Tom Joslin's Architecture of Mountains
An unfinished 16mm film constructed in 2012 by Ben Balcom, Sam Shapiro, and Abraham Ravett.
Before he left for LA in 1981 to pursue a career in Hollywood, filmmaker Tom Joslin completed an innovative and—to this day—historically significant film called Black Star: Autobiography of a Close Friend (1976, 85 minutes, color, sound, 16mm). It was one of the first autobiographical, diary format films that addressed the issue of gay identity and coming out to one's family. It's a beautifully made film, formally inventive, and still resonates on many fronts.
When Tom passed away from AIDS, he left all his video tapes from another autobiographical project he had been shooting in LA to a former student named Peter Friedman who in turn, found the resources to construct the much acclaimed film, Silverlake Life: The View from Here (1993).
Prior to leaving Hampshire College in 1980, Tom was working on a 16mm film inspired by Jose Arguelles' book, The Transformative Vision: Reflections on the Nature and History of Human Expression. Shot in sync and MOS, the footage reflects Tom's interest in perception, human consciousness, and signaled his evolving interest in fusing non-fiction, experimental and dramatic genres. All the original materials for this unfinished film were stored at the LA home of Ken Levin, another Hampshire College alum who along with several other students, worked with Tom on this project, which he called the the Architecture of Mountains.
For the past few year's I've been teaching courses on "recycled images," and prior to one session, asked Ken Levin if we could use the Architecture of Mountains footage as part of a class project. For the past three years, a small group of students and I shaped the material into a 62 minute film that is based on Tom's production notes, conversations with Tom's former students about the project, and the Jose Arguelles text. The primary editor is Ben Balcom. Sam Shapiro was responsible for all activities that created the DVD. The final version is an attempt to construct what Tom may have wanted to do with this material as well as our own engagement and fascination with the footage.
Once post-production costs are met, all funds from the sale of the DVD will be contributed to Hampshire College's Tom Joslin Fund which helps support student internships and Division III projects.
Articles and Events
Nomadic Archive: Abraham Ravett presents the Works of Tom Joslin (6/2/12) — UnionDocs
Unfinished Tom Joslin Film Completed at Hampshire College (2/6/13) — College News
Beyond Silverlake: At Hampshire College, a second life for filmmaker Tom Joslin's 1970s footage (7/23/13) — Valley Advocate
A DVD copy of the film can be obtained by contacting Abraham Ravett.