Distressed because it appeared that no-one was writing a biography of Stan Brakhage, several years ago I began to interview the surviving people who knew him well in hopes that important material might be preserved for some future biographer. For convenience, I designated my work as the “Stan Brakhage Biography Project.” So far, the following people have been interviewed by myself or by others: Jane (Brakhage) Wodening, Fred Camper, Jennifer Dorn, Ernie Gehr, Ken Jacobs, Bruce Kawin, Peter Kubelka, Jonas Mekas, Walt Newcomb, P. Adams Sitney, Michael Snow, and Morton Subotnik. Together with all correspondence, these interviews, whether audio, audio-visual, or written, have been deposited at two locations in the U.S.:

1. Rare and Distinctive Collections (Kalyani Fernando, Collection Development Archivist), University of Colorado Boulder Libraries, 184 UCB, Boulder, CO 80309-0184, tel: 917-887-8424;

2. Hugh Hefner Film Archive (Dino Everett, archivist: deverett@cinema.usc.edu, tel: 213.740.2921), School of Cinematic Arts, University of Southern California, 900 West 34th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90089-2211.

The materials may be consulted there. Of course, the project requires that many more people be interviewed and the interviews added to these archives. If anyone wishes to contribute, I will be glad to assist.

Given Peter Kubelka’s stature and achievement, this interview with him is especially important. It is also unique in that it was made by two filmmakers– Eve Heller and Peter Tscherkassky– who very generously gave of their time when both were heavily involved in other projects.

Initial transcription of the interview was funded by a grant from the Emeriti Center of the University of Southern California. I made the first rough edit, and this has been completed by Eve Heller, who also consulted with Peter Kubelka himself to obtain his final approval. My thanks to all those who worked on the project, and to Toni D’Angela for publishing it.

David E. James

Los Angeles, 2022 iii 4.