Long Live the Underground!

“As they, we are for art, but not at the expense of life. We don’t want false, polished, slick films – we prefer them rough, unpolished, but alive; we don’t want rosy films – we want them the color of blood.” – Film-Makers’ Cooperative First Statement1

Through 8 October, a new season at MoMA titled Long Live the Underground! traces the enduring legacy of New York’s underground cinema through the Film-Makers’ Cooperative and Millennium Film Workshop, two organizations founded in the 1960s that remain active today, supporting non-commercial, low-budget projects that were radical in style and content. The series spans nine thematic programs, opening with Stan Brakhage’s Anticipation of the Night (1958), screened alongside Green Desire (1966) by Mike Kuchar.

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  Jonas Mekas, “The First Statement of the New American Cinema Group,” September 30, 1962.