Gregory J. Markopoulos LLGFF

GREGORY J. MARKOPOULOS
London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival
28 & 30 March 2009

The London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival presents two programmes of rarely screened films by Gregory J. Markopoulos. Curated by Mark Webber, with thanks to Temenos Verein.

Twice A Man (Gregory J. Markopoulos, 1963)

Saturday 28 March 2009, at 4:30pm, NFT3
MARKOPOULOS 1: TWICE A MAN

TWICE A MAN
Gregory J. Markopoulos, USA, 1963, 49 mins
Twice A Man is a fragmented re-imagining of the Greek myth of Hippolytus, who was killed after rejecting the advances of his stepmother. Markopoulos’ vision transposes the legend to 1960s New York and has its main character abandon his mother for an elder man. Employing sensuous use of colour, the film radicalised narrative construction with its mosaic of ‘thought images’ that shift tenses and compress time. One of the touchstones of independent filmmaking, Twice A Man was made in the same remarkable milieu as Scorpio Rising and Flaming Creatures by a filmmaker named ‘the American avant-garde cinema’s supreme erotic poet’ by its key critic P. Adams Sitney.
Dedicated to Clara Hoover. Based on the story of Hippolytos. Music by Pyotr Tchaikovsky: excerpt from Manfred Symphony, op. 58. Assistant director: Charles Levine. Cast: Paul Kilb (Paul), Olympia Dukakis (the young mother), Violet Roditi (the aged mother), Albert Torgessen (the artist-physician). Voice: Olympia Dukakis. Filmed in New York City, Staten Island and Bear Mountain Park.
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MING GREEN
Gregory J. Markopoulos, USA, 1966, 7 mins
Ming Green is an extraordinary self-portrait conveyed through the multiple layered superimpositions of the filmmaker’s sparsely furnished room.
Dedicated to Stan Brakhage. Music by Richard Wagner: Traumen from Wesendonck Lieder (Wesendonck Song Cycle). Filmed in New York City.

Eros, O Basileus (Gregory J. Markopoulos, 1967)

Monday 30 March 2009, at 8:45pm, NFT3
MARKOPOULOS 2: EROS, O BASILEUS

EROS, O BASILEUS
Gregory J. Markopoulos, USA, 1967, 45 mins
Markopoulos’ invocation of Eros merges classical and contemporary imagery by placing the male god of love in an artists’ loft. The sole protagonist, predominantly naked, appears in a series of tableaux surrounded by icons of creativity, including paintings, books and filmmaking equipment. This sculptural study of the human form is energised by flash frames, stylised fades, and Strauss’ tone-poem ‘Ein Heldenleben’. Eros is portrayed by the young filmmaker Robert Beavers, who had recently moved to New York after seeing films by Markopoulos and other New American Cinema pioneers. Both soon left America for Europe, where they remained together until Markopoulos’ death in 1992.
Dedicated to Ben Weber. Music by Richard Strauss: excerpts from Ein Heldenleben. Cast: Robert Beavers (Eros). Filmed in New York City.
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THROUGH A LENS BRIGHTLY: MARK TURBYFILL
Gregory J. Markopoulos, USA, 1967, 15 mins
The life of painter, dancer and poet Mark Turbyfill, seen here in his 70th year, is evoked through traditional portraiture and personal objects.
Dedicated to Tom Chomont. Cast: Mark Turbyfill. Filmed in Chicago.


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Tickets: £8.60 / £6.25 concessions
BFI members pay £1 less

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www.llgff.org.uk