
Nathaniel Dorsky: An Interview
2014-01-01 · 60 min · Not rated
In his contribution to the On Art and Artists interview series, Nathaniel Dorsky (b.1943) begins by discussing his childhood love of the John Ford film Stagecoach and its influence upon his decision to make films while attending Antioch College. Describing the affinity he developed for work operating at the intersection of film materiality and personal language, Dorsky explains how he developed his philosophy of the “devotional film” and the “microcosmic viewer.” Dorsky likens his practice to Buddhist sculpture, referring to himself as a “Japanese poet continuing aspects of the ethos of the Marxist revolution.” In the interview, the artist describes his use of the screen as an “altarpiece for the image” and emphasizes his use of editing to create works which “harmoniously coalesce.” Interview conducted by Jeffrey Skoller in May 2000, edited in 2014.
Trailers are previews, not full movies.
No authorized playback source configured. Use the legal watch options below.
Production details
- Directors
- Unavailable
- Production companies
- Video Data Bank
- Countries
- United States of America
- Status
- Released
Top Cast
Nathaniel DorskySelfTitle information and images are supplied by TMDb. Explore our discovery guide for advice on comparing metadata and legal viewing options.
Where to watch
Availability provided by JustWatch via TMDb. Offers can change. Provider links are listed on TMDb; full playback requires a separately authorized source.
Seasons & episodes
Recommendations

A visual montage portrait of our contemporary world dominated by globalized technology and violence.

SEDUCED AND ABANDONED combines acting legend Alec Baldwin with director James Toback as they lead us on a troublesome and often hilarious journey of raising financing for their next feature film. Moving from director to financier to star actor, the two players provide us with a unique look behind the curtain at the world's biggest and most glamourous film festival, shining a light on the bitter-sweet relationship filmmakers have with Cannes and the film business. Featuring insights from directors Martin Scorsese, 'Bernando Bertolucci' and Roman Polanski; actors Ryan Gosling and Jessica Chastain and a host of film distribution luminaries.

A compilation of over 30 years of private home movie footage shot by Lithuanian-American avant-garde director Jonas Mekas, assembled by Mekas "purely by chance", without concern for chronological order.

This essential new documentary pays tribute to the legacy of the late, legendary casting director Marion Dougherty and shines a light on one of the most overlooked and least understood crafts in filmmaking.

A documentary about the life and films of director John Ford.

In an intimate and joyful story of love in the face of loss, celebrated poets Andrea Gibson and Megan Falley find strength—and unexpected hilarity—in what might be their final year together.

A purely observational non-fiction film that takes viewers into the ethically murky world of end-of-life decision making in a public hospital.

A documentary about the making of David Fincher's 2008 film THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON. Virtually every element in the evolution of the Fincher's film is documented here, from the project's attachment to numerous other directors during the 1990s, to its shoot in 2006 and 2007 in New Orleans, to its complex, CGI-intensive postproduction process.

Musician and performance artist Laurie Anderson reflects on the deaths of her husband Lou Reed, her mother and her beloved dog.

Alexander McQueen's rags-to-riches story is a modern-day fairy tale, laced with the gothic. Mirroring the savage beauty, boldness and vivacity of his design, this documentary is an intimate revelation of McQueen's own world, both tortured and inspired, which celebrates a radical and mesmerizing genius of profound influence.

The life and career of an actor, artist, and icon. His own journey through his own camera.

An inside look at one of the most anticipated movie sequels ever with James Cameron and cast.

Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, and Al Pacino in conversation about The Irishman.

A feature length documentary about the all-women team at the helm of Pixar's original feature, Turning Red. With unprecedented behind-the-scenes access to Director Domee Shi and her core leadership crew, this story shines a light on the powerful professional and personal journeys that brought this incredibly comical, utterly relatable, and deeply heartfelt story to the screen.

This revealing documentary honors the legendary Sidney Poitier—iconic actor, filmmaker, and civil rights activist. Featuring interviews with Denzel Washington, Spike Lee, Halle Berry, and more.

In the Realms of the Unreal is a documentary about the reclusive Chicago-based artist Henry Darger. Henry Darger was so reclusive that when he died his neighbors were surprised to find a 15,145-page manuscript along with hundreds of paintings depicting The Story of the Vivian Girls, in What is Known as the Realms of the Unreal, of the Glodeco-Angelinnian War Storm, Cased by the Child Slave Rebellion.

A documentary on the expletive's origin, why it offends some people so deeply, and what can be gained from its use.

A string of threatening emails escalates into a revenge plot involving a newly married US marshal and his ex-girlfriend.

From the heights of her modeling fame to her tragic death, this documentary reveals Anna Nicole Smith through the eyes of the people closest to her.

From a prolific career in film and television, Anton Yelchin left an indelible legacy as an actor. Through his journals and other writings, his photography, the original music he wrote, and interviews with his family, friends, and colleagues, this film looks not just at Anton's impressive career, but at a broader portrait of the man.
Similar titles

A camera rotates around the same four towers. Seasons, weather conditions and the positions of the camera change over the course of the film. The sound goes round in circles and drifts in variations.

'Afloat' is an experimental film that paints a portrait of Japanese performance artist: Ayumi Lanoire. The film opens as a telephone call between Ayumi and Person X, which meanders the audience through the various layers that make up her personas leading one to wonder whether she is in fact a myth or reality.

Childhood memories of the author's life using images of dance performances with music from a genre she discovered in her adolescence. Both marked her formative years in different ways. By replacing the original sound with the music she began listening to in her adolescence and which had a great influence on the construction of her personal identity, the author seeks to transform the memory of traumatic times of rivalry and body shaming between girls, which in some way affects her to this day.

Dangling from a high window, a young non-binary person is on the cusp of life and death. Flashes of film, literature, art (paintings) and cultural history pass them by, as if to tell a message. A postmodern treatise on connection to culture and the past.

Filmmaking icon Agnès Varda, the award-winning director regarded by many as the grandmother of the French new wave, turns the camera on herself with this unique autobiographical documentary. Composed of film excerpts and elaborate dramatic re-creations, Varda's self-portrait recounts the highs and lows of her professional career, the many friendships that affected her life and her longtime marriage to cinematic giant Jacques Demy.

The life and times of artist Richard Ellis

Could film gelatin, a 16mm film camera, 3 lenses and film developing chemistry experimentation act as messengers between the spirit and the physical world? a one day trip to the remote town of Panguipulli (Chile) seeks to explore possibilities and to also expand on the power of audio frequencies as a healing instrument. A manifestation of the hummingbird movement? A connection between mind, landscape, sound, latent image? A replication of Rukapillan volcano’s intermittent flows of magma through fissures on the earth’s surface? -Colibri- erupts 16mm single frame experiments & bursts smoke and sonic healing vibrations

Women from the different Spanish regions dress in their traditional costumes to attend the triumphal parade celebrating the victory of Francisco Franco and the rebel side over the Second Republic in 1939; the deeds of past heroes are remembered; and a patriotic poem by Nicaraguan poet Rubén Darío is recited.

Godard by Godard is an archival self-portrait of Jean-Luc Godard. It retraces the unique and unheard-of path, made up of sudden detours and dramatic returns, of a filmmaker who never looks back on his past, never makes the same film twice, and tirelessly pursues his research, in a truly inexhaustible diversity of inspiration. Through Godard’s words, his gaze and his work, the film tells the story of a life of cinema; that of a man who will always demand a lot of himself and his art, to the point of merging with it.

This singular 6-part essay film on the history of the state of Rhode Island illustrates the adage that the universal is best reached via the particular: the very local issues investigated in the film blossom into a body of insights and speculations extending far beyond the borders of any region. 'monument' weaves statues, plaques and place names together with the routine movements of everyday life. Readings from history books, monologues from a fictional tour guide, and personal home movies are paired with interviews relating to the Colonial Era, the Slave Trade, the American Revolution, the Industrial Revolution, Indigenous Cultures, the Abolitionist Movement, Organized Crime, Urban Planning, Capitalism, Baseball, Ancient Geology, and Apple Pie. Over time stories overlap and voices converge to create a dynamic, multi-layered temporal x-ray, challenging the objectification of history with the animism of storytelling.

During an audio message sent to his daughter, a father reflects on how the recent discovery of dusty reels and scratchy VHS tapes capturing childhood moments has propelled him on a journey of ancient memories and forgotten dreams . Using a blend of personal, public domain, and freely available footage, the film deconstructs reality and reimagines the past, questioning where memory ends and imagination begins.

A short experimental film about dementia.

Lasting over thirteen hours, Claerbout's film shows two men engaged in a discussion against the back-drop of a neoclassical house in southern France. An act of violence is repeated and re-enacted more than seventy times over the course of the film. Dissolving the boundaries between photography and film, Claerbout’s work puts into question the reassuring stillness of photography and the inevitable narrative progress of the cinematic image.

A camera crew travels through Thailand asking villagers to invent the next chapter of an ever-growing story.

The Magic Lantern is a non-narrated celebration of early cinema and silent-film imagination, exploring the early work of pioneers such as Georges Méliès, Eadweard Muybridge, Segundo de Chomón, and Émile Cohl.

An philosophical film assembled from archival NASA footage exploring humanity’s search for meaning in the silence of space.

This video takes a particular viewpoint, with the camera placed behind a zone of blur. Slowly, we experience the perception of an expanded time. An expectation is created and resolved in the observation of the passage of boats that dissolve into the nebulousness, disappearing from our sight like a mirage.
Human hands can be both destructive and healing, Jeffrie Po suggests in his experimental film with spiritual outreach. He portrays a human being as a faun who roams the jungle dauntlessly, yet is destructive. The forest with vanishing cattle becomes a battlefield between dark powers and the power of salvation.

Outtakes, commentary from Zefier's third film: Jo; or The Act of Riding a Bike.

"Bagong Buhay" is a short experimental film that dispels the common belief that packing up and moving to a new place will magically improve one's quality of life. The film challenges this presumption by portraying two contrasting ways of life through objects and locations, encouraging viewers to think critically about the complexities of what makes a better life. In the Philippines, it's believed that relocating to a new area will bring about positive changes in one's existence. True satisfaction is a complex and multifaceted notion, and "Bagong Buhay" encourages us to ponder that relocating to a new place is not a surefire way to attain it.