Tone Glow Presents "Inventing Eternity: The Undersung Films of Late-Era Stan Brakhage"
From June 28th-30th, Tone Glow presents a 51-film retrospective of Stan Brakhage's films
I wasn’t trying to invent new ways of being a filmmaker; that was just a byproduct of my struggle to come to a sense of sight. And it seemed reasonable to me that film ought to be based on human seeing, and not just the physical eyes but the mind’s eye: that is, what happens when the eye receives images from the outside and how they interrelate with remembered images on the inside of the mind. […] When I met the poet Charles Olson, he made quite clear the importance of accepting your limitations as the special gifts. My eyes are the weakest part of me, really; either I was going to be destroyed by them or they were going to become the path through which my creativity could flower.
—Stan Brakhage, November 1996
Tone Glow is excited to announce “Inventing Eternity: The Undersung Films of Late-Era Stan Brakhage,” a three-day festival in celebration of the inimitable avant-garde filmmaker Stan Brakhage (1933-2003). With hundreds of films made over five decades, Brakhage was a restless experimenter whose influence and ingenuity are impossible to deny. Despite the box sets that have been released that feature his work, many of his films remain difficult to see. As such, from June 28th-30th, Tone Glow will show 51 films across 8 programs, highlighting masterworks from the latter end of Brakhage’s career that are rarely screened. Everything will be projected on 16mm at Sweet Void Cinema, a microcinema in Chicago. This is the largest public exhibition of Brakhage’s work in the United States in over a decade. It was specifically intended that those living outside the city could travel to watch all these films in a short span of time.
The films in the festival include: a trilogy of works dedicated to Phil Solomon, an artist Brakhage collaborated with during the final decade of his life; Tortured Dust, a four-part feature that marked the last film he made about the family he raised with Jane Wodening (née Collom); and the entire Vancouver Island Quartet, which saw Brakhage aiming to capture his second wife Marilyn’s childhood experiences. Given Tone Glow’s interest in experimental music, one program will feature works soundtracked by composers like Philip Corner, James Tenney, and the Hafler Trio. “More films have been ruined, and continue to be ruined, by ghastly soundtracks than by any other thing,” Brakhage said in 1999. This program, along with another featuring his four Faust Films, will provide the opportunity to see the filmmaker working with music and sound in inventive ways. The festival will conclude with a series of short films made during the last years of his life.
Thanks to Marilyn Brakhage, Canyon Cinema, the Film-Makers’ Cooperative, Sweet Void Cinema, the Chicago Film Society, Fred Camper, R. Bruce Elder, Bruce Jenkins, Philip Corner, Nick Swanton, and Josh Mabe for making this festival possible.
Below, see a list of every film playing the festival. Alternatively, a Letterboxd list with all the films can be found here. (Information such as runtime and year were provided by Marilyn Brakhage.) Information about purchasing tickets is presented afterwards. Please note that there are very limited tickets for Inventing Eternity given the size of the venue and general DIY nature of the event. Festival passes go on sale Thursday, June 6th at Noon CT, and individual program tickets go on sale Friday, June 7th at Noon CT.
FRIDAY, JUNE 28
Program 1: “The Subconscious Storehouse: From Stan Brakhage to Phil Solomon” at 7PM
I Take These Truths (1995, 17'44", color, silent)
We Hold These (1995, 11'35", color, silent)
I… (1995, 27'06", color, silent)
Concrescence (1996, 3'08", color, silent) [by Stan Brakhage and Phil Solomon]
TRT = 59'33"
Program 2: “Tortured Dust” at 9PM
Hymn to Her (1974, 2'19", color, silent)
Jane (1985, 13', color, silent)
Tortured Dust (1984, 88'09", color, silent)
TRT = 103'28"
SATURDAY, JUNE 29
Program 3: “Closed-Eye Visions: The Roman, Egyptian, and Babylon Series” at 2PM
Roman Numeral I (1979, 4'50", color, silent)
Roman Numeral II (1979, 6'38", color, silent)
Roman Numeral III (1980, 1'33", color, silent)
Roman Numeral IV (1980, 1'37", color, silent)
Roman Numeral V (1980, 2'12", color, silent)
Roman Numeral VI (1980, 8'58", color, silent)
Roman Numeral VII (1980, 3'51", color, silent)
Roman Numeral VIII (1980, 2'56", color, silent)
Roman Numeral IX (1980, 1'47", color, silent)
Egyptian Series (1984, 18', color, silent)
Babylon Series #1 (1989, 4'45", color, silent)
Babylon Series #2 (1990, 2'09", color, silent)
Babylon Series #3 (1990, 4'48", color, silent)
TRT = 64'4"
Program 4: “Brakhage and the Composers of the Avant-Garde” at 4:30PM
Loud Visual Noises (1987, 2'03", color, sound)
Christ Mass Sex Dance (1991, 3'48", color, sound)
Matins (1988, 2'15", color, silent)
Passage Through: A Ritual (1990, 49', color, sound)
TRT = 57'6"
Program 5: “Peculiar Laws: The Faust Films” at 8PM
Faustfilm: An Opera (1987, 42'40", color, sound)
Faust’s Other: An Idyll (1988, 40'23", color, sound)
Faust 3: Candida Albacore (1988, 25'16", color, sound)
Faust IV (1989, 38', color, sound)
TRT = 146'8"
SUNDAY, JUNE 30
Program 6: “The Vancouver Island Quartet, Part 1” at 2PM
A Child’s Garden and the Serious Sea (1991, 70'39", color, silent)
The Mammals of Victoria (1994, 34'09", color, silent)
TRT = 104'48"
Program 7: “The Vancouver Island Quartet, Part 2” at 4:30PM
The God of Day Had Gone Down Upon Him (2000, 47'52", color, silent)
Panels for the Walls of Heaven (2002, 35', color, silent)
TRT = 82'52"
Program 8: “Death is a Meaningless Word: An Assortment of Brakhage’s Final Films” at 8PM
Max (2002, 3'42", color, silent)
Worm and Web Love (1999, 3'42", color, silent)
Birds of Paradise (1999, 2'22", color, silent)
The Earthsong of the Cricket (1999, 1'48", color, silent)
Cricket Requiem (1999, 2'30", color, silent)
The Lion and The Zebra Make God’s Raw Jewels (1999, 5'35", color, silent)
Cloud Chamber (1999, 2'58", color, silent)
Stately Mansions Did Decree (1999, 5'33", color, silent)
Micro Garden (2001, 3'10", color, silent)
Rounds (2001, 13'39", color, silent)
Occam’s Thread (2001, 6'47", color, silent)
The Jesus Trilogy and Coda (2000, 20'15", color, silent)
Resurrectus Est (2002, 7'51", color, silent)
Divertimento (1997, 2', color, silent)
Dark Night of the Soul (2002, 2'57", color, silent)
Ascension (2002, 2'08", color, silent)
Commingled Containers (1996, 2’42”, color, silent)
Self Song/Death Song (1997, 3'45", color, silent)
Chinese Series (2003, 2'18", color, silent)
TRT = 95’08”
Ticket & Venue Information
Tickets are $15 per program. A festival pass is available for $100. There are a limited number of festival passes (exactly 15). Festival passes go on sale this Thursday, June 6th at Noon CT. Individual tickets for every other program go on sale this Friday, June 7th at Noon CT.
IMPORTANT: This is not a traditional ticketing system. Tickets are being sold through the event planning website Partiful, which means you will essentially be paying the programmer (Joshua Minsoo Kim) directly via PayPal and/or Venmo through each page. There is no way to “add tickets to cart.” If you are not going to buy a fest pass (or miss out on one), and are still planning to go to multiple programs, you must purchase tickets individually on each event page. When buying tickets, you must specify which program the payment is for. For example, you will write “Inventing Eternity Program 1” in the notes while purchasing a ticket for Program 1. Tickets are limited to two per person. There are waitlists for individual programs but not the festival pass.
Sweet Void Cinema is a microcinema in Humboldt park. It is located at 3036 W Chicago Ave in Humboldt Park. Please enter through the side door. Masks are required and will be provided for those who come. The venue has four rows of theater seats and we will also have multiple folding chairs set up behind them. Sightlines are not a problem. There is limited free street parking available next to the venue. Multiple restaurants are available within a 10-minute walking distance from Sweet Void; the programs were scheduled so that you would not have to rush to eat dinner before the final program of each evening.
Ticket Links
**When making payments, please specify what you are purchasing tickets for (e.g. Program 1, Program 2)
Festival Pass ($100) [SOLD OUT]
Friday, June 28th
Program 1: “The Subconscious Storehouse: From Stan Brakhage to Phil Solomon” at 7PM ($15) [SOLD OUT]
Program 2: “Tortured Dust” at 9PM ($15) [SOLD OUT]
Saturday, June 29th
Program 3: “Closed-Eye Visions: The Roman, Egyptian, and Babylon Series” at 2PM ($15) [SOLD OUT]
Program 4: “Brakhage and the Composers of the Avant-Garde” at 4:30PM ($15) [SOLD OUT]
Program 5: “Peculiar Laws: The Faust Films” at 8PM ($15) [SOLD OUT]
Sunday, June 30th
Program 6: “The Vancouver Island Quartet, Part 1” at 2PM ($15) [SOLD OUT]
Program 7: “The Vancouver Island Quartet, Part 2” at 4:30PM ($15) [SOLD OUT]
Program 8: “Death is a Meaningless Word: An Assortment of Brakhage’s Final Films” at 8PM ($15) [SOLD OUT]