Cosponsored by The Speros Basil Vryonis Center for the Study of Hellenism (LOGO)A series of seven programs presented at S. F. Cinematheque and Pacific Film Archive, organized by Robert Beavers and Temenos, Inc. For programs at the Cinematheque, phone 415-558-8129.Markopoulos: Seconds in Eternity provides a long-awaited opportunity for Bay Area audiences to see the films of the Greek-American artist Gregory J. Markopoulos (1928-1992). A contemporary of Stan Brakhage, Jack Smith, and Kenneth Anger, he has been described by P. Adams Sitney as "the American avant-garde cinema's supreme erotic poet." Markopoulos's complex, sensual films range from landscape and portraiture to works inspired by literature. He often stressed the centrality of editing, and strove for a sense of the mysterious through his use of disjunctive narrative, intricate superimpositions done in-camera, nuanced palette, and restructured sound compositions. As Kristin M. Jones noted, "his work...shatters and reconfigures language as much as it does conventional cinematics." Markopoulos was one of the key influences on American independents during the fifties and sixties, both in terms of the impact of his films, and as a leading advocate and theoretician of avant-garde film. However, in the late sixties, he departed the United States for permanent residence in Europe, withdrawing all of his films from U.S. distribution. Since then, his films have been completely unavailable to American audiences. They are presented now for their first West Coast screenings in thirty years. Markopoulos continued both his filmmaking and writing while living in Europe. He sought to create a projection space in Greece, an endeavor continued by the foundation, Temenos, Inc., which is preserving Markopoulos's films, many of which have not yet been printed. We gratefully acknowledge the generous support of The Speros Basil Vryonis Center for the Study of Hellenism, with special thanks to Professor Speros Vryonis, Jr. and Stelios Vasilakis. We wish to thank Susan Oxtoby, Director of Programming, Cinematheque Ontario, for coordinating the series. We also thank Yann Beauvais (curator, Markopoulos series, American Center, Paris); John Hanhardt, Matthew Yokobosky (co-curators, Markopoulos series, Whitney Museum, New York); Jennifer Meehan for extensive research; and Leanne Mella and John Mhiripiri, assistants to Temenos, Inc. Prints are from Temenos, Inc. and Oesterreichisches Filmmuseum, Vienna, with thanks to Peter Kubelka and Peter Konlechner. Tuesday October 7, 1997Introduced by Robert Beavers