Person
Shirley Clarke
New York City, New York, USA
A major figure of the American avant garde, Shirley Brimberg Clarke (1919-1997) was born into privilege as the daughter of Polish-Jewish immigrants who made their fortune in manuf…
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A major figure of the American avant garde, Shirley Brimberg Clarke (1919-1997) was born into privilege as the daughter of Polish-Jewish immigrants who made their fortune in manufacturing. Rebelling against a repressive bourgeois upbringing, Clarke turned first to dance, and later film and video, to express her distinctive vision of the world. Moving freely across genres and media throughout her career (and often within a single work), Clarke’s cinema explores the porous boundaries between narrative and documentary filmmaking, and film and other media, such as painting, dance, performance and video. Her 1960s features The Connection (1961), The Cool World (1963) and Portrait of Jason (1967), for which she is arguably best remembered, address issues of urban alienation, poverty, addiction and racism, focusing on lives lived at the margins of American society. Fearless in both her personal and creative life, Clarke produced a body of work that is as formally innovative as it is rooted in social protest. Clarke initially trained as a dancer, immersing herself in New York’s vibrant post-war avant-garde dance scene. Although her dance career never quite earned her the critical acclaim she’d hoped for, it had a lasting impact on her subsequent filmmaking and video work, informing an interest in how movement is recorded formally, while introducing her to key avant-garde dancers and choreographers. Source: https://denniscooperblog.com/shirley-clarke-day-2/
Filmography
Movies and shows, newest first
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2016
Home Movies #20: Dance Tests
Movie Director
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2016
Decroux Film
Movie Director
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2016
Fear Flight
Movie Director
- 2016
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2016
This Is Not 'In Paris Parks'
Movie Director
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2016
Rose and the Players – Part 1
Movie Director
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2016
Bullfight: The C and D Rolls
Movie Director
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2016
Rose and the Players – Part 2
Movie Director
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2016
Outtakes for 'In Paris Parks'
Movie Director
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2016
Shirley Clarke: The Artist with the Lens
Movie Self (archival footage)
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1999
Alien Blood
Movie second alien mother / MIB soldier
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1997
Happy Birthday to John
Movie Self
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1997
Birth of a Nation
Movie Self
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1986
He Stands in a Desert Counting the Seconds of His Life
Movie Self (archive footage)
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1986
Ornette: Made in America
Movie Director
-
1986
As Kineastas
Movie
More credits
-
1984
Ornette Coleman: A Jazz Video Game
Movie Director
-
1982
Tongues
Movie Director
-
1981
Savage/Love
Movie Director
-
1980
A Visual Diary
Movie Director
- 1980
-
1980
The Modnar Machine
Movie
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1978
Four Journeys Into Mystic Time: Mysterium
Movie Director
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1978
Four Journeys Into Mystic Time: Trans
Movie Director
-
1978
Four Journeys Into Mystic Time: One Two Three
Movie Director
-
1978
Four Journeys Into Mystic Time: Initiation
Movie Director
-
1977
24 Frames per Second
Movie Director
-
1976
Sex Stars
Movie Self
-
1973
Carl Lee on Joe Franklin Show
Movie Director
-
1972
Morris at Ornette's Art Show
Movie Director
-
1971
Yoko and John Party
Movie Director
-
1971
Up Your Legs Forever
Movie Self - Legs(uncredited)
-
1971
Makeup Magic
Movie Director
-
1971
Ricky Leacock Visit, daytime, April 19, 1971
Movie Director
-
1971
Ricky Leacock Visit, evening, April 19, 1971
Movie Director
-
1971
Ricky Leacock Visit, April 17, 1971
Movie Director
-
1971
Ricky Leacock Visit, April 15, 1971
Movie Director
-
1971
The Arrest
Movie Director
-
1970
Rome Is Burning: Portrait of Shirley Clarke
Movie Shirley Clarke
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1969
Lions Love
Movie Shirley
