Why do I make films? More honest question: why do we make films? I cannot do this alone; there are always others, a team. It starts with a desire to find new ways of seeing. But this can only happen after I become receptive enough to the Muses call; not "my" Muses (they belong to no one!). I want intimacy with the fertile void, the source of all creation, and its hilarious offspring, the singing womb of the Poetic Imagination. My films don't fit into any existing cinematic genre; they are marketting nightmares! Most of my movies are veiled autobiographies, oneric docufictions, giving narrative and poetic form to my internal landscape interacting with, and being acted on by, real world events. This process started with the sudden tragic death of my second daughter Zoe in September of 1992. The worst thing that could ever happen to me, happened to me. Great losses sometimes come with gifts and, this unfathomable loss gifted me with a gift that keeps on giving. The eyes of my eyes opened. I saw "death" as an illusion, an intellectual symbol for fear, social control, and oppression. I saw through the lies of society and saw the eternal cycles of Life. People come and go but Life continues. I've seen true Love upstage Death in the Theatre of Life.
Waves of grief and epiphany guided the scripting and production of my first feature, THE ORACLE (1993), about a cynical elder patriarch whose granddaughter, Ariadne, appears in his dreams as a guide on his final night on earth. My own cynicism withered after being inspired by my friend Rob Brezsny's ideas of "the drivetime", an interface between dreamtime and daytime realities. Together, we wrote and produced THE DRIVETIME (1995), about a federal time-travelling librarian from the year 2023 returning to 1999 via the dreams of a Seattle video activist shooting police riots. Five years later, I was moved to explore conflicting religious beliefs in TRAGOS (2000), a cyber-noir witch hunt tale about a fundamentalist Christian attourney mistakenly convinced that a blind pagan woman is the leader of a 'satanic suicide cult'.
The racial profiling immediately following the 9/11 attacks outraged the making of HYSTERIA (2002; written with Jakob Bokulich), about a Croatian Catholic soldier who drinks datura tea and mistakes a powerful hallucination for a visitation from the Holy Virgin Mary. On my fiftieth birthday, I felt compelled to explore my Finnish roots in UNDER A SHIPWRECKED MOON (2003), where a Finnish-American family visits their hospitalized, comatose patriarch whose true love beckons him from the great beyond. Highly creative women standing at the crossroads between sacrificing their lives to Art or Motherhood inspired the making of THE GREATER CIRCULATION (2005) -- set in present-time Berkeley and in Paris, 1908 -- where poet Rainer Maria Rilke transforms his grief over the sudden death of his friend, the artist Paula Modersohn-Becker, into his epic prose lament, "Requiem for a Friend".
Fear-mongering politics triggered the creation of my dark comedy, THE MIND IS A LIAR AND A WHORE (2007), about a quirky Berkeley household climbing the slippery slopes between actual and perceived threats during an alleged bioterrorist attack in their city. I returned to my earliest theatrical influence, Antonin Artaud, for THE INVISIBLE FOREST (2008) about an insomniac theatre director (whom I portray) conducting a group paratheatrical experiment in a forest when a series of disturbing dreams forces him to question his sanity. My next film explored the suspicious circumstances surrounding the deathbed signing of documents between a former mentor, Christopher S. Hyatt and his son in TO DREAM OF FALLING UPWARDS (2011), a zany occult saga about an urban sex magickian who seeks help from a Castaneda-style desert witch to solve a vexing esoteric problem of spirit posession.
My need to work through unresolved liasons with certain women led to FLAMINGOS (2012), an outlaw romance noir about twin sisters in love with a bank-robbing hypnotist junkie. My feminist fable THE BOOK OF JANE (2013) developed from a vision of three generations of women and the overlapping worlds of the nomadic homeless, ivory tower academia, and pre-Hellenic goddess worship.
My ongoing relationship with the imaginal realm of the Muses inspired SYLVANI (formerly "Out of the Woods" 2015 and recut in 2021) an imaginal love story of a young man who survives a near-death experience with amnesia and a disturbing new psychic talent that forces a new identity.
After a five year hiatus from filmmaking, the Cinema Muses called me back with THE VANISHING FIELD (2020), a personal story inspired by the ongoing impact of a spontaneous out of body experience I had in my early twenties -- reframed within the setting of a Zen monastery with three monks (non-actors) improvising dialogue based on my on-site suggestions; Zen filmmaking. My next feature, "THE ALCHEMY OF SULPHUR" (2021) is a magical realist romance with the power of imagination as a writer manufactures crises in her main relationship to spur her creative process. Production planned for May/June 2021.
In 1977, I was inspired by Polish theatre director Jerzy Grotowski's early paratheatrical experiments to develop my own "aratheatre" medium combining methods of physical theatre, dance, and Zazen standing meditation to deep access to the internal landscape. Between 1991 and 2020, numerous video documents were produced showing various modalities of this process. In late 2015, after nineteen prolific years of music and film production in Berkeley, Sylvi and I relocated to Portland Oregon where we developed and staged five paratheatrical productions (documented on video). During this time, we also recorded a series of our own songs as bird&wolf which were made into music videos.
Since 1992, I have been crafting numerous short "videopoems" using text by Blake, Rilke, Neruda, H.D., Rimbaud, Plath, & others, as well as, many experimental works. With the exception of these short works, most of my films and videos have been made in collaboration with many others. I am especially grateful for the support and artistic inspiration of my wife, the multi-talented Sylvi Alli and my skillful editor, Chris Odell (features from 2000-2015). So far, all my movies have been self-funded and/or co-produced with peers. Each movie typically takes four to twelve months from concept to final cut. My work gains promotional support from reviews at filmthreat.com and other film review blogs. All my feature movies and short works are now available for free viewing online at this webpage.
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Films Online, Filmography, Bibliography,
Paratheatrical ReSearch. IMDb
CLICK THIS TO WATCH MY FILMS ONLINE
On YouTube and Vimeo - Free of charge
Film/Videography
completed works since 1991
Bibliography
Books in print since 1986
ParaTheatrical ReSearch
Experimental theatre; since 1977
Trailers, Excerpts, Critical Reviews
"The Vanishing Field" (2020; 72 min.)
click image to watch trailer
"The Vanishing Field" reviewed (May 2020)
by Charles Kruger for flickstorm
"Sylvani" (formerly "Out of the Woods"; 2015/2021)
click image to watch the trailer
Review (2015) by Charles Kruger, flickstorm (3 stars)
Review (2016) by Phil Hall, CinemaCrazed
"The Book of Jane" (2013; 120 min.)
click image to watch a 5-min. excerpt
"The Book of Jane" reviewed (2013)
by Phil Hall, filmthreat.com (5 stars)
The Book of Jane" reviewed (2014)
by Charles Tatum, hollywoodbitchslap.com (4 stars)
The Book of Jane" reviewed (2017)
by Observor of Times (Australia)
"dreambody/earthbody" (2012; 80 min.) Paratheatre Video Document
click images to watch an excerpt
"dreambody/earthbody" reviewed (2013)
by David Finkelstein, filmthreat.com (4 stars)
"dreambody/earthbody" reviewed (2013)
by Phil Hall, filmthreat.com (4 stars)
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"Flamingos" (2012; 90 min.)
click image to watch a 3-min. excerpt
"Flamingos" reviewed (2013)
by David Finkelstein for filmthreat.com (4 stars)
"Flamingos" reviewed (2012)
by Mike Everleth for BadLit: Journal of Underground Films
"Flamingos" reviewed (2012)
by Doniphan Blair for CineSource
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"To Dream of Falling Upwards" (2011; 120 min.)
click image to watch the trailer
"To Dream of Falling Upwards" reviewed (2011)
by David Finkelstein for filmthreat.com (4 stars)
"To Dream of Falling Upwards" reviewed (2011)
by Phil Hall for filmthreat.com (4.5 stars)
"The Invisible Forest " (2008; 111 min.)
click images to watch the trailer
"The Invisible Forest" reviewed (2010)
by David Finkelstein, filmthreat.com (4-stars)
"The Invisible Forest" reviewed (2008)
by Cedrus Monte, Jungian Analyst. Zurich, Switzerland
"The Invisible Forest" reviewed (2008)
by Erik Davis, author. San Francisco CA.
"The Mind is a Liar and a Whore " (2007; 91 min.)
click image to watch the trailer
filmthreat.com (2012)
"Mind is a Liar & a Whore" reviewed by David Finkelstein (4 stars)
The San Francisco Chronicle (2007)
Story by Reyhan Harmanci
"The Greater Circulation " (2005; 93 min.)
click imagse for 9 min. excerpt
filmthreat.com (2014)
David Finkelstein's review of "The Greater Circulation" (4 stars)
filmthreat.com (2005)
Phil Hall's review of "The Greater Circulation" (5 stars)
mindjack.com (2006)
Jesse Walker 's review of "The Greater Circulation"
Rilke from a Jungian perspective (2008)
Cedrus Monte's review of "The Greater Circulation"
"Orphans of Delirium" (2004; 83 min.)
A Paratheatre Video Document
click image to watch excerpt
filmthreat.com (2010)
"Orphans of Delirium" reviewed
by David Finkelstein (4-stars)
"Under a Shipwrecked Moon" (2003; 96 min.)
click image to watch the teaser
filmthreat.com (2015)
"Under a Shipwrecked Moon" reviewed by David Finkelstein (4 stars)
University of Irvine (2004)
"Under a Shipwrecked Moon" reviewed by Christina Nersesian
New World Finn (2004)
"Under a Shipwrecked Moon" reviewed by Harri Siitonen
"Hysteria" (2002; 83 min.)
click image to watch the Trailer
filmthreat.com (2002)
Phil Hall's review of "Hysteria" (five stars)
mindjack.com (2004)
Jesse Walker's review of "Hysteria"
Sacramento News & Review (2002)
Jackson Griffith's review & story of "Hysteria"
"Tragos" (2000; 105 min.)
click images to watch 2 excerpts
filmthreat.com (2001)
Phil Hall's review of "Tragos" (four stars)
Reason Magazine (2001)
Jesse Walker's story & review of "Tragos"
New World Finn (2002)
Harri Siitonen reviews "Tragos" & "Hysteria"
"Roadkill" (2001; 27 min.)
click image to watch an excerpt
filmthreat.com (2001)
Phil Hall's review of "Roadkill" (4 stars)
"Mouvement" (2001; 4 min.)
"Lily in Limbo" " (1996; 27 min.)
click images to view an excerpt
filmthreat.com review of VideoPoems (2010)
VideoPoems Review by David Finkelstein (4 stars)
East Bay Express (2001)
Kelly Vance's review of Alli's Videopoems
"CRUX" (1999; 80 min.)
A Paratheatre Video Document
Click either image to watch an excerpt
EAST BAY EXPRESS (2009)
Story on CRUX by Anneli Rufus
TRIP Magazine reviews CRUX (2001)
CRUX reviewed by Scott O. Moore
"The Drivetime" (1995; 85 min.)
Click images to watch an excerpt
Wired Magazine and Pacific Film Archive (1996)
Two separate reviews of "The Drivetime"
Seattle Rocket (1995)
Teresa Parks review of "The Drivetime"
Jacksonville Film Journal (1995)
Brian Matherly's review of "The Drivetime"
Media Stories and Interviews
San Jose MetroActive
Story by Gary Singh (2012)
Artship Video Interview
by Slobodan Dan Paitch (2003)
Bad Lit: Journal of Underground Films
by Mike Everleth (2008- 2012)
"A Deliberate Disorientation of the Senses"
Antero discusses "The Invisible Forest" (2008)
"The Encyclopedia of Underground Movies"
Interview from the book by Phil Hall (1999)
- VENUE HISTORY -
where these films have screened
NORTHWEST FILM FORUM (Seattle), UC IRVINE (Irvine CA), PACIFIC FILM ARCHIVE (Berkeley), MILLS COLLEGE CONCERT HALL (Oakland), FINE ARTS CINEMA (Berkeley), RED VIC MOVIEHOUSE (S.F.), PICKFORD CINEMA (Bellingham WA), DIVA CENTER (Eugene OR), CELLspace (S.F.), A.T.A. GALLERY (S.F.), PARKWAY SPEAKEASY THEATRE (Oakland), HOLLYWOOD THEATRE, (Portland), CLINTON ST. THEATER (Portland), GUILD (NW Film Center, Portland), 911 MEDIA ARTS (Seattle), CREST THEATRE (Sacramento), RED POPPY ART HOUSE (S.F.), BERKELEY ART CENTER (Berkeley), ROSE THEATRE (Port Townsend WA), ABUNDANT SUGAR (Los Angeles), 21 GRAND (Oakland), OAKLAND BLACK BOX (Oakland), DANZHAUS (S.F.), THE JAZZHOUSE (Berkeley), LIVE OAK THEATRE (Berkeley), LA PENA (Berkeley), ARTSHIP (Port of Oakland), MAGIC THEATRE (Nevada City), I-GONG (Seoul, S. Korea), FINNISH BROTHERHOOD HALL (Berkeley), MIDNIGHT SPECIAL (Santa Monica), VELVET ELVIS ARTS THEATRE (Seattle), COLOURBOX (Seattle), JUPITER CAFE and BLAKE'S (Berkeley), WEATHERED WALL (Seattle), GRACE NORTH CHURCH (Berkeley), ILLUSEUM (Amsterdam, Netherlands), THE HUMANIST HALL (Oakland), ANNO DOMINI GALLERY (San Jose), SUBTERRANEAN ARTHOUSE (Berkeley), THE LOST CHURCH (San Francisco), CLOUD 9 (Berkeley), BERKELEY ARTS FESTIVAL (Berkeley), THE DREAM INSTITUTE (Berkeley), EAST BAY MEDIA CENTER (Berkeley), UNIVERSITY BOOK STORE (Berkeley), SANTA CRUZ INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART (Santa Cruz), PERFORMANCE WORKS NORTHWEST (Portland OR), HEADWATERS THEATRE (Portland OR), PERFORMANCEWORKS NW (Portland), BOLINAS COMMUNITY CENTER (Bolinas)
contact points
ANTERO ALLI
verticalsource@gmail.com