SuperFilmShow! Experimental Film and Children's Art Education

John Powers

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    Abstract

    This article examines the history and legacy of SuperFilmShow!, a traveling exhibition of experimental films for elementary and secondary schoolchildren presented between 1979 and 1986. Curated by the American Federation of Arts for museums in over thirty US cities, SuperFilmShow! frequently complemented films by Stan Brakhage, Kenneth Anger, and other avant-garde luminaries with maker-oriented activities and art-appreciation workshops. I argue that SuperFilmShow! challenges our received ideas about experimental film's accessibility, complicates our understanding of the contexts within which experimental films were shown, and introduces experimental film into conversations about the expectations for children's art education in midcentury America.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)33-57
    Number of pages25
    JournalFilm History: An International Journal
    Volume35
    Issue number3
    DOIs
    StatePublished - Sep 2024

    Keywords

    • American Federation of Arts
    • art museums
    • educational film
    • exhibition history
    • experimental film
    • maker's workshops

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