Michael Oblowitz

In the years before Ronald Reagan took office, Manhattan was in ruins. But true art has never come from comfort, and it was precisely those dire circumstances that inspired artists like Jim Jarmusch, Lizzy Borden, and Amos Poe to produce some of their best works. Taking their cues from punk rock and new wave music, these young maverick filmmakers confronted viewers with a stark reality that stood in powerful contrast to the escapist product being churned out by Hollywood.

Reel 25 of Gérard Courant’s on-going Cinematon series.

An unsuspecting university professor is an unwitting accomplice in a foiled Chinese cocaine deal. Wrongly imprisoned, he escapes to take his revenge and prove his innocence.

A psycho noir where stalkers, terrorists and government agents collide.

A psycho noir where stalkers, terrorists and government agents collide.

On a dark Christmas Eve in a small town, the lone Sheriffs on the night shift encounter a mysterious man who goes by the name of Mr. Nobody. As the night progresses, the Sheriffs discover that this isn't just a nobody, but a vengeful killer whose past threatens to haunt them all.

Tally Brown, New York is a 1979 documentary film directed, written and produced by Rosa von Praunheim. The film is about the singing and acting career of Tally Brown, a classically trained opera and blues singer who was a star of underground films in New York City and a denizen of its underworld in the late 1960s. In this documentary, Praunheim relies on extensive interviews with Brown, as she recounts her collaboration with Andy Warhol, Taylor Mead and others, as well as her friendships with Holly Woodlawn, and Divine. Brown opens the film with a cover of David Bowie’s “Heroes” and concludes with “Rock ’n’ Roll Suicide.” The film captures not only Tally Brown’s career but also a particular New York milieu in the 1970s.

In 1950s, two incestuous lovers, a depraved suave journalist and his equally depraved prostitute sister, plan to get rich through seduction and murder.

When he began fusing human and shark DNA, his colleagues laughed at him. Now his creation is taking his revenge, and they aren't laughing anymore.

Personal diary-style documentary of German Gay rights activist Von Praunheim's sojourn in the US.

This story is about a freelance agent who is the courier of a package from France to Germany. He soon finds that many people want to get their hands on it.

Vampires have come out of the shadows and are living as normal citizens. Two policemen, one a vampire, are assigned to track down a serial killer who tears the throat of his victims and drains their blood.

In a world where past meets present and the present gets lost in time, reality is blurred for 5 College psychology students who are pushing all boundaries during an ESP experiment over a lost weekend...

A documentary about "Death" magazine, founded by "Screw" Magazine founder and publisher Al Goldstein, and its eventual failure.

A young couple embark on a cross-country journey, only to run into trouble at the Texas/Mexico border.

A young couple embark on a cross-country journey, only to run into trouble at the Texas/Mexico border.

The story of surfing pioneers Martin Daly's and Dave Burnett's days in Bali during the 1970s.

In a world where past meets present and the present gets lost in time, reality is blurred for 5 College psychology students who are pushing all boundaries during an ESP experiment over a lost weekend...

During a crack epidemic two narcotics agents hunting for a cop killer. Hoping for leads, Moran and Thorton pay off a junkie informant. To provide for his wife and son, Moran involves the stool pigeon in a deadly scheme. This causes the partners to come under the scrutiny of a suspicious internal affairs agent.

A destitute Frank Sinatra pursues sultry starlet Ava Gardner while campaigning for the lead in 'From Here to Eternity'.

Inspired partly by the Henry James' novel. Empty rooms and well kept gardens. Noted by photographer Nan Goldin for its dissections of "romance, mystification and the inability to connect."

The found-footage collage was overlaid with a psychologist expounding on sex offenders, analog video effects, edgy graphics, and a new wave score by the band Human Sexual Response.

During a crack epidemic two narcotics agents hunting for a cop killer. Hoping for leads, Moran and Thorton pay off a junkie informant. To provide for his wife and son, Moran involves the stool pigeon in a deadly scheme. This causes the partners to come under the scrutiny of a suspicious internal affairs agent.

During a crack epidemic two narcotics agents hunting for a cop killer. Hoping for leads, Moran and Thorton pay off a junkie informant. To provide for his wife and son, Moran involves the stool pigeon in a deadly scheme. This causes the partners to come under the scrutiny of a suspicious internal affairs agent.

Follow big wave surfer Nathan Fletcher through the evolution of surfing and his relationship with big waves in this special premiere event from Fathom Events, 1091 Media and Red Bull Media House. Tracing his lineage back to his grandfather, one of the pioneers of Oahu's North Shore, Fletcher and other fellow surf and skateboard legends share insights from the pursuit of their passion. A voyage through the eyes of the surfing community that delves deep into the mind-set of the board sports culture and its roots, culminating in a spectacular, never-before-performed stunt, which once again raises the bar of what is possible. This special one night only event will feature a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the Acid Drop.

Follow big wave surfer Nathan Fletcher through the evolution of surfing and his relationship with big waves in this special premiere event from Fathom Events, 1091 Media and Red Bull Media House. Tracing his lineage back to his grandfather, one of the pioneers of Oahu's North Shore, Fletcher and other fellow surf and skateboard legends share insights from the pursuit of their passion. A voyage through the eyes of the surfing community that delves deep into the mind-set of the board sports culture and its roots, culminating in a spectacular, never-before-performed stunt, which once again raises the bar of what is possible. This special one night only event will feature a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the Acid Drop.

Set in a motel room at NYC's Kennedy Airport, the film treats two days in the life of a deadbeat couple, an obsessive husband lost in a web of psychotic delusion and his immigrant wife.

Set in a motel room at NYC's Kennedy Airport, the film treats two days in the life of a deadbeat couple, an obsessive husband lost in a web of psychotic delusion and his immigrant wife.

"The mise-en-scene, the whole story, takes place in one location, the artist's studio. A delicate psychological allegory on 'a day in the life of' anchors the displacement of (filmic) reality and the alienation of the (players) self. Devices such as incongruity between the image and the soundtrack, odd camera angles, and plays on objective focus are integral and explicit components of the narrative. Altered to Suit diverges from preceding films in that the dialogue is not solely related to the work; rather the work serves as a central frame of reference from which the story unfolds. This is also the first time that narrative dominates the structure of the film. It is shot in black and white with very sensual, very seductive photography." — Alice Weiner

New Cinema cofounder Becky Johnston recently described this little-seen feature as “an East Village reinvention of the Otto Preminger movie *Laura*” that plays “fast and loose with the noir detective genre.”

“Eric Mitchell – as a Neo-noir punk parody of Lemmy Caution in ALPHAVILLE – and Rosemary Hochschild – as a post-semiotic parody of Patty Hearst – star in a b&w 16mm interrogation of 1970s media and cinema representation. It was my first film made in my first year at graduate school at Columbia. I was studying with Peter Wollen, and Sylvère Lotringer and Kathryn Bigelow and I were editing Semiotexte – the film is all of that… Featuring a cameo by Viktor Bokris who was working with Andy Warhol on Interview Magazine.” –Michael Oblowitz

Inspired by Franz Xaver Kroetz’s study of violence in the play “Michi’s Blood”, the film chronicles a lovers’ quarrel as a volley of insults are hurled across a domestic space that reflects the foul situation of its inhabitants.

A psycho noir where stalkers, terrorists and government agents collide.

“Eric Mitchell – as a Neo-noir punk parody of Lemmy Caution in ALPHAVILLE – and Rosemary Hochschild – as a post-semiotic parody of Patty Hearst – star in a b&w 16mm interrogation of 1970s media and cinema representation. It was my first film made in my first year at graduate school at Columbia. I was studying with Peter Wollen, and Sylvère Lotringer and Kathryn Bigelow and I were editing Semiotexte – the film is all of that… Featuring a cameo by Viktor Bokris who was working with Andy Warhol on Interview Magazine.” –Michael Oblowitz

A destitute Frank Sinatra pursues sultry starlet Ava Gardner while campaigning for the lead in 'From Here to Eternity'.

A destitute Frank Sinatra pursues sultry starlet Ava Gardner while campaigning for the lead in 'From Here to Eternity'.

In a world where past meets present and the present gets lost in time, reality is blurred for 5 College psychology students who are pushing all boundaries during an ESP experiment over a lost weekend...

In a world where past meets present and the present gets lost in time, reality is blurred for 5 College psychology students who are pushing all boundaries during an ESP experiment over a lost weekend...

In near-future New York, ten years after the “social-democratic war of liberation,” diverse groups of women organize a feminist uprising as equality remains unfulfilled.

The movie Sinatra Eternity narrates the stormy relationship between Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner. Two huge idols meet, get together, fall in love and chaos reigns.