Amy Halpern

Amy
Halpern

Amy Halpern is the maker of nearly forty short films, almost all in 16mm., and of the feature film FALLING LESSONS (1991). Halpern was born and raised in New York City and has lived and worked in Los ...

Films

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    A Glance
    Experimental

    A Glance
    Amy Halpern

    16mm, color, 1 min
    Rental format: 16mm
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    Roll #1, For Nancy
    Experimental

    Roll #1, For Nancy
    Amy Halpern

    16mm, color, silent, 3.75 min
    Rental format: 16mm
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    Three Preparations
    Experimental

    Three Preparations
    Amy Halpern

    16mm, color, silent, 4.5 min
    Rental format: 16mm
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    Peach Landscape
    Experimental

    Peach Landscape
    Amy Halpern

    16mm, color, silent, 4.5 min
    Rental format: 16mm
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    Filament (The Hands)
    Experimental

    Filament (The Hands)
    Amy Halpern

    16mm, black and white, silent, 15.5 min
    Rental format: 16mm
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    Cigarette Burn
    Experimental

    Cigarette Burn
    Amy Halpern

    16mm, black and white, sound, 9 min
    Rental format: 16mm
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    Invocation
    Experimental

    Invocation
    Amy Halpern

    color, silent, 2 min
    Rental format: 16mm
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    Silent Preparation
    Experimental

    Silent Preparation
    Amy Halpern

    16mm, color, silent, 2.5 min
    Rental format: 16mm
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    Falling Lessons
    Experimental

    Falling Lessons
    Amy Halpern

    color, sound, 64 min
    Rental format: 16mm
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    Pouring Grain
    Experimental

    Pouring Grain
    Amy Halpern

    16mm, color, silent, 2 min
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    Access to the View
    Experimental

    Access to the View
    Amy Halpern

    color, sound, 2 min
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    Injury On A Theme
    Experimental

    Injury On A Theme
    Amy Halpern

    16mm, color, sound, 7 min
    Rental format: 16mm
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    By Halves
    Experimental

    By Halves
    Amy Halpern

    16mm, color, silent, 7 min
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    Palm Down
    Experimental

    Palm Down
    Amy Halpern

    16mm, color, silent, 7 min
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    Cheshire Smile
    Experimental

    Cheshire Smile
    Amy Halpern

    16mm, color, sound, 5 min
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    Three Minute Hells
    Experimental

    Three Minute Hells
    Amy Halpern

    16mm, color, sound, 14 min
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    Elixir
    Experimental

    Elixir
    Amy Halpern

    16mm, color, sound, 7 min

Biography

Amy Halpern is the maker of nearly forty short films, almost all in 16mm., and of the feature film FALLING LESSONS (1991). Halpern was born and raised in New York City and has lived and worked in Los Angeles for more than 40 years.

Amy Halpern’s films are abstract in their concern with light, movement and the film medium, but they are also human in their elements and themes.

The idea which persists throughout her work is that of liberation – from social, political, psychological, perceptual and even bodily constraints.

Halpern first trained as a dancer, and as a teenager was a member of the fiercely radical Lynda Gudde Dance Company in New York City. Her grasp of body movement and gesture informs all of her films, and she uses her own body in several; the conjuring hands in INVOCATION are her own, and she is the furiously writhing Woman in the White Room in FALLING LESSONS.

In 2012 Halpern completed ASSORTED MORSELS, a suite of eight short films exaltations. It included THREE MINUTE HELLS, INJURY ON A THEME, BY HALVES, PALM DOWN and ELIXER. In 2022 she completed another suite of 12 short films, including HULA, CHABROT, FOUR FINGERS FIVE TOES and I TREMBLE, which premiered in June 2022 at the S8 Mostra de Cinema Periférico in A Coruña, Spain.

Committed to encouraging a wider awareness of abstract film, Halpern co-founded two screening cooperatives: the New York Collective for Living Cinema (1972-1982) and the Los Angeles Independent Film Oasis (1975-1980). She has taught at various institutions, including for seven years in the University of Southern California Department of Cinema.

Halpern has collaborated as cinematographer and gaffer on many films, including Pat O’Neill’s THE DECAY OF FICTION, Charles Burnett’s MY BROTHER’S WEDDING, and David Lebrun’s BREAKING THE MAYA CODE and OUT OF THE MAYA TOMBS.

Her work in multimedia includes collaboration in the 1970s with Ken and Flo Jacobs NEW YORK APPARITION THEATER, a 3D shadow play company, and between 2010 and 2015 as a member of the classic West Coast light show group, SINGLE WING TURQUOISE BIRD.