The Film Committee at Portland State University 1975

I was a member of the Film Committee at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon. This was around my attendance at PSU - 1975 through 1976. Film was a mission that I latched on to. Independent film was making waves across the country. I happened on the films of Jean- Luc Godard, Francois Truffaut, Louis Malle, Claude Chabrol from France, Akira Kurosawa from Japan, Ousmane Sembene from Sengal,  Satyajit Ray from India and from Germany- R.W. Fassbinder and Werner Herzog.  The Film Board pioneered the release of John Cassavetes' films in the Portland market- A Woman Under The Influence, Faces and Husbands and Wives.

The Film Committee presented A Woman Under The Influence for its first public showing, along with other pioneering films - Distant Thunder, Every Man For Himself, God Against All (The Story of Kaspar Hauser), and a tribute to the French New Wave. The French New Wave series was followed by a series tribute to French filmmaker Louis Malle. 

Each quarter the chair of the Film Board rotated to a different member. Upon my ascendancy I launched an ambitious tribute to the then current filmmakers of Germany; Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Werner Herzog, Wim Wenders and Volker Schlondorff. Many of these films were new releases and had yet to play in venues outside of New York City. Fassbinder made two or three films per year and had accumulated about 12 movies by that time. Their styles were different, they were bold and their films challenged the viewer. 

The German New Wave series included Ali:Fear Eats The Soul, The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant, Beware Of A Holy Whore, and Effi Briest - all by Fassbinder. Even Dwarfs Started Small, Signs of Life, Fata Morgana, Land of Silence and Darkness and The Great Ecstasy of Walter Steiner by Werner Herzog. Kings of The Road, The Goalie's Anxiety At The Penalty Kick, Alice In The Cities, Summer In The City and The Wrong Move by Wim Wenders. 

My efforts in booking and publicizing this series led to commercial runs for these filmmakers earlier and subsequent films in Portland and Seattle. Most of these films were leased from New Yorker Films, which sadly and recently, went out of business. 

My inspiration and passion was ignited by Andries Deinum. Andries taught film appreciation at PSU. He was engaging and challenging. He screened us Joris Ivens, Eisenstein, Kurosawa, Bresson, and his favorite Yasujiro Ozu. Andries had a lot of passion for film and we carried that passion on through the Film Committee.