Life and career
Born to wealthy parents in Modesto, California, Broughton's father died when he was five years old in the 1918 influenza epidemic, and he spent his childhood in San Francisco. Before he was three, "Sunny Jim" experienced a transformational visit from his muse, Hermy, which he describes in his autobiography, ''Coming Unbuttoned'' (1993): Broughton was kicked out of military school for having an affair with a classmate, and attended Stanford University before dropping out just before his class graduated in 1935. In 1945, he won the Alden Award given by the Stanford Dramatists' Alliance for his original screenplay ''Summer Fury''. He spent time in Europe during the 1950s, where he received an award in Cannes from Jean Cocteau for the "poetic fantasy" of his film '' The Pleasure Garden'', made in England with partner Kermit Sheets. Through his career, Broughton produced 23 books and 23 films. In 1967's "summer of love," Broughton made a film, ''The Bed'', which broke taboos against frontal nudity and won prizes at many film festivals. The film rekindled Broughton's filmmaking and led to more films including ''The Golden Positions'', ''This Is It'', ''The Water Circle'', ''High Kukus'', and ''Dreamwood''. Broughton's films developed a following, especially among students at the San Francisco Art Institute, where he taught film (and wrote ''Seeing the Light'', a book about filmmaking) and artistic ritual.With Joel Singer
As poet Jack Foley writes in ''All: A James Broughton Reader'', "In Broughton’s moment of need, Hermy appeared again in the person of a twenty-five-year-old Canadian film student named Joel Singer... Broughton's meeting with Singer was a life-changing, life-determining moment, that animated his consciousness with a power that lasted until his death." In 2004, Singer wrote of their long relationship and collaboration in White Crane''. With Singer, Broughton traveled and made more films – ''Hermes Bird'' (1979), a slow-motion look at an erection shot with the camera developed to photograph atomic bomb explosions, ''The Gardener of Eden'' (1981), filmed when they lived in Sri Lanka, ''Devotions'' (1983), a study of male relationships, and ''Scattered Remains'' (1988), a tribute to Broughton's poetry and filmmaking. Broughton explored death deeply throughout his life. He died in May 1999 with champagne on his lips, in the house inPersonal life
In ''Coming Unbuttoned'', Broughton remarks on his love affairs with both men and women. Among his male lovers was gay activist Harry Hay. Broughton had many creative love affairs during the San Francisco Beat Scene. He briefly lived with the film criticFilmography
* ''The Potted Psalm'' (with Sidney Peterson) (1946) 18 min * ''Mother's Day'' (1948) 22 min 16 mm * ''Adventures of Jimmy'' (1950) 11 min 16 mm * ''Four in the Afternoon'' (1951) 15 min 16 mm * ''Loony Tom, The Happy Lover'' (1951) 10.5 min 16 mm * ''The Pleasure Garden'' (1953) 38 min 35 mm * ''The Bed'' (1968) 20 min 16 mm * ''Nuptiae'' (1969) 14 min 16 mm * ''The Golden Positions'' (1970) 16 mm * ''This Is It'' (1971) 10 min 16 mm * ''Dreamwood'' (1972) 45 min 16 mm * ''High Kukus'' (1973) 3 min 16 mm * ''Testament'' (1974) 20 min 16 mm * ''The Water Circle'' (1975) 3 min 16 mm * ''Together'' (with Joel Singer) (1976) 3 min 16 mm * ''Erogeny'' (1976) 6 min 16 mm * ''Windowmobile'' (with Joel Singer) (1977) 8 min 16 mm * ''Song of the Godbody'' (with Joel Singer) (1977) 11 min 16 mm * ''Hermes Bird'' (1979) 11 min 16 mm * ''The Gardener of Eden'' (with Joel Singer) (1981) 8.5 min 16 mm * ''Shaman Psalm ''(with Joel Singer) (1981) 7 min 16 mm * ''Devotions'' (with Joel Singer) (1983) 22 min 16 mm * ''Scattered Remains'' (with Joel Singer) (1988) 14 min 16 mmBibliography
* ''Songs for Certain Children'' (1947) San Francisco: Centaur Press * ''The Playground'' (1949) San Francisco: Centaur Press * ''Musical Chairs'' (1950) San Francisco: Centaur Press * ''An Almanac for Amorists'' (1955) Paris: Collection Merlin * ''True & False Unicorn'' (1957) New York: Grove Press * ''The Right Playmate'' (1964) San Francisco: Pearce & Bennett * ''Tidings'' (1965) San Francisco: Pterodactyl Press * ''High Kukus'' (1969) New York: Jargon Society * ''A Long Undressing'' (1971) New York: Jargon Society * ''Seeing the Light'' (1977) republished as ''Making Light of It'' (1992) San Francisco: City Lights Books * ''Odes for Odd Occasions'' (1977) San Francisco: Manroot Press * ''The Androgyne Journal'' (1977) Oakland, CA: Scrimshaw Press * ''Hymns to Hermes'' (1979) San Francisco: Manroot Press * ''Graffiti for the Johns of Heaven'' (1982) Mill Valley, CA: Syzygy Press * ''Ecstasies'' (1983) Mill Valley, CA: Syzygy Press * ''A to Z: 26 Sermonettes'' (1986) Mill Valley, CA: Syzygy Press * ''Hooplas'' (1988) San Francisco: Pennywhistle Press * ''75 Life Lines'' (1988) Winston-Salem, NC: Jargon Society * ''Special Deliveries: Selected Poems'' (1990) Seattle, WA: Broken Moon Press * ''Coming Unbuttoned'' (1993) San Francisco: City Lights Press * ''Little Sermons of the Big Joy'' (1994) Philadelphia, PA: Insight to Riot Press * ''Little Prayers to Big Joy's Mother'' (1995) Port Townsend, WA: Syzygy Press * ''Packing Up for Paradise: Selected Poems 1946-1996'' (1997) Santa Barbara, CA & Ann Arbor, MI: Black Sparrow Press * ''ALL: A James Broughton Reader'' (2007) edited by Jack Foley, Brooklyn, NY: White Crane BooksCollections
''The Films of James Broughton'', a DVD compilation of seventeen films on three discs, was released in 2006 by Facets Multimedia. A selected collection of his work, ''All: A James Broughton Reader'', edited by Jack Foley, was released in 2007 by White Crane Books.References
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