Oscar-winning filmmaker Hilary Harris pioneered time-lapse filmmaking techniques to present a unique experiential view of our world: chaos and confusion seem to multiply in every corner of the Big Apple. Yet, there seems to be some order in that relentless system. The same can be said about the human body. Shot over 15 years, between 1959 and 1974, Organism proves that cities and organisms are alike.

Hilary is unquestionably one of the most original and talented filmmakers of the American independent cinema… he is in a class by him- self, a master of his craft.
-Amos Vogel

 

Hilary Harris’ nervy tour of Robert Moses’ New York hearkens back to the classic city symphonies of the 1920s but cut to fit the “go go go” energy of the new era. The film can be enjoyed purely as a riot of graphic forms […] but it’s finally his simple fascination with the changing shape of the road at speed that makes the screen come alive. Bronze medalist at the Brussels International Experimental Film Festival in 1958, Highway today appears a snappy detour between “On the Road” (published the year before) and the early films of the French New Wave (just around the bend).
-Max Goldberg

 

Why make films at all? To give a richer vision of surrounding reality. My aim is to lift people out of their preconceptions.
-Hilary Harris

FILMS ON THIS DVD

Longhorns 1951, 16mm, b/w, mono, 4 min
Highway 1958, 16mm, color, mono, 5 min
Nine Variations on a Dance Theme 1966, 16mm, b/w, mono, 13 min
Organism 1975, 16mm, color, mono, 19 min
Polaris Action 1960, 16mm, b/w, mono, 11 min
The Draft Card Burners 1966, 16mm, b/w, silent, 7 min
BONUS Camera Three: Art of the Filmmaker: Hilary Harris 1964, 16mm, b/w, mono, 27 min

DVD5 PAL Interzone • Mono • Color & B/W • 4:3 • 86 min • French subtitles + Booklet of 44 pages