Eugene (Gene) Benumen Stavis was an American film archivist,

cinephile Cinephilia ( ; also cinemaphilia or filmophilia) is the term used to refer to a passionate interest in films, film theory, and film criticism. The term is a portmanteau of the words '' cinema'' and ''philia'', one of the four ancient Greek words ...

and gay film pioneer. He was the producer of '' The Emerald City'', the first ever gay-themed cable television show in New York and a storied professor of film at the

School of Visual Arts The School of Visual Arts New York City (SVA NYC) is a private for-profit art school in New York City. It was founded in 1947 and is a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design. History This school was started by Silas ...

, which named a theater in his honor.

Early Life

Gene Stavis was born in Boston. He attended Brookline High School and later Boston University. He founded the BU Film Society in the early 1960's.

American Cinematheque Project

During the 1970's Henri Langlois made an effort to establish an American counterpoint to the

Cinémathèque française A cinematheque is an archive of films and film-related objects with an exhibition venue. Similarly to a book library (bibliothèque in French), a cinematheque is responsible for preserving and making available to the public film heritage. Typically ...

, which he had established with

Georges Franju Georges Franju (; 12 April 1912 – 5 November 1987) was a French filmmaker. He was born in Fougères, Ille-et-Vilaine. Biography Early life Before working in French cinema, Franju held several different jobs. These included working for an ins ...

and

Jean Mitry Jean-René Pierre Goetgheluck Le Rouge Tillard des Acres de Presfontaines, whose pseudonym was Jean Mitry (; 7 November 1904 – 18 January 1988), was a French Film theory, film theorist, Film criticism, critic and Filmmaking, filmmaker, a co-fo ...

. Gene Stavis became Langlois's American counterpart for the venture and was to serve as its New York director. The building that was to house the American Cinematheque was conceptualized by the

I. M. Pei Ieoh Ming Pei
– website of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners ( ; ; April 26, 1917 – May 16, 2019) was ...

, however the project never came to fruition due to lack of funding. Later in his career Stavis was in charge of the development and opening of the Visual Arts Theater on 23rd Street in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

, which opened in 2008.

Emerald City

In the mid-1970's Stavis, along with Frank Dowd and Steve Bie formed ''Truth, Justice, and the American Way, Inc.'', a company, which produced the community-access cable television program ''The Emerald City''. At the time it was the first ever gay-themed cable television show in New York. It focused primarily on issues in the gay community and aired on

Channel J Manhattan Cable Television's Channel J was a Public-access television, public-access television channel broadcast from New York City from 1976 to 1990. It became famous and controversial for its lack of censorship and its depiction of marginalize ...

. The program was later syndicated in San Francisco.

Teaching

Gene Stavis taught cinema studies and film history at City University, John Jay College, LaGuardia College, New School and Fordham before being appointed as the film history professor at the School of Visual Arts in New York City in 1981, where he instructed for 30 years. At a certain time he was appointed to be the instructor for the freshman year film history class, hosting every incoming film student for weekly screenings of classics from the silent and early talkie eras of cinema. Notable directors who studied under Stavis include:

Michael Cuesta Michael Cuesta (born July 8, 1963) is an American film and television director, best known for his independent films, specially for having co-written and directed the 2001 film '' L.I.E.'' He has directed and produced television series including ...

Craig Gillespie Craig Gillespie (born 1 September 1967) is an Australian-American film director, film, television director, television, music video director, music video, and commercial director. He is best known for directing the films ''Lars and the Real Gir ...

, Robert Kolodny,

Morten Tyldum Morten Tyldum (; born 19 May 1967) is a Norwegian film director. He is best known in his native Norway for directing the thriller film '' Headhunters'' (2011), based on the novel by Jo Nesbø, and internationally for directing the historical dram ...

and

Ti West Timon C. West (born October 5, 1980) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, editor, cinematographer, and actor, best known for his work in horror films. He directed the horror films ''The Roost'' (2005), ''Trigger Man (2007 film), ...

Personal Life

Stavis would often host private invite only screenings for young cinefiles and industry aficionados at his Waterside Plaza apartment. There he would project rare 16mm or 35mm prints and serve food. Stavis kept a large format, framed image of Henri Langlois in his living room. He was rumored to have discovered a lost student film by Orson Wells, titled ''The Hearts of Age''.https://decentfilms.com/reviews/kidbrother He passed away in New York City on December 30, 2013.

References