About
Ed Emshwiller started out as an abstract expressionist painter and an award-winning science fiction illustrator before becoming a major figure in avant-garde cinema and the experimental film movement of the 1960s and '70s. Eventually a highly respected video artist and dean at the School of Film/Videoo at the California Institute of the Arts, Emshwiller was always looking for ways to push the boundaries of film and video. He was a pioneer of computer-generated video and combining technology with art. Many of his films, including Relativity, Totem, Film with Three Dancers, and Thanatopsis received screenings and awards at New York, Cannes and other major film festivals worldwide.
Emshwiller appeared on Screening Room in July 1975 to screen and discuss the films: • Chrysalis (excerpt, 1:18) • George Dumpson's Place (full film, 7:45) • Carol Emshwiller (full film, 5:50) • Thantopsis (full film, 5:12) • Film with Three Dancers (full film, 18:58) • Scape Mates (full film, 1:59) • Crossings and Meetings (excerpt, 2:03)
Screening Room was a Boston television series that ran for almost ten years from 1972-1981. It offered independent filmmakers a chance to show and discuss their work on a commercial (ABC-TV) affiliate station. The series was developed and hosted by filmmaker Robert Gardner (Dead Birds, Forest of Bliss). Nearly 100 programs were produced during the years Screening Room was broadcast. Twenty seven episodes have been edited for release in 3 categories: Animation, Documentary, and Experimental Film.
Films in the Experimental series
Standish Lawder & Stanley Cavell