Ray Privett & James Kreul, “A Cinema of Possibilities: Brian Frye Interview”

--How does Frye relate his work (including his film programming) to the following movements / concepts / genres:

Performance (and performance art)
Minimalism
Fluxus

Performance (performance art) like masturbation for the camera, go onstage and masturbate for the audience- a joke you do not have to do anything yet in front of the camera it is a performance

Minimalism - not trying to assert oneself over the film but tease out the paradox - theology for the atheist

Fluxus- concepts of exploring the medium of film itself and film as perception.

likes to view programming as a whole not just random assortment of films

--How does Frye respond to the question about what he “adds” to films such as Anatomy of Melancholy?

Frye helps films do what they are supposed to do, presents them in a way to express themselves


Scott MacDonald, “Maintenance”

--What are some of the reasons for rental income growth at Canyon Cinema between 1980 and 2003? How did Canyon distinguish itself from the Filmmakers Cooperative and the Museum of Modern Art?
Interest in American avant garde in acedemia
Up to date video reviews
Distinguished itself by having "surprises" like articles from Burroughs, and artistic covers

--What problems and controversies did video distribution cause for Canyon in the 1990s? To what degree were the sides of the debate related to the age of the filmmakers on each side? Based upon the interview with Dominic Angerame at the end of the chapter, what was his position on the video debate?

Controversies over whether video should be apart of their distribution, the older favored film, the younger more open to new technology such as video. Angerame position was that the video market was to broad and they already had a means of distribution.


--What were the advantages and disadvantages to funding from the National Endowment from the Arts? What controversies developed related to the publication of Canyon Cinema Catalog #5?

NEA advantage funding, disadvantage controlling content, eliminating anything it deemed as pornography
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