
Born in Connecticut in 1936, Lawder attended Williams College and the National Autonomous University of Mexico as an undergraduate, and studied at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. While at the University of Munich, he became a test subject for a neurologist researching phosphenes at around 1960. During these experiments, he was injected with measured amounts of LSD, mescaline and psilocybin, and "spent a whole day in the clinic". In this, he became an early subject of psychedelics. Afterwards, he received his Doctor of Philosophy as an art historian at Yale University. His thesis, which was later published as The Cubist Cinema, examines the correlation between the history of film and its impact on modern art, described as a holistic overview by Anthony Reveaux inFilm Quarterly. His body of work is purported to span over 25 films and his literary works encapsulates several essays on experimental film. His first endeavors with experimental films started in his basement during a sabbatical of his in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Cinema16: American Short Films 2006
Director
Electronical Politics 1988
Director
Catfilm for Katy and Cynnie 1974
Director
Intolerance (abridged) 1973
Director
Raindance 1972
Director
Sunday In Southbury 1972
Director
Color Film 1971
Director
Roadfilm 1970
Director
Dangling Participle 1970
Director
Corridor 1970
Director, Editor
Eleven Different Horses 1970
Director
Necrology 1970
Director
Runaway 1969
Director
Catfilm for Ursula 1969
Director
Construction Job 1969
Director
The March of the Garter Snakes 1965
Director
Solstice and Solyanka 1975
Actor
Diaries, Notes, and Sketches 1968
as Self
Credits from TMDB.