film Festival, and all the filmmakers.