Selected by Ernie Gehr We present aselection of films by Stan Brakhage, one of the most influential avant-garde filmmakers, dating from his earliest work to his recent exquisite hand-paintedfilms, and including both silent and sound films. Since 1952 he has made over 200films ranging in length from a few seconds to a few hours. Included in tonight's program are Star Garden, which Brakhage describes as depicting "(as Brancusiputs it): 'One of those days I would not trade for anything under heaven'";The Garden of Earthly Delights, a delicate collage film composed of montane-zonevegetation and an homage to Hieronymous Bosch; and the haunting Murder Psalm,which pays tribute to Dostoyevsky's The Devils. Brakhage's writings on film include Film at Wit's End, Film Biographies and Metaphors of Vision, from whichwe borrowed tonight's program title. Desistfilm (1954, 7mins, B&W). Fire of Waters (1965, 10 mins, B&W). Star Garden (1974, 22mins, Silent, Color). Murder Psalm (1981, 16 mins, Silent, Color). Garden ofEarthly Delights (1981, 2.5 mins, Silent, Color). Stellar (1993, 2.5 mins,Silent, Color). Black Ice (1994, 2.5 mins, Silent, Color). Three Homerics (1994,3 mins, Silent, Color).