Edith Kramer Selects: Shorts from the BAMPFA Collection

  • Edith Kramer was assistant film curator at the Pacific Film Archive between 1975 and 1980 and served as acting director in 1980. She returned in 1983 as senior film curator and director, a position she held until her retirement in 2005.

Three powerful films, each one deserving of its reputation. Bruce Conner’s A Movie (1958), which has been named to the National Film Registry, is made from found footage and encapsulates the dominant themes in the history of motion pictures: chase, motion, sex, violence, and disasters. A camp classic, George Kuchar’s Hold Me While I’m Naked (1966), shot with the assistance of George’s twin brother, Mike, was one of Kuchar’s earliest 16mm color productions. The steamy drama of sex, love and loneliness stars Kuchar himself as the tortured hero. For the First Time, by Octavio Cortázar, was shot near a mountain village in Cuba on the occasion of the villagers first ever film screening. Viewers are interviewed as to their expectations in seeing a film, which included a Charlie Chaplin clip.

Films in this Screening

A Movie
(A movie)

Bruce Conner, United States, 1960

FILM DETAILS 
Print Info
  • B&W
  • 16mm
  • 12 mins
source
  • BAMPFA

Hold Me While I'm Naked
(Hold me while I'm naked)

George Kuchar, United States, 1966

FILM DETAILS 
Language
  • English
Print Info
  • Color
  • 16mm
  • 17 mins
source
  • BAMPFA

For the First Time (Por Primera Vez)
(Por Primera Vez)

Octavio Cortázar, Cuba, 1967

FILM DETAILS 
Language
  • Spanish
  • with English subtitles
Print Info
  • B&W
  • 35mm
  • 12 mins
source
  • BAMPFA