Andrew Noren (1943–May 2, 2015) was an American

avant-garde film Experimental film or avant-garde cinema is a mode of filmmaking that does not apply standard cinematic conventions, instead adopting non-narrative forms or alternatives to traditional narratives or methods of working. Many experimental films, ...

maker.

Biography

Andrew Noren was born 1943 in

Santa Fe, New Mexico Santa Fe ( ; , literal translation, lit. "Holy Faith") is the capital city, capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Santa Fe County. With over 89,000 residents, Santa Fe is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, fourt ...

and grew up in Southern California. Noren moved to New York in the mid 1960s, where he worked as an editor at

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

. Through his job, he was able to access a

Bolex Bolex International S. A. is a Swiss manufacturer of motion picture cameras based in Yverdon located in Canton of Vaud, the most notable products of which are in the 16 mm and Super 16 mm formats. Originally Bol, the company was founded ...

16 mm 16 mm film is a historically popular and economical Film gauge, gauge of Photographic film, film. 16 mm refers to the width of the film (about inch); other common film gauges include 8 mm film, 8 mm and 35mm movie film, 35 mm. It ...

camera, with which he began making films. His first work, ''A Change of Heart'', was a narrative feature film inspired by

Jean-Luc Godard Jean-Luc Godard ( , ; ; 3 December 193013 September 2022) was a French and Swiss film director, screenwriter, and film critic. He rose to prominence as a pioneer of the French New Wave film movement of the 1960s, alongside such filmmakers as ...

's '' Breathless''. After the film's premiere, Noren met

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's work has been exhibited in museums and at festivals world ...

through a co-worker. He started working at

the Film-Makers' Cooperative The Film-Makers' Cooperative (a.k.a. The New American Cinema Group, Inc.) is an artist-run, non-profit organization founded in 1961 in New York City by Jonas Mekas, Andy Warhol, Shirley Clarke, Stan Brakhage, Jack Smith (film director), Jack Smit ...

, where he became connected to local avant-garde filmmakers. Noren began making more experimental works toying with different documentary approaches. For ''Say Nothing'', he recorded a single 30-minute shot in which he administers a

screen test A screen test is a method of determining the suitability of an actor or actress for performing on film or in a particular role. It is typically a secondary or later stage in the audition process. The performer is generally given a scene, or sel ...

. Inspired by the

Lumière brothers Lumière is French for 'light'. Lumiere, Lumière or Lumieres may refer to: Buildings * Lumière, a building used by the Bibliothèque publique d'information in Paris, France * Lumiere (skyscraper), a cancelled skyscraper development in Leeds, ...

, his film ''The New York Miseries'' was a collection of three-minute takes documenting his own life. It, along with several other works from Noren's early period, were accidentally destroyed in 1970 and are now

lost films A lost film is a feature or short film in which the original negative or copies are not known to exist in any studio archive, private collection, or public archive. Films can be wholly or partially lost for a number of reasons. Early films we ...

. Noren's next film ''Huge Pupils'' was the first entry in ''The Adventures of the Exquisite Corpse'', an ongoing film cycle continued growing for the rest of his career. The cycle came to include nine films: ''Huge Pupils'', ''False Pretenses'', ''The Phantom Enthusiast'', ''Charmed Particles'', '' The Lighted Field'', ''Imaginary Light'', ''Time Being'', ''Free to Go (Interlude)'', and ''Aberration of Starlight''. In 1972 Noren began working at the Sherman Grinberg Film Library as a researcher and licensing agent for archived stock footage and newsreels. After Sherman Grinberg went out of business in 1998, Noren founded the Research Source, a visual research and copyright clearance company. Noren died of lung cancer in 2015.

Filmography

* ''A Change of Heart'' (1965) * ''Say Nothing'' (1965) * ''The New York Miseries'' (1966) * ''Bathing'' (1967) * ''The Wind Variations'' (1968) * ''Huge Pupils'' (1968) * ''False Pretenses'' (1974) * ''The Phantom Enthusiast'' (1975) * ''Charmed Particles'' (1978) * '' The Lighted Field'' (1987) * ''Imaginary Light'' (1994) * ''Time Being'' (2001) * ''Free to Go (Interlude)'' (2003) * ''Aberration of Starlight'' (2008)

Legacy

In 2023, ''The Lighted Field'' was inducted into the

National Film Registry The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation (library and archival science), preservation, each selected for its cultural, historical, and aestheti ...

for its cultural and historical importance.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Noren, Andrew 1943 births 2015 deaths American experimental filmmakers People from Santa Fe, New Mexico