Ben Van Meter
Born: 1941-02-09 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA
Died: 2019-08-08
Known For: Directing
Biography
Ben Van Meter began making films and light shows in the mid-1960s in San Francisco and soon became a leading figure in Bay Area-underground filmmaking. His films, especially S.F. Trips Festival, An Opening (1966) and the epic Acid Mantra or Rebirth of a Nation (1968), are compelling attempts to visually and sonically inscribe psychedelia, as experience and philosophy, in the medium of film. Van Meter’s films were unavailable for many years, but their ongoing restoration by the Academy Film Archive and their inclusion in the de Young Museum’s 2017 exhibition, The Summer of Love Experience: Art, Fashion, and Rock ‘n’ Roll, has gained them a new audience.
Filmography
1979
- Army of Lovers or Revolt of the Perverts ... (Cinematography)
1974
- Magick Lantern Cycle ... (Camera Operator)
- The Saga of Macrame Park ... (Director)
- Set Your Chickens Free! ... (Director)
1971
- Homegrown ... (Director)
- Krishna's March to the Sea ... (Director)
1970
- Interrogation ... (Director)
- Boc Ging ... (Director)
1969
- Invocation of My Demon Brother ... (Camera Operator)
- Vivid Color 3D Nude Models ... (Director)
- Naked Zodiac ... (Director)
1968
- Acid Mantra ... (Director)
- Apropos of San Francisco
- Garden of Proserpine ... (Director)
- Steve Miller Blues Band ... (Director)
1967
- Me & Bruce & Art as Himself (voice)
- For Life, Against the War ... (Director)
- Nico ... (Director)
- BE ... (Director)
- Make Love Not War ... (Director)
- He's Here Now
1966
- Acid Camp ... (Director)
- S.F. Trips Festival: An Opening ... (Director)
1965
- Some Don't ... (Director)
- Up Tight, L.A. Is Burning... Shit! ... (Director)
- Colorfilm ... (Director)
- Bolex Peyote Bardo ... (Director)
1964
- The Poon-Tang Trilogy ... (Director)