Kenneth Anger
Kenneth Anger (born Kenneth Wilbur Anglemeyer; February 3, 1927 - May 11, 2023) was an American underground experimental filmmaker, actor and author. Working exclusively in short films, he produced almost forty works since 1937, nine of which in particular have been grouped together as the "Magick Lantern Cycle," and form the basis of Anger's reputation as one of the most influential independent filmmakers in cinema history. His films variously merge surrealism with homoeroticism and the occult, and have been described as containing "elements of erotica, documentary, psychodrama, and spectacle." Anger himself has been described as "one of America's first openly gay filmmakers, and certainly the first whose work addressed homosexuality in an undisguised, self-implicating manner," and his "role in rendering gay culture visible within American cinema, commercial or otherwise, is impossible to overestimate." Some of his particularly homoerotic works, such as Fireworks (1947) and Scorpio Rising (1964), were produced prior to the legalisation of homosexuality in the United States. He has also focused upon occult themes in many of his films, being fascinated by the notorious English occultist Aleister Crowley, and is a follower of Crowley's religion, Thelema. This influence is evident from films like Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome (1954), Invocation of My Demon Brother (1969) and Lucifer Rising (1972). Anger has described filmmakers such as Auguste and Louis Lumière and Georges Méliès as influences, and has been cited as an important influence on later film directors like Martin Scorsese, David Lynch and John Waters.He has also been described as having "a profound impact on the work of many other filmmakers and artists, as well as on music video as an emergent art form using dream sequence, dance, fantasy, and narrative." During the 1960s and 70s he associated and worked with a number of different figures in popular culture and the occult, including Church of Satan founder Anton LaVey, sexologist Alfred Kinsey, artist Jean Cocteau, playwright Tennessee Williams and musicians Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Jimmy Page and Marianne Faithfull. He is also the author of the controversial best seller Hollywood Babylon (1959) and its sequel Hollywood Babylon II (1986), in which he claims to expose many of the rumours and secrets of Hollywood celebrities. Description above from the Wikipedia article Kenneth Anger, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Lucifer Rising
as The Magus (uncredited)Egyptian gods summon the angel Lucifer, in order to usher in a new occult age.
Movie pageInvocation of My Demon Brother
as The Magick (uncredited)The shadowing forth of Our Lord Lucifer, as the Power of Darkness gather at a midnight mass. The...
Movie pageRescued from the Closet
as SelfA collection of interviews recorded for the making of the 1995 documentary "The Celluloid...
Movie page42 One Dream Rush
as uncreditedAn omnibus of short films by auteur directors based on Dreams.
Movie pageFireworks
as Dreamer (uncredited)A dissatisfied dreamer awakes, goes out in the night seeking a 'light' and is drawn through the...
Movie pageLanglois
as SelfDocumentary portrait of Henri Langlois, co-founder of the Cinémathèque Française.
Movie pageMansfield 66/67
as SelfAbout the last two years of movie goddess Jayne Mansfield’s life and the speculation swirling...
Movie pageAdded Attractions: The Hollywood Shorts Story
as Self (uncredited)The story of the short film from the beginning of the movies in the 1890s, when all movies were...
Movie pageThe Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome
as HecateLord Shiva wakes. A convocation of magicians in the guise of figures from mythology; a...
Movie pageBirth of a Nation
as SelfFilmmaker Jonas Mekas films 160 underground film people over four decades.
Movie pageThe Dead
as uncredited"The Dead became my first work in which things that might very easily be taken as symbols were...
Movie pageHe Stands in a Desert Counting the Seconds of His Life
as SelfA film collage tracing the story of the lives, loves, and deaths within the artistic community...
Movie pageAnger Me
as HimselfElio Gelmini interviews Avantgarde filmmaker Kenneth Anger. With archive footage of Angers...
Movie pageFLicKeR
as SelfIn 1960, Brion Gysin invented the Dream Machine, a hypnotic light device with the power to...
Movie pageJonas in the Desert
as SelfNot a documentary in the strictest sense of the word. Rather, it is a journey through the world...
Movie pageHedy Lamarr: Secrets of a Hollywood Star
as uncredited"Secrets of a Hollywood Star" is another documentary made after "Calling Hedy Lamarr" in 2006....
Movie pageDarryl F. Zanuck: 20th Century Filmmaker
as SelfA biography of Darryl F. Zanuck, mogul and the power behind 20th Century Fox throughout the...
Movie pageAnton LaVey: Into the Devil's Den
as HimselfIn 1989, I met Anton LaVey for the first time. At this time in his life, LaVey was seeing only a...
Movie page24 Hour Sunset
as uncreditedThis film portrait of a new kind is a deep dive into the heart of the los angeles art scene....
Movie pageThe Beach Boys and The Satan
as SelfA German documentary that explores the darker side of the Beach Boys, primarily focusing on...
Movie pageNight of Pan
as LuciferA magician encounters the void that separates the human mind from divine consciousness and in...
Movie pageBusby Berkeley: Going Through the Roof
as SelfDocumentary profile of legendary dance choreographer Busby Berkeley.
Movie pageKenneth Anger: Film as Magical Ritual
as HimselfAnger discusses his Aleister Crowley-inspired theories of art: How he views his camera like a...
Movie pageCinemagician: Conversations with Kenneth Anger
as uncreditedIconic American filmmaker Kenneth Anger has inspired generations of creative storytellers since...
Movie page72 Hours In André Balazs’ Chateau Marmont With Kenneth Anger
as SelfOn LA’s iconic Sunset Boulevard and inside the glamorous rooms of ChateauMarmont, Floria...
Movie pageArena
as SelfArena is a British television documentary series, made and broadcast by the BBC. Voted by...
TV Show page