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Encounter Cinema records
38
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Abstract: The collection contains organization files, maintained by administrator Douglas Edwards, on independent and experimental films
screened at the theater, including correspondence, programs, press releases, clippings and reviews, and grant applications.
There is information on American independent filmmakers, including resumes, filmographies, film synopses and reviews, pictorial
material, and photographs.
Collector:
Encounter Cinema
Dates: 1970-1985
Dates: 1979-1985
Collection number: 38
Collection Size:
2.8 linear ft. of papers
Repository:
Margaret Herrick Library. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Languages:
Languages represented in the collection:
English
Available by appointment only.
Property rights to the physical object belong to the Margaret Herrick Library. Researchers are responsible for obtaining all
necessary rights, licenses, or permissions from the appropriate companies or individuals before quoting from or publishing
materials obtained from the library.
Encounter Cinema records, Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Gift of Douglas Edwards, 1986
Collection Scope and Content Summary
The Encounter Cinema records span the years 1970-1985 (bulk 1979-1985) and encompass 2.75 linear feet. The collection contains
correspondence, programs, press releases, clippings and reviews, grant applications, and information on film series. The majority
of the correspondence is between founder and film programmer Douglas Edwards and leading avant-garde/experimental filmmakers
Stan Brakhage, Bastian Cleve, Stephen Dwoskin, Doris Chase, Walter Gutman, Ed Emshwiller, Walter Ungerer, and others. In addition,
there is a wealth of information on American independent filmmakers who sought out Encounter Cinema and sent résumés, filmographies,
film synopses and reviews, and pictorial material (including stills). Valuable topical information is found within film series
files such as Japanese Experimental Films, Black American Independent Cinema, Narrative Film Experiments, Scandinavian Avant-Garde
Films, and the American New Wave. Finally, financial records and grant applications chronicle the constant struggle to keep
an arts organization financially viable.
Encounter Cinema (1979-1985) is the outgrowth of programs launched in 1973 by Theatre Vanguard, a small, nonprofit center
for performing and media arts in Los Angeles that focused on independent, avant-garde and/or noncommercial endeavors in film,
music, dance, theater, poetry, and performance art. In 1978 the founding and principal patron of Theatre Vanguard closed the
theater. Douglas Edwards, who had been the center's theater administrator and film adviser, founded Encounter Cinema with
two new co-sponsoring organizations, the Los Angeles Craft and Folk Art Museum and the UCLA Film Archives. The series exhibition
site was moved to Melnitz Theater at UCLA. Due to funding problems, Encounter Cinema folded in February 1985.
1. Subject files
Encounter Cinema
Experimental films
Independent films