Kenneth Anger (born Kenneth Wilbur Anglemeyer; February 3, 1927) is an American underground experimental filmmaker, actor and author. Working exclusively in short films, he has produced almost forty works since 1937, nine of which 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", with several being released prior to the legalization 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.Born to a middle-class family in Santa Monica, California, Anger would later claim to have been a child actor who appeared in the film A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935); the accuracy of this claim has come under dispute. He began making short films when he was ten years old, although his first film to gain any recognition, the homoerotic Fireworks (1947), would only be produced a decade later. The controversial nature of the work led to him being put on trial on obscenity charges, but he was acquitted. A friendship and working relationship began subsequently with pioneering sexologist Alfred Kinsey. Moving to Europe, Anger produced a number of other shorts inspired by the artistic avant-garde scene on the continent, such as Rabbit's Moon (released 1970) and Eaux d'Artifice (1953).Returning to the United States in 1953, he set about working on several new projects, including the films Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome (1954), Scorpio Rising (1964), Kustom Kar Kommandos (1965), and the gossip book Hollywood Babylon (1965). Getting to know several notable countercultural figures of the time, including Tennessee Williams, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Jimmy Page, Marianne Faithfull and Anton LaVey, Anger involved them in his subsequent Thelemite-themed works, Invocation of My Demon Brother (1969) and Lucifer Rising (1972). Following his failure to produce a sequel to Lucifer Rising, Anger retired from filmmaking in the early 1980s, instead publishing the book Hollywood Babylon II (1982). At the dawn of the 21st century he once more returned to filmmaking, producing shorts for various film festivals and events.Anger has described filmmakers such as Auguste and Louis Lumière, Georges Méliès, and Maya Deren 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".
[on unemployed filmmakers] It seems much easier for these people to rent my films, look at them and make notes, than to give them a job.
2
Lucifer is the patron saint of the visual arts. Color, form--all these are the work of Lucifer.
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Fact
1
For 12 years he was the personal assistant of Henri Langlois and was friendly with Jean Genet, Jean Cocteau, and Jean Marais.
2
In 1967 Anger published his own eulogy in "The Village Voice" because he was upset that the negative of his latest film, "lucifer Rising," which he was carrying on the back of his motorcycle, had been stolen and destroyed by members of the Hell's Angels.
3
According to some sources (including Jean-Luc Godard in "Cahiers du Cinéma"), Anger edited a version of Sergei M. Eisenstein's unfinished ¡Que viva Mexico! (1932) during his time in France in the early 1950s. There are no known extant copies of the project and it is not certain it ever actually existed.
4
Is the subject of the songs "A Film By Kenneth Anger" by The Auteurs and "Kenneth Anger's Bad Dream" by Comet Gain.
5
He was an active esoterist (which some of his films reflect) and a sympathizer of Aleister Crowley's "Thelema" philosophy. He is also a member of a secret society, the Ordo Templi Orientalis.
6
Concocted his stage name at age 5.
Director
Title
Year
Status
Character
Fireworks
1947
Short
Escape Episode
1947
Short
Drastic Demise
1945
Short
The Nest
1943
Short
Prisoner of Mars
1942
Short
Tinsel Tree
1942
Short
Who Has Been Rocking My Dreamboat
1941
Short
Airships
2013
Short
42 One Dream Rush
2010
Short
Missoni
2010
Short
Magick Lantern Cycle
2009
Video
Brush of Baphomet
2009
Short
My Surfing Lucifer
2009
Documentary short
Anger Sees Red
2004
Short as Dr. Kenneth Anger
Mouse Heaven
2004
Short
The Man We Want to Hang
2002
Short
Don't Smoke That Cigarette
2000
Ich will!
2000
Short
Hollywood Babylon
2000
Documentary short
Senators in Bondage
1976
Short
Lucifer Rising
1972
Short
Kustom Kar Kommandos
1970
Short
Invocation of My Demon Brother
1969
Short
Scorpio Rising
1965
Short
Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome
1954
Short as Anger
Eaux d'artifice
1953
Short as Anger
Rabbit's Moon
1950
Short as Anger
Puce Moment
1949
Short as Anger
Writer
Title
Year
Status
Character
Magick Lantern Cycle
2009
Video written by
Brush of Baphomet
2009
Short writer
Anger Sees Red
2004
Short
Mouse Heaven
2004
Short
Ich will!
2000
Short
Hollywood Babylon
1992
TV Series books
Hollywood Babylon II
1992
Video documentary book
Senators in Bondage
1976
Short
Hollywood Babylon
1972
book "Hollywood Babylon" - uncredited
Kustom Kar Kommandos
1970
Short uncredited
Invocation of My Demon Brother
1969
Short uncredited
Scorpio Rising
1965
Short uncredited
Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome
1954
Short uncredited
Rabbit's Moon
1950
Short uncredited
Puce Moment
1949
Short uncredited
Fireworks
1947
Short uncredited
Drastic Demise
1945
Short
The Nest
1943
Short writer
Prisoner of Mars
1942
Short
Tinsel Tree
1942
Short
Who Has Been Rocking My Dreamboat
1941
Short
Editor
Title
Year
Status
Character
Magick Lantern Cycle
2009
Video
Don't Smoke That Cigarette
2000
Ich will!
2000
Short uncredited
Senators in Bondage
1976
Short
Lucifer Rising
1972
Short uncredited
Kustom Kar Kommandos
1970
Short uncredited
Invocation of My Demon Brother
1969
Short uncredited
Scorpio Rising
1965
Short uncredited
Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome
1954
Short uncredited
Eaux d'artifice
1953
Short
Rabbit's Moon
1950
Short uncredited
Puce Moment
1949
Short
Fireworks
1947
Short uncredited
Escape Episode
1947
Short
Drastic Demise
1945
Short
The Nest
1943
Short
Prisoner of Mars
1942
Short
Tinsel Tree
1942
Short
Who Has Been Rocking My Dreamboat
1941
Short
Producer
Title
Year
Status
Character
Magick Lantern Cycle
2009
Video producer
Anger Sees Red
2004
Short producer
Mouse Heaven
2004
Short producer
Don't Smoke That Cigarette
2000
producer
Ich will!
2000
Short producer
Senators in Bondage
1976
Short producer
Lucifer Rising
1972
Short producer - as Kenneth Anger Magus
Eaux d'artifice
1953
Short producer
Puce Moment
1949
Short producer - uncredited
Drastic Demise
1945
Short producer
The Nest
1943
Short producer
Prisoner of Mars
1942
Short producer
Tinsel Tree
1942
Short producer
Who Has Been Rocking My Dreamboat
1941
Short producer
Actor
Title
Year
Status
Character
42 One Dream Rush
2010
Short
Lucifer
Night of Pan
2009
Short
Lucifer
Lucifer Rising
1972
Short
The Magus (uncredited)
Invocation of My Demon Brother
1969
Short
The Magick (uncredited)
Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome
1954
Short
Hecate
Fireworks
1947
Short
Dreamer (uncredited)
Cinematographer
Title
Year
Status
Character
Invocation of My Demon Brother
1969
Short uncredited
Scorpio Rising
1965
Short uncredited
Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome
1954
Short uncredited
Eaux d'artifice
1953
Short
Rabbit's Moon
1950
Short
Miscellaneous
Title
Year
Status
Character
Hollywood Babylon
1993
TV Series advisor - 2 episodes
Hollywood
1980
TV Mini-Series documentary photograph source
¡Que viva Mexico!
1932
version editor - uncredited
Thanks
Title
Year
Status
Character
The Feast of Stephen
2009
Short dedicatee
Abbey of Thelema
2007
special thanks
Moon Cake
2007
Short special thanks
The Walker
2007
thanks
Con qué la lavaré?
2004
Short thanks
Self
Title
Year
Status
Character
Mansfield 66/67
2017
Documentary post-production
Himself
The 1000 Eyes of Dr. Maddin
2015
Documentary
Sunset Strip
2012
Documentary
Himself
River of Anger
2009
Documentary short
Himself
Flicker
2008
Documentary
Himself
Anger Me
2006
Documentary
Himself
Notes on Marie Menken
2006
Documentary
Himself
Hedy Lamarr: Secrets of a Hollywood Star
2006
Documentary
Himself
American Experience
2005
TV Series documentary
Himself
SexTV
2002-2003
TV Series documentary
Himself
Jonas at the Ocean
2002
Documentary
Himself
Added Attractions: The Hollywood Shorts Story
2002
TV Movie documentary
Himself (uncredited)
Rescued from the Closet
2001
Video documentary
Himself
Ex-S
2000
TV Series documentary
Himself - Diector
Anger Rising
1999
TV Movie
Himself
The Art of Influence
1998
TV Movie documentary
Himself
Donald Cammell: The Ultimate Performance
1998
Documentary
Himself
Busby Berkeley: Going Through the Roof
1998
TV Movie documentary
Himself
Birth of a Nation
1997
Documentary
Himself
Pop Odyssee 1 - Die Beach Boys und der Satan
1997
TV Movie
Himself
Biography
1995
TV Series documentary
Himself - Author / Historian
Jonas in the Desert
1994
Documentary
Himself
Arena
1991
TV Series documentary
Himself
The Rolling Stones - Die ersten 20 Jahre
1982
TV Movie documentary
Himself
Kenneth Anger - Magier des Untergrundfilms
1970
TV Movie documentary
Himself
Langlois
1970
Documentary
Himself
Arabesque for Kenneth Anger
1961
Short
Himself
The Dead
1960
Short
Himself
Archive Footage
Title
Year
Status
Character
He Stands in the Desert Counting the Seconds of His Life
1986
Himself
Before Stonewall
1984
Documentary
Watches man flexing muscles (uncredited)
Won Awards
Year
Award
Ceremony
Nomination
Movie
2002
Independent/Experimental Film and Video Award
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards
For the body of his work. Tied with Michael Snow
2001
Golden Gate Persistence of Vision Award
San Francisco International Film Festival
2000
Spirit of Silver Lake Award
Los Angeles Silver Lake Film Festival
2000
Spirit of Silver Lake Award
Los Angeles Silver Lake Film Festival
Narrative Feature
1996
Maya Deren Independent Film and Video Artists Award