''Nostalgia'', styled ''(nostalgia)'', is a 1971 American
experimental film
Experimental film or avant-garde cinema is a mode of filmmaking that rigorously re-evaluates cinematic conventions and explores non-narrative forms or alternatives to traditional narratives or methods of working. Many experimental films, parti ...
by artist
Hollis Frampton
Hollis William Frampton, Jr. (March 11, 1936 – March 30, 1984) was an American avant-garde filmmaker, photographer, writer, theoretician, and pioneer of digital art. He was best known for his innovative and non-linear structural films that defi ...
. It is part of his ''
Hapax Legomena'' series.
Summary
The film is composed of black-and-white still photographs taken by
Frampton during his early artistic explorations which are slowly burned on the element of a hot plate, while the soundtrack offers personal comments on the content of the images, read by fellow artist
Michael Snow
Michael Snow (born December 10, 1928) is a Canadian artist working in a range of media including film, installation, sculpture, photography, and music. His best-known films are '' Wavelength'' (1967) and '' La Région Centrale'' (1971), with the ...
. Each comment/story is heard in succession before the related photograph appears onscreen, thus causing the viewer to actively engage with the 'past' and 'present' moments as presented within the film.
Legacy
In 2003, ''Nostalgia'' was selected for preservation in the United States
National Film Registry
The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation, each selected for its historical, cultural and aesthetic contributions since the NFPB’s inception ...
by the
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...
as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
The
Librarian of Congress, James H. Billington described it (along with ''
Film Portrait'' by
Jerome Hill
James Jerome Hill II (March 2, 1905 – November 21, 1972) was an American filmmaker and artist known for his award-winning documentary and experimental films.
Career
Hill was the child of railroad executive Louis W. Hill.
He was educated at Ya ...
) as "avant-garde classics considered eloquent and evocative explorations of memory and family". The film is part of
Anthology Film Archives' Essential Cinema Repertory collection.
It is available on the DVD collection ''
Treasures IV: American Avant-Garde Film, 1947-1986'' (2008), as well as in a Hollis Frampton box set from
the Criterion Collection
The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home video, home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films." Criterion serves film and media scho ...
''A Hollis Frampton Odyssey'' (2012).
A Hollis Frampton Odyssey ()-Criterion Collection
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See also
* List of American films of 1971
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby unio ...
* Nostalgia
* Still image film
References
External links
''(nostalgia)'' essay on the National Film Registry website
*
*
*
' essay by Daniel Eagan in America's Film Legacy: The Authoritative Guide to the Landmark Movies in the National Film Registry, A&C Black, 2010 , pages 679-681
{{Authority control
1971 films
1970s avant-garde and experimental films
American avant-garde and experimental films
United States National Film Registry films
Films directed by Hollis Frampton
Films about memory
1970s English-language films
1970s American films