| Summary: | AMATEUR AS AUTEUR is part of the film retrospective UNSEEN CINEMA that explores long-forgotten American experimental cinema. The personality of the sculptor Chaim Gross, his mannerisms, his characteristic method of work, and his tendencies are all intimately disclosed in minute details, as though unobserved -- a sort of candid-camera study. Dramatic form and cinematic structure endow the presentation with excitement, humor, and interest. --LEWIS JACOBS. Although it was filmed in 1937, "Tree Trunk to Head "wasn't released until 1951. In the intervening years, art documentaries became popular in the United States and Europe, but few presented a complete artistic process with so photogenic an artist as sculptor Chaim Gross. --CECILE STARR Born in Philadelphia, Lewis Jacobs was educated as a painter yet desired to make Soviet-style films. In addition to co-editing in the 1930s "Experimental Cinema", the first American film magazine dealing with art and social issues, Jacobs wrote the influential book, "The Rise of the American Film" (1939) and edited numerous other books. With Jo Gerson and Louis Hirshman, Jacobs formed Cinema Crafters of Philadelphia in 1927, thus beginning a life-long filmmaking career. He made his own short films and produced, directed, photographed, and wrote more than 40 experimental, documentary, and educational films. He engaged in what he called "a process of continuous discovery. --ARAM BOYAJIAN / ROBERT A. HALLER 16mm 1.37:1 black and white silent with music 18fps 36:05 minutes. Production: Film Associates.
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