Skip to main content

Sense of Cinema article on the beat generation artists & filmmaking

i am posting this as a part of the Beats & Film blog-a-thon, happening 4/27 - 9/6 in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the publication of Kerouac's On The Road

There is an article at Sense of Cinema about beat generation artists & their relationship with independent/underground filmmaking of the time. The article is called "A brief introduction to beat (in) film", written by Jack Sargeant in 2000. Here are a few lines:

"In late '50s and early '60s America the beat experiment in film was primarily linked to the emergence of underground film (a.k.a. New American Cinema). Perhaps the most famous beat film was created by two young artists, the painter Alfred Lesley and the photographer Robert Frank, who began to collaborate with Jack Kerouac on an idea for a film adaptation of a short play by Kerouac entitled The Beat Generation or The New Amaraen Church. The film - eventually entitled Pull My Daisy (1959) - was cast with leading members of the beat literary scene: Allen Ginsberg, Gregory Corso, and Peter Orlovsky, alongside Delphine Seyrig, jazz musician David Amram, and artist Larry Rivers."

Read the rest here.

- Sujewa

Christmas Eve controversial, fun discussion - 1 of the best American indie filmmakers - Amir Motlagh

Inside the Arthouse ep 2

Full Movie - SNEAK PREVIEW - Cosmic Disco Detective Rene And The Mystery Of Immortal Time Travelers

NEW - COSMIC DISCO DETECTIVE RENE (2023) - TRAILER!

The Secret Society For Slow Romance (2022) - available to rent as a new release starting January 1

Werewolf Ninja Philosopher at Vimeo VOD

Popular Posts

The 11 Most Interesting Films Seen In 2024 - at movie theaters, VOD, YouTube

  * By Sujewa Ekanayake * 1 - Cosmic Disco Detective Rene (2023) - seen at Film Noir Cinema in 2024, director - Sujewa Ekanayake I directed this movie and am a big fan of it. Obviously it is very interesting to me because I placed interesting ideas and images, scenes, dialogue in the movie.  Here are 2 reviewers on the movie: "The funny, hopeful, and spirited sci-fi comedy explores concepts such as simulation theory and multiple dimensions..."  - Jamie Toth, Cyclops At The Cinema https://somewhatcyclops.com/cosmic-disco-detective-rene-and-the-mystery-of-immortal-time-travelers/ "Indie filmmaking at its finest, this followup to 'The Secret Society for Slow Romance' is one charming comedy." - Bill Arceneaux, Moviegoing with Bill - https://www.moviegoing.rocks/p/cosmicdisco From YouTube page for the movie: "Are immortal time travelers going back in time to disrupt the past? Is that a threat to our time period? The government wants to know so they hire Rene...

IndieSeen: BitterSweet (2025) - Movie Review * Film screens in DC on 2/14 night

  * If the YouTube link above does not open easily, click here to go view the video -  https://youtu.be/HSWiCrkbV6o?si=c9gNuHu2-J4ir1uZ * Film screens 2/14 night in DC - all info and tix here - https://www.eventbrite.com/e/bittersweet-qa-with-director-steve-martini-cast-valentines-rom-com-tickets-1215654026919  

Game over - Panasonic's $1500 camcorder can create 35MM film type cinematic images! HC-X1500, 4K

Reading Material

Indie Film Blogger Road Trip