Nostalgia (1971 film)

Last updated
(nostalgia)
Directed by Hollis Frampton
Narrated by Michael Snow
Release date
  • 1971 (1971)
Running time
38 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Nostalgia, styled (nostalgia), is a 1971 American experimental film by artist Hollis Frampton. [1] It is part of his Hapax Legomena series. [2] [3]

Contents

Summary

The film is composed of black-and-white still photographs taken by Frampton during his early artistic explorations which are slowly burned on the element of a hot plate, while the soundtrack offers personal comments on the content of the images, read by fellow artist Michael Snow. Each comment/story is heard in succession before the related photograph appears onscreen, thus causing the viewer to actively engage with the 'past' and 'present' moments as presented within the film. [4]

Legacy

In 2003, Nostalgia was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". The Librarian of Congress, James H. Billington described it (along with Film Portrait by Jerome Hill) as "avant-garde classics considered eloquent and evocative explorations of memory and family". [5] [6] The film is part of Anthology Film Archives' Essential Cinema Repertory collection. [7]

It is available on the DVD collection Treasures IV: American Avant-Garde Film, 1947-1986 (2008), [8] as well as in a Hollis Frampton box set from the Criterion Collection A Hollis Frampton Odyssey (2012). [9]

See also

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References

  1. THIRTY YEARS OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENT CINEMA ON EXHIBITION (1979) on MoMA.org
  2. The Criterion Channel
  3. Hollis Frampton Collection - Collection - Harvard Film Archive
  4. Your Daily Short: Hollis Frampton's "(nostalgia)" - MTV
  5. "25 Films Added to National Film Registry - News Releases (Library of Congress)". Loc.gov. 2003-12-16. Retrieved 2014-04-17.
  6. "Complete National Film Registry Listing". Library of Congress. Retrieved 2020-05-06.
  7. "Essential Cinema". Anthology Film Archives . Retrieved June 1, 2022.
  8. Treasure IV: American Avant-Garde Film, 1947-1986 (Image Entertainment)·Senses of Cinema
  9. A Hollis Frampton Odyssey ()-Criterion Collection