Robert Haller and I both hope that those in NYC can get to Anthology on Monday April 30 at 7 PM to join us for the screening of six of my films, book launch and reception for Flesh Into Light: The Films of Amy Greenfield , just out from intellect Books, US distributor: U of Chicago Press.
I’ll be premiering Body Songs, with cinema-verite pioneer Ricky Leacock on camera. BodySongs came out of a 1979 shoot but not edited until now. For more on April 30 and Body Songs go to amygreenfieldfilms.com/news. I’ve been working for months on tweeking the balance between what was on the 1979 footage shot with the original portable video camera, the Sony Portapak. Working with top Avid technology to balance being truthful to the original (no-blacks at all) footage and finding it new for today. It’s an amazing, maddeningly painstaking process that only people as you and restorers can appreciate. Luckily I’d archived he original 1/2”reel-to’reel video on Beta SP, 1” and 3/4’. Now the wonderful thing- in this digital age work on he Avid it can look like ---film! Soft, grainy 16mm! P Adams Sitney once gave me one of the compliments of my life when he said that my videotapes look like film. Ricky’s camera is amazing - such subtle black and white values molding the performers’ nude bodies now coming out of the footage like hidden gems. Ricky had pretty much only shot video for what he shot for me at that time because he was developing Super-8 sync sound at MIT. He saw and thought “film”. More on Ricky: he was the independent filmmaker memorialized by the Academy Awards this year along with George Kuchar. And he was a cameraman. More and more he was a personal filmmaker, He went from WWII cameraman to documentary cameraman to spearheading cinema verite, making with Al Maysles and DA Pennebaker the first famous TV documentaries then taking commissions workd-wide, then quiting all that to head the MIT Film Section and there championing smaller and cheaper cameras, then quiting MIT, moving to Paris and the last 20 years of his life he shot no-budget what he felt like on mini-DV with his partner in life and film Valerie Lalonde. “Having fun” as he’d say. If you know Ricky you’d know that he was a personal filmmaker. How privileged i am that he lent his cameraman’s eye and generosity to my own vision as he did for so many. And we had fun! I’ll talk about making Body Songs at the screening. I want the screening also to give tribute to others who lent themselves to my vision - Nam June Paik for my MUSEic Of The BODy coming out of my wild performance at ANthology in 1994( “Unforgettabe A Best In The Arts” NY Times) and Hilary Harris without whom i don’t know what I wouldn’t have been able to do. And my performers - Andrea Beeman will be there. She “stars” in the Dark Sequins and Wildfire to be screened on 35mm - gorgeous blow-ups made by Cineric. Then - afterward- a wine/champagne reception for Haller’s book, with Robert there to sign books. Flesh Into Light was also many-years-in-the making. Intellect is great getting behind it - highlighting it in North America in 2012-2013. Robert started writing on my work before we met and told me when we’d meet he’d some day write a book on my films. Then marriage and being a director at Anthology got in the way. Finally the book is born. To find out more about the ANthology event, go to amygreenfieldfilms.com/news. Haller and I will of course be at the screening and party afterward to celebrate and sign books. Hope some of you in New York can make it. I’d like all of my screening to be a tribute to the wonerful people- like ricku - who work with me. As Ricky sid he’s not an independentfilmmaker- he’svery dependent. I feel thqt way about m collaborators ho make the lonely vision visible. Also Light? San wrote....
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