Burroughs Bacon

 

Uncut footage that was not used in the Channel 4 Arena documentary about William S. Burroughs from 1982. William visits Francis Bacon in his home studio in London. They drink tea and have an interesting conversation about art and Tangier. There is a lot of name dropping - asking if such and such a person is still alive, or "did you know" so and so.

At the about 30 minute mark Burroughs elucidates on some of his ideas about immortality and the escape from the body. He references Mayan and Egyptian ideas on the subject and talks a bit about physics.

Burroughs was originally made in 1983 by Howard Brookner and Alan Yentob, as part of the BBC’s art strand Arena, and repeated after Burrough’s death in 1997. It is an exceptional documentary, one that gives an intimate and revealing portrait of Burroughs, as he revisits his childhood home; discusses his up-bringing with his brother, Mortimer; his friendship with Jack Kerouac, Allen Gisnberg, and Brion Gysin; and has a reunion with artist Francis Bacon, who Burroughs knew in Tangier. Other contributors include Terry Southern, Patti Smith, and James Grauerholz.

Aldous Huxley, The Gravity of Light

Aldous Huxley: The Gravity Of Light incorporates rare archival footage, computer rendered 3D animation, speculative fictions, and selections from his essays. The film begins by reflecting upon that crucial, prophetic work "Brave New World" (1932, Aldous Huxley) and then moves to a further inquiry into the human ramifications of current technological change. The film also recalls the impact of Huxley's LSD-25 and mescaline experimentations and writings for a generation of youth and examines the utopianistic impulses associated with the Rave scene.

Harry Smith: American Magus

 

A documentary about the brilliant and versatile cult figure Harry Smith (1923-1991) – compiler of a famous three-part folk album, film-maker, painter, anthropologist, obsessive collector and thinker.
The films, paintings, and recordings of Harry Smith pay tribute to his genius. Filmmaking, painting, anthropology, musicology, and the occult. His knowledge of each was encyclopedic and firsthand. As might befit a man of such varied interests, his circles of friends were large and, for the most part, wholly independent. This film demonstrates how differently Smith appeared to friends from each circle, offering personal recollections that present a multidimensional, largely contradictory picture of the man. Together with artwork, the interviews director Paola Igliori conducted with such friends as William Breeze, Robert Frank, John Cohen, Jonas Mekas, and Allen Ginsberg make up a sizable portion of the film.