''Film Culture'' was an American

film magazine Film periodicals combine discussion of individual films, genres and directors with in-depth considerations of the medium and the conditions of its production and reception. Their articles contrast with film reviewing in newspapers and magazines whi ...

started by Adolfas Mekas and his brother

Jonas Mekas Jonas Mekas (; December 24, 1922 – January 23, 2019) was a Lithuanian-American filmmaker, poet, and artist who has been called "the godfather of American avant-garde cinema". Mekas' work has been exhibited in museums and at festivals worldwi ...

in 1954. The publication's headquarters were in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Best known for exploring the

avant-garde cinema Experimental film or avant-garde cinema is a mode of filmmaking that rigorously re-evaluates cinematic conventions and explores non-narrative forms or alternatives to traditional narratives or methods of working. Many experimental films, parti ...

in depth, it also published articles on other aspects of cinema, including Hollywood films. Articles from ''Film Culture'' are compiled in a book entitled ''Film Culture Reader'', published by Cooper Square Press. ''Film Culture'' ceased publication 1996. During its existence the magazine produced 79 issues and issue 80 was published shortly before Mekas’ death in 2018.

Film awards

The magazine presented awards to independent film makers: * First Independent Film Award:

John Cassavetes John Nicholas Cassavetes ( ; December 9, 1929 – February 3, 1989) was an American actor, film director, and screenwriter. First known as a television and film actor, Cassavetes also helped pioneer American independent cinema, writing and direc ...

for ''

Shadows A shadow is a dark area where light from a light source is blocked by an opaque object. It occupies all of the three-dimensional volume behind an object with light in front of it. The cross section of a shadow is a two-dimensional silhouette, ...

'' (1959) * Second Independent Film Award:

Robert Frank Robert Frank (November 9, 1924 – September 9, 2019) was a Swiss photographer and documentary filmmaker, who became an American binational. His most notable work, the 1958 book titled ''The Americans'', earned Frank comparisons to a modern-da ...

and Alfred Leslie for ''

Pull My Daisy ''Pull My Daisy'' is a 1959 American short film directed by Robert Frank and Alfred Leslie, and adapted by Jack Kerouac from the third act of his play, ''Beat Generation''. Kerouac also provided improvised narration. It features poets Allen G ...

'' (1960) * Third Independent Film Award: Ricky Leacock, Don Pennebaker, Robert Drew and Al Maysles for ''

Primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Works ...

'' (1961) * Fourth Independent Film Award:

Stan Brakhage James Stanley Brakhage ( ; January 14, 1933 – March 9, 2003) was an American filmmaker. He is considered to be one of the most important figures in 20th-century experimental film. Over the course of five decades, Brakhage created a larg ...

for ''The Dead and Prelude'' (1962) * Fifth Independent Film Award: Jack Smith for '' Flaming Creatures'' (1963) * Sixth Independent Film Award:

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationsh ...

for ''

Sleep Sleep is a sedentary state of mind and body. It is characterized by altered consciousness, relatively inhibited Perception, sensory activity, reduced muscle activity and reduced interactions with surroundings. It is distinguished from wakefuln ...

, Haircut,

Eat Eating (also known as consuming) is the ingestion of food, typically to provide a heterotrophic organism with energy and to allow for growth. Animals and other heterotrophs must eat in order to survive — carnivores eat other animals, herbi ...

Kiss A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...

and

Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...

'' (1964) * Seventh Independent Film Award: Harry Smith for his entire body of work (1965) * Eighth Independent Film Award: Gregory Markopoulos for his entire body of work (1966) * Ninth Independent Film Award:

Michael Snow Michael Snow (born December 10, 1928) is a Canadian artist working in a range of media including film, installation, sculpture, photography, and music. His best-known films are '' Wavelength'' (1967) and '' La Région Centrale'' (1971), with the ...

for ''Wavelength'' (1968) * Tenth Independent Film Award:

Kenneth Anger Kenneth Anger (born Kenneth Wilbur Anglemyer, February 3, 1927) is an American underground experimental filmmaker, actor, and author. Working exclusively in short films, he has produced almost 40 works since 1937, nine of which have been grouped ...

for '' Invocation of My Demon Brother'' (1969)

References

External links

Selections from FILM CULTURE Magazine (1955-1996) on UBUWEB
Film magazines published in the United States Defunct magazines published in the United States Experimental film Magazines established in 1954 Magazines disestablished in 1996 Magazines published in New York City Jonas Mekas {{art-mag-stub