Images, Joel Singer; Poem, James Broughton.
A single-frame portrait of Broughton's disembodied heads coming slowly together in wiggle, wobble and wonderment.
altogether wholly in toto in toto
in totally toto together altogether
together
- From the soundtrack
Awards: Sinking Creek Film & Video Festival, 1977; Kenyon Film Festival, 1977; Independent Filmmakers Exposition, 1977; London Film Festival, 1979.
1976, 16mm, b&w/so, 3m, $20
Images, Joel Singer; Sounds, James Broughton.
"The film is shot both through and at a window, superimposing and conjoining, thereby elaborating events on both sides of the glass. Broughton's accompanying poem sings the same song as the images, sounding from an Eden of the golden passing of days:
"They were seeing the light every day then ... / They were looking and they were seeing / They were living there in the light at that time." - Robert Lipman, On the Films of Joel Singer
Awards: Second Prize, Bellevue Film Festival, 1977; Second Prize, Ann Arbor Film Festival, 1978; Independent Filmmakers Exposition, 1978.
1977, 16mm, color/so, 8m, $25
"The film consists predominantly of extreme close-ups of parts of Broughton's body. The camera slowly becomes the tool revealing the erotic beauty of the body and the sensual pleasure in loving oneself. The ecstasy and power of sexual gratification are celebrated by the camera, as it maintains an erotic role, probing, revealing and visually caressing. Broughton's song is a praise of his body as divine androgyne, and an acceptance of this higher godly sexual power." - Richard Bartone, Millennium Film Journal
1977, 16mm, color/so, 11m, $30
Filmed on the paradise island of Sri Lanka, this intense poetic work celebrates the eternal dance of nature's sexuality, and sings of the lost Eden we all search for but do not expect to find.
In the midst of his fertile garden, while he awaits Adam's return, God tries to keep his eye on all the flowering exuberance he has seeded. The film is written and narrated by James Broughton, and photographed by Joel Singer. The music is performed on twin conch shells, and the central actor is in real life the most famous horticulturalist in Ceylon.
"... the meshing of ancient philosophy and modern technology in a song of the mysteries of protoplasm!" - Lenore Rinder
"An ecstatic masterpiece!" - Stan Brakhage
Awards: Ann Arbor Film Festival, 1981; SF Int'l Film Festival, 1981; Baltimore Film Festival, 1981.
1981, 16mm, color/so, 8.5m, $25
Image, Joel Singer; Poem, James Broughton.
Taste the divine
on the lips of lovers
Savor the divine
on the thighs of friends
Cherish the divinity
that explodes your orgasm
Love one another
and fly.
The love shaman calls for a sexual revolution of the body politic urging mankind into a new love age.
1981, 16mm, b&w/so, 7m, $20
The music, scored for flutes and gamelan, was especially composed by Lou Harrison. DEVOTIONS is the vision of a world where men have forsaken rivalry and taken up affection, thereby creating a society that relishes a variety of comradely devotions.
The film takes delight in observing the friendly things men can do together, from the odd to the rapturous, from the playful to the passionate. These events appear in a series of cameo duets performed by men of all ages and appetites.
The tapestry of changing scenes is strung on a narrative thread: the personal romance of the two makers of the film, as they discover their own affections and interweave them with those of their friends. In the end they assert their hope that loving comradeship may yet be the happy norm for the world.
The film was made over a nine month period on locations from Seattle to San Diego, and included the participation of some forty-five couples.
1983, 16mm, color/so, 22m, $60
Images, Joel Singer; Poetry, James Broughton; Music, Lou Harrison.
This is a cinematic performance piece enlivened by its experiments in poetic speech and poetic vision. Joel Singer creates a multi-faceted portrait of poet James Broughton acting out his verses in unlikely situations and surprising camera inventions. In the course of this divertissement the poet probes the puzzlements of mortality, destiny and the magic of language.
"A true wonderpiece and remarkable portrait." - Michael McClure
1988, 16mm, color/so, 14m, $45