Ben Van Meter: Films of Ex-Spirit-Mental Cinema of the Sixties: Twilight of My Humble Brother & Acid Mantra
Ben Van Meter (b. 1941) began making films and light shows in the mid-1960s in San Francisco and soon became a leading figure in Bay Area underground filmmaking. His films, especially S. F. Trips Festival–An Opening (1966) and the epic Acid Mantra (1968), are compelling attempts to visually and sonically inscribe psychedelia as experience and philosophy in the medium of film. Van Meter’s films were unavailable for many years, but their ongoing restoration by the Academy Film Archive and their inclusion in the de Young Museum’s 2017 exhibition, The Summer of Love Experience: Art, Fashion, and Rock & Roll, has gained them a new audience.
Join us for an evening screening several of Ben Van Meter’s films, part of Films with Friends.
THOSE GUYS are a collective of filmmakers, curators, artists, cinephiles, writers, and projection enthusiasts who want to celebrate North Beach and Telegraph Hill’s rich and significant film tradition and history. The mission is to get people off their couches to watch and talk about films together in the community. Sponsored by Telegraph Hill Dwellers.