Alfred Guzzetti
Encyclopedia
Guzzetti Alfred is a maker of documentary and experimental films and tapes. His work has been shown at the New York Film Festival, the Margaret Mead Festival, and other festivals in London, Rotterdam, Germany, Spain and France, as well as in installation settings in New York, Copenhagen, and Santa Monica.
. He studied at Birkbeck, University of London
, as a Marshall Scholar, and received a Ph.D. in English Literature at Harvard University
, where he now teaches.
. These led to further autobiographical films and to collaborations with the photographer Susan Meiselas
and filmmaker Richard P. Rogers, with whom he co-directed Living at Risk: The Story of a Nicaraguan Family (1985) and Pictures from a Revolution (1991). These were political and historical documentaries and prompted later collaborations with Susan Meiselas on Reframing History (2004) and the current A Family in History, which includes Living at Risk plus a set of 20 short films entitled The Barrios Family 25 Years Later. In the late 1980s he began a series of conversations with anthropologist Ákos Östör that resulted in Seed and Earth (1994), a portrayal of life in a Bengali village, and Khalfan and Zanzibar (1999), which poses the question of an individual’s relation to his culture. Both of these were made collaboratively with Östör and anthropologist Lina Fruzzetti. Around 1993 Guzzetti became interested in the experimental possibilities of the new small video formats and began a series of tapes that included What Actually Happened (1996), Under the Rain (1997), A Tropical Story (1998), The Tower of Industrial Life (2000), which was included in the 2002 Whitney Biennial, Down from the Mountains (2002), Calcutta Intersection (2003), History of the Sea (2004), and most recently, Still Point (2009). This experimental strain is related to his collaborations with composers, including his contributions to Earl Kim
’s Exercises en Route (1971) and to Kurt Stallmann
’s SONA (2005) and the recent Moon Crossings (2011). He has also worked collaboratively with Stallmann on Breaking Earth (2008), a gallery installation for 11 channels of sound and 5 video projections, and with Ivan Tcherepnin
on the 16mm Sky Piece (1978).
Education
Alfred Guzzetti was born in Philadelphia and attended the public schools there. He earned a BA from Central High School and a second BA from Harvard CollegeHarvard College
Harvard College, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is one of two schools within Harvard University granting undergraduate degrees...
. He studied at Birkbeck, University of London
Birkbeck, University of London
Birkbeck, University of London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London. It offers many Master's and Bachelor's degree programmes that can be studied either part-time or full-time, though nearly all teaching is...
, as a Marshall Scholar, and received a Ph.D. in English Literature at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, where he now teaches.
Career
Following a series of films for theatrical productions, Guzzetti’s experimental short film, Air, won first prize in its category at the 1972 Chicago Film Festival. Afterwards he embarked on an autobiographical cycle that included the feature-length Family Portrait Sittings (1975) and Scenes from Childhood (1979), both premiered at the Whitney Museum of American ArtWhitney Museum of American Art
The Whitney Museum of American Art, often referred to simply as "the Whitney", is an art museum with a focus on 20th- and 21st-century American art. Located at 945 Madison Avenue at 75th Street in New York City, the Whitney's permanent collection contains more than 18,000 works in a wide variety of...
. These led to further autobiographical films and to collaborations with the photographer Susan Meiselas
Susan Meiselas
Susan Meiselas is an American documentary photographer. She has been associated with Magnum Photos since 1976 and a full member since 1980. Her works have been published in newspapers and magazines including The New York Times, The Times, Time, Geo and Paris Match...
and filmmaker Richard P. Rogers, with whom he co-directed Living at Risk: The Story of a Nicaraguan Family (1985) and Pictures from a Revolution (1991). These were political and historical documentaries and prompted later collaborations with Susan Meiselas on Reframing History (2004) and the current A Family in History, which includes Living at Risk plus a set of 20 short films entitled The Barrios Family 25 Years Later. In the late 1980s he began a series of conversations with anthropologist Ákos Östör that resulted in Seed and Earth (1994), a portrayal of life in a Bengali village, and Khalfan and Zanzibar (1999), which poses the question of an individual’s relation to his culture. Both of these were made collaboratively with Östör and anthropologist Lina Fruzzetti. Around 1993 Guzzetti became interested in the experimental possibilities of the new small video formats and began a series of tapes that included What Actually Happened (1996), Under the Rain (1997), A Tropical Story (1998), The Tower of Industrial Life (2000), which was included in the 2002 Whitney Biennial, Down from the Mountains (2002), Calcutta Intersection (2003), History of the Sea (2004), and most recently, Still Point (2009). This experimental strain is related to his collaborations with composers, including his contributions to Earl Kim
Earl Kim
Earl Kim was a Korean-American composer.Kim was born in Dinuba, California, to immigrant Korean parents. He began piano studies at age ten and soon developed an interest in composition, studying in Los Angeles and Berkeley with, among others, Arnold Schoenberg, Ernest Bloch, and Roger Sessions...
’s Exercises en Route (1971) and to Kurt Stallmann
Kurt Stallmann
Stallmann Kurt is an American composer who lives and works in Houston, Texas.-Education:Kurt Stallmann was born in Rockford, Illinois. In 1987, he received a bachelor's degree in music from Northern Illinois University. That same year, he reolocated to Boston, Massachusetts where he composed,...
’s SONA (2005) and the recent Moon Crossings (2011). He has also worked collaboratively with Stallmann on Breaking Earth (2008), a gallery installation for 11 channels of sound and 5 video projections, and with Ivan Tcherepnin
Ivan Tcherepnin
Ivan Tcherepnin was an experimental, then later modernist/postmodernist, composer. He was born into a highly musical family, his father and grandfather, Alexander and Nikolai, being distinguished Russian composers, and his mother Ming a well-known pianist...
on the 16mm Sky Piece (1978).
Selected Filmography
- The Barrios Family Twenty-Five Years Later (2011) 131 minutes
- Still Point (2008) 15 minutes
- Reframing History (2006)
- Night Vision (2005) 2 minutes
- América Central (2004) 7 minutes
- History of the Sea (2004) 15 minutes
- Calcutta Intersection (2003) 10 minutes
- The Tower of Industrial Life (2000) 15 minutes
- Khalfan and Zanzibar (1999) 25 minutes
- A Tropical Story (1998) 9 minutes
- Under the Rain (1997) 10 minutes
- What Actually Happened (1996) 9 minutes
- The Stricken Areas (1996) 9 minutes
- Variation (1995) 5 minutes
- The Curve of the World (1994) 8 minutes
- Seed and Earth (1994) 36 minutes
- Rosetta Stone (1993) 10 minutes
- Pictures from a Revolution (1991) 92 minutes
- Living at Risk: The Story of a Nicaraguan Family (1985) 58 minutes
- Chronological Order (1985) 4 minutes
- Scenes from Childhood (1980) 78 minutes
- Family Portrait Sittings (1975) 103 minutes
- Air (1971) 18 minutes
Collaborative Projects with Composers
- Moon Crossings (2011) 16 minutes
- Breaking Earth (2008) 26 minutes
- SONA (2005) 6 minutes
- Sky Piece (1978) 10 minutes
- Exercises en Route (1971) 6 minutes