Film UbuWeb

Gregory Markopoulos (1928-1992) Christmas USA (1949) Twice A Man (1963) Sorrows (1969) One of the key figures in the evolution of the New American Cinema of the 1960s, Gregory J. Markopoulos (1928-1992) developed unique forms of camera work and editing that created ravishing imagery and complex patterns of what he termed "thought-images." With their reliance on mythic and poetic texts and complex themes, his films defy easy description, a situation that was exacerbated by Markopoulos's decision in 1967 to leave this country for Greece (the birthplace of both his parents) and to place restrictions on the screening of his work. While he continued his ambitious work in Europe, including plans to construct an archive and film theater in Lyssaraia, Greece - The Temenos - his films went virtually unseen here for three decades. Fortunately his partner, the filmmaker Robert Beavers, has continued work on The Temenos and on preserving Markopoulos's films. This series, which presents newly remastered prints, includes the artist's important early works, his experimental features, and the series of portrait films he made in Europe.