Presented in Association with Bay Area Filmmakers Showcase.

Our tribute to poet and filmmaker James Broughton is part of a week-long celebration in Marin, at the Cinematheque in San Francisco, and as part of Bay Area Filmmakers Showcase on the occasion of his 70th birthday. Broughton, the “grandfather” of independent filmmaking in San Francisco, has made over twenty films since 1946. His newest book, Ecstasies, contains all of his major verse since 1975, including the soundtrack poems from films made during the same period.
“Each year the muse of light inscribes yet another line in the poem she is writing in the face of the poet. That poem has now grown to seventy lines--a good healthy length. Too long for a sestina or sonnet, an ode perhaps...an ode to life and light.... For James Broughton IS the poet of the light. He is also a philosopher and a politician who believes in ‘ecstasies for everybody'.... James Broughton has given us much and with love.” Carmen Vigil
The Pleasure Garden
“This is a comic fantasy with songs that celebrates the triumph of love and liberty over the joyless forces of restriction. A large romantically dilapidated park lies under the yoke of a puritanical Minister of Public Behavior who is determined that none of the visitors shall enjoy themselves. The pleasure-seekers who come there are an odd lot, all lovelorn and given to acting out their daydreams....” James Broughton