Richard Newton
Biography

Richard Newton began making artist films in 1969. His early art films and videos have shown at museums, galleries, ciné clubs, festivals, and on television. Flying with the Angels, 1997, won many awards and screened at festivals and independent venues around the world. Swift Nudes, 1973, won first prize at Certamen Internacional de Cine, Barcelona, Spain. In Vivo, 1974, represented the USA at the Mediterranean Environmental Award, Turkey, 2006.

Newton's first feature film, small white house, 1990, won the award for Best First Feature and was runner-up as best film in the festival at the 19th Festival Internacional de Cinema, Figueira da Foz, Portugal. small white house also won at the ARCO ‘91, 1st Exhibition of Experimental Cinema, Madrid, Spain. 

Many of Newton's films were shown at various venues during The Getty’s 2012 Pacific Standard Time, including the Los Angeles Filmforum’s Alternative Projections: Experimental Film in Los Angeles 1945-1980.

His groundbreaking fashion films, Traction Avenue and Lamy Men, both 1987, were shown at the 10th A Shaded View of Fashion film festival, 2018, Paris, France.

Weblink: https://vimeo.com/327099569, Password: Enjoy

Project Description

Over the past 50 years, I have shot artist films on Super 8mm, 16mm, 35mm, VHS, 3/4" U-matic, Beta SP, digital, ProRes, and other obscure mediums. You name it, I shot something in that format!!! 

Now, I have a large mish-mash of films and videos and data-driven moving images that need a little TLC. With a grant from Tree of Life, I would like to accomplish the following:

Create a comprehensive list of all films and videos, including unused clips and unfinished films: date shot, date completed, date first shown, venues and festivals where shown, total running time, complete writing, music and crew credits.

Telecine or migrate films to one consistent state-of-the-art format. 

Pull stills out of the completed films. 

Prepare a synopsis and trailer for each film.

Prepare digital files and make the films available online. 

Prepare a comprehensive catalog with credits, synopsis, screening history, back story, anecdotes, and photo stills from the films and make it available online as pdf, ebook, and print-on-demand book.

I've enjoyed some great accomplishments with my off-beat eccentric artist films. Now, it's time to create a summation that preserves the films for future generations and advances my oeuvre as a genuinely unique American voice.