Born in 1930 to a family of Swedish immigrants, Robert Nelson studied painting until changing his focus to concentrate on filmmaking in the early 1960s. Strong influences included the Bay Area bohemian Beat scene and the improvisatory theatre of the San Francisco Mime Troupe, with which he would ultimately collaborate on several films. His marriage to experimental filmmaker Gunvor Nelson also helped jumpstart his early filmmaking impulse and instigated many films.
Hauling Toto Big is a dense and ecstatic work of fragmented narratives, dream states, chaos and serenity… a culmination of Nelson's cinematic interests. Winner of the Grand Prize at the 1998 Ann Arbor Film Festival. ...
Watch NowExperimental filmmaker Robert Nelson brings his characteristic wit to this restaging of the famous "play rehearsal" scene from Hamlet, breaking down the barriers between film, theatre, performance, and creation. "Hamlet Act demonstrates what can be done wh ...
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The first part of what was intended to be a three-part experimental travelog for Nelson's home state of California, this film covers the Mexican border, Death Valley, and Hollywood/Los Angeles. ...
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A 'film wake'. Though celebratory in mood, it has a mournful subtext… death and dying. We dedicated it to Dr. Sam West, departed friend and patron of the arts, trusting that his ghost would approve our hi-jinx and seeming irreverence. Preserved by the A ...
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"Even when we know the game is an illusion, the experience of Bleu Shut is entirely a pleasure: the 'game' is fun, the Nelson/Wiley debates, infectiously funny; and Nelson's choice of imagery, quirky and amusing. Bleu Shut reveals, and allows us to enjoy, ...
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A chaotic film featuring the Grateful Dead. The songs that are included are Sitting on Top of the World, Good Morning Little Schoolgirl, Cold Rain and Snow, and something that might be Viola Lee Blues. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2007. ...
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"In their starkly minimal film, The Awful Backlash, directors Robert Nelson and William Allan, focus solely on a pair of hands as they begin to unravel what appears to be a tangled fishing line. Any further evidence of the title's confusing 'awfulness' – ...
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Shooting in 1966 without script, story, or any narrative preconception, Nelson and Wiley created a masterwork of '60s independent cinema. The Great Blondino follows an anachronistically attired young fellow as he navigates a beguiling, sometimes troubling ...
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The Off-Handed Jape is an afternoon's lark made by Nelson and his artist friend William Wiley. The two men perform whimsical actions and poses for the camera, then recontextualize this imagery by improvising their own commentary on the action at a later ti ...
Watch NowA kinetic film sketch designed to involve the viewers muscles. The rocky seaside cliffs near Stinson Beach, California, hold the wrecked carcass of a #52 pickup that is a rusting monument to Hot Leatherette. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2005. ...
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Nelson sets minimal, repetitive imagery against a looping recording of his daughter Oona, which goes gradually from sweet to curious to mysterious to cacophonous as the loops overlap each other. Since its premiere alongside The Great Blondino and other sho ...
Watch NowRecurrent themes of violence, sex and TV commercials. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2004. ...
Watch NowA film by Robert Nelson. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2011. ...
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"Dada-inspired performance in which absurd actions take place in an environment of strange symbols and graphic forms." -Mark Webber. Design by William T. Wiley and Robert Hudson. Sound collage by Steve Reich. ...
Watch NowA 'film wake'. Though celebratory in mood, it has a mournful subtext… death and dying. We dedicated it to Dr. Sam West, departed friend and patron of the arts, trusting that his ghost would approve our hi-jinx and seeming irreverence. Preserved by the A ...
Watch Now"When Picasso died I wanted to make the first post-mortem documentary, as I knew would happen anyway, and cheaply. The film took four hours to finish from camera to print and cost a little under $5." Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2008. ...
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A feature-length documentary directed by Dorothy Wiley and Gunvor Nelson about five working San Francisco artists: William T. Wiley, Robert Hudson, William Allan, William Geis and Robert Nelson-- A profile of five friends and their creative processes. ...
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A continuous dissolve of 87 male and female nudes. "The film's fascination lies with the suspense of that magic moment, halfway between two persons, when the dissolve technique produces composite figures, oftentimes hermaphroditic, that inspires awe for t ...
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A black-and-white travel journal, in which the themes of memories and their relationship to the past suddenly catch up and rush away from us. The film is based on a series of portraits of American artists, all of whom belong to a young and politicized gene ...
Watch NowThe Off-Handed Jape is an afternoon's lark made by Nelson and his artist friend William Wiley. The two men perform whimsical actions and poses for the camera, then recontextualize this imagery by improvising their own commentary on the action at a later ti ...
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