
Ed Emshwiller
- Known for
- Directing
- Born
- February 16, 1925
- Died
- July 27, 1990
- Birthplace
- Lansing, Michigan
Born in 1925, Ed Emshwiller studied graphic design at the University of Michigan and L'Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris. By the late '60s Emshwiller was working as a science fiction illustrator, and had established his place in the American avant-garde cinema with such works as Relativity (1966) and Image, Flesh and Voice (1969). His early films featured collaborations with dancers and choreographers—a theme he carried over into his videoworks. As both an artist and a teacher, Emshwiller’s pioneering efforts to develop an alternative technological language in video were enormously influential. His early experiments with synthesizers and computers included the electronic rendering of three-dimensional space, the interplay of illusion and reality, and manipulations of time, movement, and scale that explore the relationship between "external reality and subjective feelings." Emshwiller was among the first artists-in-residence at the TV Lab at WNET, where he produced the groundbreaking Scape-mates (1972). Sunstone (1979) was made over a period of eight months at the New York Institute of Technology. Emshwiller passed away in 1990 and an extensive collection of his work is housed by Anthology Film Archives.
Filmography

Birth of a Nation 1997
as Self

Hungers 1987
Director

Home Movies 1971-81 1985
Actor

Skin Matrix S 1984
Director

Skin Matrix 1984
Director

The Lathe of Heaven 1980
Special Effects

Sunstone 1979
Director, Writer

Eclipse 1979
Director

Dubs 1978
Director

Sur Faces 1977
Director

Lost, Lost, Lost 1976
as Self
- New England Visions Past and Future
New England Visions Past and Future 1976
Director

Self-Trio 1976
Director

Family Focus 1976
as Himself, Editor, Cinematography, Director
- Inside Edges
Inside Edges 1975
Director

Solstice and Solyanka 1975
Actor

Suite 212 1974
Camera Operator

Crossings and Meetings 1974
Director

Chrysalis 1973
Director, Cinematography, Sound
- Positive Negative Electronic Faces
Positive Negative Electronic Faces 1973
Director
- Identities
Identities 1973
Director

Pilobolus and Joan 1973
Director

Notes on the Buffalo Conference: “Autobiography in American Independent Cinema” 1973
Actor

Painters Painting 1973
Actor, Cinematography
- Woe Oh Ho No
Woe Oh Ho No 1972
Director

Scape-Mates 1972
Director, Writer
- Computer Graphics #1
Computer Graphics #1 1972
Director

Thermogenesis 1972
Director

Millhouse 1971
Cinematography

Film with Three Dancers 1971
Director

Choice Chance Woman Dance 1971
Director

Branches 1970
Director

Carol 1970
Director, Editor, Cinematography

Report 1970
Sound Recordist, Cinematography
- Images
Images 1970
Director

Image, Flesh and Voice 1969
Director
- Jr. Star Trek
Jr. Star Trek 1969
Cinematography

Project Apollo 1968
Director

Diaries, Notes, and Sketches 1968
as Self

Bob Dylan – Don't Look Back 1967
Camera Operator

Fusion 1967
Director

Galaxie 1966
as Self

Relativity 1966
Director
- In Three Zones
In Three Zones 1966
Director

Art Scene USA 1966
Director

Oysters Are in Season 1966
Director of Photography

George Dumpson's Place 1965
Director

Film Magazine of the Arts 1965
Cinematography
- Faces of America
Faces of America 1965
Director

Scrambles 1964
Director

Totem 1963
Director of Photography, Director, Editor

Hallelujah the Hills 1963
as Gideon, Cinematography
- Freedom March
Freedom March 1963
Director

Thanatopsis 1963
Director
- The Existentialist
The Existentialist 1963
Cinematography

The Streets of Greenwood 1962
Cinematography

The American Way 1962
Camera Operator

Time of the Heathen 1962
Editor, Art Direction, Cinematography

Lifelines 1960
Director

Transformation 1959
Director

Dance Chromatic 1959
Director
- Big Vacation
Big Vacation 1958
Director
- Monsters
Monsters 1958
Director

Paintings by Ed Emshwiller 1958
Director
- The Thing from Back Issues
The Thing from Back Issues 1956
Director
Credits from TMDB.