Big Joy: The Films of James Broughton and Joel Singer
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JAMES BROUGHTON AND JOEL SINGER, CIRCA 1970s. SOURCE: BIGJOY.ORG.
“Before Allen Ginsberg and the Beats descended on San Francisco, there was James Broughton: a poet, experimental filmmaker, pansexual free spirit and proto-hippie who, like Ginsberg, was a spiritual descendant of Walt Whitman… For much of his life, he followed the dictum of his motto, ‘Follow your weird.’” —Stephen Holden, The New York Times
“Exploring Radical Faerie gatherings and queer shamanic ritual, [James] Broughton and [Joel] Singer’s poetic and erotic films delight in the body, presenting a vision of a world where men have forsaken rivalry and taken up affection.” —Studio Voltaire
In July 1979, while working as a curator and archivist in The Museum of Modern Art’s Department of Film, Jon Gartenberg programmed four films by James Broughton: FOUR IN THE AFTERNOON (1951), THE PLEASURE GARDEN (1953), THE GOLDEN POSITIONS (1970), and SONG OF THE GODBODY (1977) — the lattermost a collaboration between Broughton and his longtime partner, Joel Singer. Over the previous five years, these films had been acquired by the Archives of MoMA’s Film Department, and Gartenberg’s program (titled James Broughton, Cinema Poet) represented a culmination of those efforts. In his program note, which can be read in full below, Gartenberg remarked:
James Broughton is the poet of the American independent cinema… [his] films concern themselves with life’s quest for love, truth, and humanity, achieved through the techniques of the poetic word heard on the sound track, symbolic imagery, and humorous character interactions… Broughton’s artistry lies in his ability to telescope life’s situations into familiar and evocative symbolic imagery, to infuse the films with sunlight and humor, and to constantly affirm the power of love over death, even from the perspective of old age… Broughton’s films affirm the joy of intensely experiencing life and of the quest for self-discovery.
GME is proud to welcome a selection of films by Broughton into our collection, including five of his collaborations with Singer, which are now available for rental or purchase by academic and cultural institutions worldwide. 47 years following the aforementioned MoMA program, this acquisition of Broughton’s and Singer’s films represents a full-circle moment in Gartenberg’s curatorial career and his advocacy of these great artists’ work.
These films, spanning a period of 40 years (from 1948–1988), are available individually as well as across three curated packages: Early Films by James Broughton, James Broughton: The Second Act, and Broughton & Singer.
EARLY FILMS BY JAMES BROUGHTON
From 1948 to 1953, Broughton crafted a series of humorous, at times fantastical, and often playfully anti-authoritarian films imbibed with his poetic practice that earned him the reputation of “the father of West Coast experimental cinema.” GME is pleased to present three of those films — Broughton’s solo debut MOTHER’S DAY (1948), 1951’s FOUR IN THE AFTERNOON, and the artist’s crowning achievement from this period, 1953’s THE PLEASURE GARDEN — in the curated package Early Films by James Broughton.
JAMES BROUGHTON: THE SECOND ACT
After THE PLEASURE GARDEN was honored at the 1954 Cannes Film Festival, James Broughton was offered a Hollywood movie deal, which he turned down. The artist instead took a 15-year hiatus from filmmaking altogether to focus on his poetry. Upon returning to the medium in 1967, the counterculture was America’s dominant culture, and Broughton’s cinematic comeback met this euphoric and liberating moment.
GME is pleased to present THE BED (1967), THE GOLDEN POSITIONS (1970), and TESTAMENT (1974) in a curated package devoted to the second act — spanning the rise and fall of the “hippie” era — in Broughton’s multifaceted career as a filmmaker.
BROUGHTON & SINGER
GME is pleased to present five films by James Broughton and Joel Singer: TOGETHER (1976), SONG OF THE GODBODY (1977), HERMES BIRD (1979), DEVOTIONS (1983), and SCATTERED REMAINS (1988) in a curated package devoted to their decades-long personal and creative partnership.
Jon Gartenberg’s Program Note for James Broughton, Cinema Poet:
