Chuck Statler
John Porter
Jeff Krulik
Larua Browder
David Williams
For more information, see Guests of the 2007 Festival

Ray Harryhausen
Martha Colburn
Gary Lucas
David Williams
Hotel X
For more information, see Guests of the 2006 Festival

Diane Bonder
Nathaniel Dorsky
David Durston
Lynn Lowry
Pere Ubu
For more information, see Guests of the 2005 Festival

JONAS MEKAS
Mr. Mekas has worn many hats in the avant-garde film world – poet, filmmaker, critic (for "The Village Voice" 1959-76), but none so important as spokesman for the experimental, or living, cinema he advocates. To this end he established the Anthology Film Archives in NYC and the Filmmaker's Co-op; his latest film is the diary epic, "As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty" (2002).

ED SANDERS
Poet, editor of "The Woodstock Journal," activist, founder/singer for folk-rock badboys The Fugs, Mr. Sanders has authored books on Charles Manson, Allen Ginsberg, and the Beat era. He won an American Book award for "Thirsting for Peace in a Raging Century," "Selected Poems 1961-1985" and in 2002 published "America, A History in Verse, (Vols.I-III)."

JOANNA PRIESTLEY
More than fourteen of animator Priestley's films have been honored at festivals, and she is the recipient of the Canadian International Animation Special Merit Award. A resident of Portland, Oregon, Ms. Priestley has produced animated sequences for the videos of Joni Mitchell and Tears for Fears; her shorts include "Rubber Stamp Film" and "Surface Dive." Recently, she collaborated with artist Karen Aqua (JRFF guest in 2000) on a piece entitled, "Mojacar, an expressionistic view of Spain."
users.easystreet.com/joanna/

CHARLENE GILBERT
Ms. Gilbert's previous credits include "This is My House," "The Kitchen Blues" and as co-producer of "W. E. B. Du Bois: A Biography in Four Voices." Her latest "Homecoming" (1998), investigated the loss of land by black farmers from the Reconstruction to today. Currently she teaches communications at American University.

LES BLANK
Documentarian Blank has been producing his unique films since the early 1960s on diverse subjects but often finding his way to a form of truth by investigating food and music. Best known for "The Blues Accordin' to Lightnin' Hopkins" (1969) and "Garlic is as Good as Ten Mothers" (1980) he won a British Academy Award for Best Documentary with "Burden of Dreams" in 1982, a chronicle of Werner Herzog's two year production of "Fitzcarraldo." www.lesblank.com

RICHARD MYERS
Ohio-based filmmaker Myers shorts have played the Ann Arbor and San Francisco Film Festivals and his feature "Akran" (1969) evoked comparisons to Godard's early work (Roger Ebert). Beautifully crafted by Myers and his film circle (students, family and friends), surreal and mysterious since Myers cultivates a dream journal, his movies prod the "collective sub-conscious”, especially "37-73."

CORKY QUAKENBUSH
Mr. Quakenbush, who specializes in stop-motion animation, is probably best known for the short films he produced for Fox's "Mad TV,” but he also directed the award-winning, "One Hand Left" which aired frequently on FXM. His latest work includes a number of animated shorts for Oxygen Network which were combined into a one-hour special. In addition, a retrospective screening of his work was shown at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen.

GUNNAR HANSEN
Screen icon of Tobe Hooper's cult horror film, "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" (1974) (now in MOMA's permanent collection), actor/travel author Hansen will be forever known to fans as "Leatherface”.

ELIZABETH BARRETT
Appalshop filmmaker Barrett has pursued an abiding interest in her native Kentucky with "Quilting Women" (1976) and "Hand-Carved" (1980). Her latest, "Stranger with a Camera" (2000), examines the relationship between subject and documentary by revisiting the 1967 death of a Canadian cameraman in a neighboring Appalachian county.

HERB E. SMITH
One of the first students of Appalshop (founded in 1969 in Whitesburg, Kentucky, to document mountain culture) to use a movie camera was Smith who's covered everything from a teacher's strike to a coon dog competition; his latest is "The Ralph Stanley Story" (2000) a profile of the bluegrass legend.

ALAN BERLINER
Independent filmmaker Berliner has reworked the "family portrait” documentary with "The Family Album" (1986), "Intimate Stranger" (1991) and "Nobody's Business" (1996); in 2000 MOMA honored him with a retrospective. www.alanberliner.com

TOM VERLAINE
As the guitarist/composer for Television in the late 1970s, Verlaine's lilting style was described by Patti Smith as being "like a thousand bluebirds screaming." His solo work "Flashlight" (1987) and "Warm and Cool" (1992) drew critical attention; his music for film is composed for live guitar accompaniment to avant-garde classics by Man Ray, Fernand Leger, Carl Dreyer and others.

CHARLES BURNETT
Mr. Burnett's first feature, "Killer of Sheep" (1973, released 1977), is a landmark release in the history of African-American independent film and has been adopted into the National Registry. His other films include "To Sleep with Anger" (1989), "Nightjohn" (1996), and the work-in-progress, "Nat Turner, A Troublesome Property."
2001 interview with Charles Burnett by Michael Jones.

PAUL ARTHUR
Professor of Cinema Studies at Montclair State University, New Jersey, Arthur has for twenty-five years been a regular contributor to "Film Comment," "Cineaste," and "Artforum;" his most recent book is "Film Noir and the Cold War."

ALBERT MAYSLES
One of the pioneers and advocates of a documentary approach that he calls "direct cinema”, Maysles and brother David have produced such classics as "Salesman" (1968), "Grey Gardens" (1975) and "Gimme Shelter" (1970), which chronicled the Rolling Stones cross-country tour to notoriety and tragedy at Altamont in 1969. www.mayslesfilms.com

JOHN O'BRIEN
Vermont-based independent director O'Brien's first feature "Vermont is for Lovers" (1992) screened at the James River Festival in 1994; his follow-up, the mockumentay "Man with a Plan" (1996), nearly got neighbor farmer Fred Tuttle elected to Congress!

RAYNOR SCHEINE
Veteran actor and VCU alumnus Scheine has appeared on stage, television and over 35 movies including "Fried Green Tomatoes," "My Cousin Vinny," and "The Quick and the Dead."

JOHN COLUMBUS
Mr. Columbus founded the Black Maria Film and Video Festival in 1981 which currently is the largest traveling exhibition in the United States.

JOHN DILWORTH
Animator Dilworth's "Dirty Birdy" and "The Chicken from Outer Space" won numerous festival awards; his animation has appeared on MTV, Liquid Television and Nickelodeon. John's eleventh animated film, "Catch of the Day," starring Noodles and Nedd, was completed in 2000. The film won 1st place at ASIFA-East Animation Festival in San Francisco and 2nd place at ASIFA-East Animation Festival in New York City. In September 2000, Stretch Films launched its website, www.stretchfilms.com.

STAN BRAKHAGE
(1933–2003)
One of the major figures of the American underground is the prolific experimentalist Brakhage. Having produced hundreds of shorts since the early fifties, Brakhage continues by hand-coloring directly on 70mm. His "Dog Star Man" (1961-1964) is in the permanent collection of the Library of Congress. Mr. Brakhage is also the author of "Metaphors on Vision" and "Brakhage Scrapbook."

SCOTT MacDONALD
Film scholar and critic MacDonald teaches film studies at Utica College, New York and is the author of "Screen Writings: Scripts and Texts by Independent Filmmakers" and "A Critical Cinema 1 & 2" as well as contributions to "Film Quarterly" and other journals. His most recent book is "The Garden in the Machine, A Field Guide to Independent Films about Place."

WILLIAM WEGMAN
Experimental video artist Wegman has produced work for "Sesame Street" and "Saturday Night Live," exhibited at countless museums and galleries world-wide, and produced photobook adaptations of "Cinderella" and "Little Red Riding Hood" featuring his omni-present pet weimaraners. www.wegmanworld.com

SLOBODAN PESIC
Director/writer Pesic's feature, "In Harm's Case" (1988, Yugoslavia), is a stylized, almost surreal adaptation of the tragic life of Russian avant-garde poet Danil Harms.