Kenneth Anger
Directing
Kenneth Anger (born Kenneth Wilbur Anglemeyer; February 3, 1927 - May 11, 2023) was an American underground experimental filmmaker, actor and author. Working exclusively in short films, he produced almost forty works since 1937, nine of which in particular have been grouped together as the "Magick Lantern Cycle," and form the basis of Anger's reputation as one of the most influential independent filmmakers in cinema history. His films variously merge surrealism with homoeroticism and the occult, and have been described as containing "elements of erotica, documentary, psychodrama, and spectacle." Anger himself has been described as "one of America's first openly gay filmmakers, and certainly the first whose work addressed homosexuality in an undisguised, self-implicating manner," and his "role in rendering gay culture visible within American cinema, commercial or otherwise, is impossible to overestimate." Some of his particularly homoerotic works, such as Fireworks (1947) and Scorpio Rising (1964), were produced prior to the legalisation of homosexuality in the United States. He has also focused upon occult themes in many of his films, being fascinated by the notorious English occultist Aleister Crowley, and is a follower of Crowley's religion, Thelema. This influence is evident from films like Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome (1954), Invocation of My Demon Brother (1969) and Lucifer Rising (1972). Anger has described filmmakers such as Auguste and Louis Lumière and Georges Méliès as influences, and has been cited as an important influence on later film directors like Martin Scorsese, David Lynch and John Waters.He has also been described as having "a profound impact on the work of many other filmmakers and artists, as well as on music video as an emergent art form using dream sequence, dance, fantasy, and narrative." During the 1960s and 70s he associated and worked with a number of different figures in popular culture and the occult, including Church of Satan founder Anton LaVey, sexologist Alfred Kinsey, artist Jean Cocteau, playwright Tennessee Williams and musicians Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Jimmy Page and Marianne Faithfull. He is also the author of the controversial best seller Hollywood Babylon (1959) and its sequel Hollywood Babylon II (1986), in which he claims to expose many of the rumours and secrets of Hollywood celebrities. Description above from the Wikipedia article Kenneth Anger, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known for
Directing34
movieTechnicolor Skull
2014
Director
Airships
2013
Director
movie42 One Dream Rush
2010
Director
movieMissoni
2010
Director
movieBrush of Baphomet
2009
Director
movieIch will!
2008
Director
movieForeplay
2008
Director
movieMy Surfing Lucifer
2007
Director
movieElliott's Suicide
2007
Director
movieI'll Be Watching You
2007
Director
movieMouse Heaven
2004
Director
movieThe Man We Want to Hang
2002
Director
movieRabbit's Moon
1979
Director
movieLucifer Rising
1974
Director
movieMagick Lantern Cycle
1974
Director
movieRabbit's Moon
1971
Director
movieKustom Kar Kommandos
1965
Director
movieScorpio Rising
1964
Director
movieEaux d'Artifice
1953
Director
moviePuce Moment
1949
Director
movieFireworks
1947
Director
The Nest
1943
Director
Tinsel Tree
1942
Director
Acting41
movie42 One Dream Rush
2010
Lucifer
movieFLicKeR
2009
Self
movieNight of Pan
2009
Lucifer
movieAnger Me
2006
Himself
movieAdded Attractions: The Hollywood Shorts Story
2002
Self (uncredited)
movieHe Stands in a Desert Counting the Seconds of His Life
1986
Self (archive footage)
movieLucifer Rising
1974
The Magus (uncredited)
movieMagick Lantern Cycle
1974
Dreamer / Hecate / The Magick / The Magus
movieInvocation of My Demon Brother
1969
The Magick (uncredited)
movieFireworks
1947
Dreamer (uncredited)
Writing17
movieBabylon
2022
Original Story
movieRabbit's Moon
1971
Writer
movieScorpio Rising
1964
Writer
moviePuce Moment
1949
Writer
movieFireworks
1947
Writer
Editing11
movieLucifer Rising
1974
Editor
movieRabbit's Moon
1971
Editor
movieScorpio Rising
1964
Editor
movieEaux d'Artifice
1953
Editor
moviePuce Moment
1949
Editor
movieFireworks
1947
Editor
Camera7
movieMagick Lantern Cycle
1974
Director of Photography
movieRabbit's Moon
1971
Director of Photography
movieInvocation of My Demon Brother
1969
Director of Photography
movieKustom Kar Kommandos
1965
Director of Photography
movieScorpio Rising
1964
Director of Photography
movieThe Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome
1954
Director of Photography
movieEaux d'Artifice
1953
Director of Photography
Production4
Crew1
movieMagick Lantern Cycle
1974
Cinematography