POET IN ORBIT (US, 1980, Joel Singer)
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In addition to the five collaborative titles by James Broughton and Joel Singer, GME is pleased to present Singer’s rarely-screened solo work POET IN ORBIT (1980). Singer’s film was selected for the inaugural exhibition at the George Lucas Museum in Los Angeles, California, in September 2026.
Once thought lost, POET IN ORBIT has been rediscovered and digitally restored, and is now available for rental and purchase to academic and cultural institutions worldwide.
POET IN ORBIT was filmed in 1980 in Broughton and Singer’s home in Novato, California. It consists of 16mm footage Singer shot of Broughton, who was seated on a swivel chair. In the film, Broughton turns the chair ever so slightly from left to right and right to left, until completing a 360-degree circle, with Singer capturing each movement frame-by-frame.
As noted by Singer: “It took most of a week to film the two minutes. James got dizzy but we persisted... I showed Lou Harrison [the composer] the silent film and he created the fabulous gamelan soundtrack. The film has been seen by very few people. It was never in distribution and was essentially lost until I discovered it in my digital files. James and I used a brief excerpt of the film in our film SCATTERED REMAINS (1988) and a very brief excerpt of it was used in the wonderful documentary on James' life, BIG JOY.”
POET IN ORBIT
(US, 1980)
Director: Joel Singer
Starring: James Broughton
Music by: Lou Harrison
- 2 minutes
- 16mm
- B&W
- Sound
Distribution Format/s: DSL/Downloadable 1080p .mp4 file on server
Published By: GME
Classroom Price: $250
Institutional Price: Inquire
To order call: 212.280.8654 or click here for information on ordering by fax, e-mail or post.