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
2008
- Go Where the Kids Go ... (Director)
1979
- Army of Lovers or Revolt of the Perverts ... (Cinematography)
1974
- Set Your Chickens Free! ... (Director)
- Magick Lantern Cycle ... (Camera Operator)
- The Saga of Macrame Park ... (Director)
1971
- Homegrown ... (Director)
- Krishna's March to the Sea ... (Director)
1970
- Boc Ging ... (Director)
- Interrogation ... (Director)
1969
- Invocation of My Demon Brother ... (Camera Operator)
- Naked Zodiac ... (Director)
- Vivid Color 3D Nude Models ... (Director)
1968
- Apropos of San Francisco
- Acid Mantra or Rebirth of a Nation ... (Director)
- Steve Miller Blues Band ... (Director)
- Garden of Proserpine ... (Director)
1967
- Me & Bruce & Art as Himself (voice)
- Nico ... (Director)
- For Life, Against the War ... (Director)
- Make Love Not War ... (Director)
- BE ... (Director)
- He's Here Now
1966
- Acid Camp ... (Director)
- S.F. Trips Festival: An Opening ... (Director)
1965
- Colorfilm ... (Director)
- Some Don't ... (Director)
- Up Tight, L.A. Is Burning... Shit! ... (Director)
- Bolex Peyote Bardo ... (Director)
1964
- The Poon-Tang Trilogy ... (Director)