Directing

Richard Foreman

Born June 10, 1937 · New York City, New York, USA (age 89)

Richard Foreman is an American playwright and avant-garde theater pioneer, founder of the Ontological-Hysteric Theater.

Known For

American PastoralAmerican Pastoral · 2016
American Pastoral
6.22016
MovieCrimeDrama
Set in postwar America, a man watches his seemingly perfect life fall apart as his daughter's new political affiliation threatens to destroy their family.
Dark TowerDark Tower · 1987
Dark Tower
3.91987
MovieHorrorThriller
An architect, a security chief, a parapsychologist and an exorcist face evil in a Barcelona skyscraper.
Once Every DayOnce Every Day · 2012
Once Every Day
5.32012
Movie
Since the late 1960s, the almost annual productions of Richard Foreman’s Ontological-Hysteric Theater have been among New York’s artistic highlights. A legend of the avant-garde theater, Foreman is also a passionate film fan, whose taste ranges from American avant-garde to Manoel de Oliveira. ONCE EVERY DAY marks his first foray into feature filmmaking in 35 years. Highly visual, complexly edited and without a traditional narrative, the film zeroes in on a group of 25 people acting out a series of semi-ritualistic behavior patterns. But their eccentric impulses are aborted in unpredictable ways with each attempt at action or development. According to the director, “The film slowly evolves a time-mosaic of reformatted consciousness.” Longtime admirers of Foreman’s work will see an intriguing adaptation of his unique theatrical style to the cinema. And for everyone else: Welcome to the extraordinary world of Richard Foreman.
LavaLava · 1989
Lava
1989
MovieDrama
A filmed play by Richard Foreman.
Strong MedicineStrong Medicine · 1981
Strong Medicine
6.31981
MovieDrama
Adaptation of an avant-garde play about Rhoda, a hysterical heroine who feels oppressed by the people around her. She suffers through her birthday party, goes to see a doctor, plans a vacation, argues a lot and even breaks the fourth wall.
Barbara Rubin and the Exploding NY UndergroundBarbara Rubin and the Exploding NY Underground · 2018
Barbara Rubin and the Exploding NY Underground
2018
MovieDocumentary
The 29-minute experimental film Christmas on Earth caused a sensation when it first screened in New York City in 1964. Its orgy scenes, double projections and overlapping images shattered artistic conventions and announced a powerful new voice in the city's underground film scene. All the more remarkable, that vision belonged to a teenager, 18-year-old Barbara Rubin. A Zelig of the '60s, she introduced Andy Warhol to the Velvet Underground, Bob Dylan to Kabbalah and bewitched Allen Ginsberg. The same unbridled creativity that inspired her to make films when women simply didn't, saw her breach yet another male domain, Orthodox Judaism, before her mysterious death at 35. Lifelong friend Jonas Mekas saved all her letters, creating a rich archive that filmmaker Chuck Smith carefully sculpts into this fascinating portrait of a nearly forgotten artist. An avante-garde maverick, a rebel in a man's world, Barbara Rubin regains her rightful place in film history.
Mad LoveMad Love · 2018
Mad Love
2018
Movie
Experimental documentary in which Foreman presents his way of looking at different issues.
City ArchivesCity Archives · 1978
City Archives
10.01978
Movie
Avant garde film from 1978, by playwright and filmmaker Richard Foreman.

Filmography

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Once Every DayOnce Every Day · 2012
Once Every Day
5.32012
Movie
Since the late 1960s, the almost annual productions of Richard Foreman’s Ontological-Hysteric Theater have been among New York’s artistic highlights. A legend of the avant-garde theater, Foreman is also a passionate film fan, whose taste ranges from American avant-garde to Manoel de Oliveira. ONCE EVERY DAY marks his first foray into feature filmmaking in 35 years. Highly visual, complexly edited and without a traditional narrative, the film zeroes in on a group of 25 people acting out a series of semi-ritualistic behavior patterns. But their eccentric impulses are aborted in unpredictable ways with each attempt at action or development. According to the director, “The film slowly evolves a time-mosaic of reformatted consciousness.” Longtime admirers of Foreman’s work will see an intriguing adaptation of his unique theatrical style to the cinema. And for everyone else: Welcome to the extraordinary world of Richard Foreman.

Director

Barbara Rubin and the Exploding NY UndergroundBarbara Rubin and the Exploding NY Underground · 2018
Barbara Rubin and the Exploding NY Underground
2018
MovieDocumentary
The 29-minute experimental film Christmas on Earth caused a sensation when it first screened in New York City in 1964. Its orgy scenes, double projections and overlapping images shattered artistic conventions and announced a powerful new voice in the city's underground film scene. All the more remarkable, that vision belonged to a teenager, 18-year-old Barbara Rubin. A Zelig of the '60s, she introduced Andy Warhol to the Velvet Underground, Bob Dylan to Kabbalah and bewitched Allen Ginsberg. The same unbridled creativity that inspired her to make films when women simply didn't, saw her breach yet another male domain, Orthodox Judaism, before her mysterious death at 35. Lifelong friend Jonas Mekas saved all her letters, creating a rich archive that filmmaker Chuck Smith carefully sculpts into this fascinating portrait of a nearly forgotten artist. An avante-garde maverick, a rebel in a man's world, Barbara Rubin regains her rightful place in film history.
Now You See It Now You Don'tNow You See It Now You Don't
Now You See It Now You Don't
Movie
Quite possibly Foreman’s strongest digital video, NOW YOU SEE IT NOW YOU DON’T brings together a variety of different elements, including excerpts from Foreman’s own public talks about his work, a 1984 sound recording of his French-language theatrical adaptation of Kathy Acker’s "My Life My Death by Pier Paolo Pasolini," text from Leo Charney’s book “Empty Moments: Cinema, Modernity, and Drift”, and music from John Zorn and John Cage. These materials are integrated into a typically dense and confounding aural, linguistic, and visual web, one that’s in many ways like a filmic analogue of his theater work. But NOW YOU SEE IT NOW YOU DON’T is distinguished by the addition of various kinds of image processing, a liberal and eccentric use of onscreen text, and an uncharacteristically personal, reflective tone

Director