Citizendia

Les Blank (b. 1935, Tampa, Florida, United States) is an American documentary filmmaker best known for his portraits of American traditional musicians. Year 1935 ( MCMXXXV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Florida ( is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The United States of America —commonly referred to as the

Blank attended Tulane University in New Orleans, where he received a B. Tulane University is a private, Nonsectarian, Coeducational Research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana. New Orleans (nʲuːˈɔrliənz nʲuːˈɔrlənz French: La Nouvelle-Orléans) is a major United States port city and the largest city in Louisiana A. in English literature and an M. F. A. in theater. He had also studied communications at the University of Southern California. The University of Southern California (commonly referred to as USC, SC, Southern California, and incorrectly [1][2] Following his university education he founded his own production company, Flower Films, and all of his films since that time have been independently produced, often with the assistance of grants from cultural agencies, both governmental and non-governmental.

Most of his films focus on American traditional music forms including (among others) blues, Appalachian, Cajun, Creole, Tex-Mex, polka, tamburitza, and Hawaiian musics. The Blues is a vocal and instrumental form of Music based on the use of the Blue notes It emerged as an accessible form of self-expression Old-time music is a form of North American Folk music, with roots in the Folk musics of many countries including England, Scotland, Tejano music (Spanish-Texan music is the name given to various forms of folk and popular music originating among the Hispanic populations of Central and Southern Texas The polka is a fast lively Central European Dance and also a genre of dance music familiar throughout Europe and the Americas The Tamburitza ( Croatian: Tamburica, meaning Little Tambura) is a String instrument popular in the traditional folk music The music of Hawaii includes an array of traditional and popular styles ranging from native Hawaiian folk music to modern rock and hip hop. Many of these films represent the only filmed documents of master musicians who are now deceased.

Blank's films focusing on musical subjects often spend much of their running time focusing not on the music itself but on the music's cultural context, lending richness to the portrayals of the surroundings from which these American roots musics come.

Other notable films on non-musical subjects include a film about garlic and another about gap-toothed women, as well as two films about German film director Werner Herzog: Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe (1980) and Burden of Dreams (1982), the latter about the filming of Herzog's Fitzcarraldo. Allium sativum L, commonly known as garlic, is a species in the Onion family Alliaceae. Werner Herzog (born Werner H Stipetić; September 5 1942 is a German Film director, Screenwriter, actor and Opera director Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe is a short documentary film directed by Les Blank in 1980 which depicts director Werner Herzog living up to Burden of Dreams (1982 is a feature-length documentary and making-of directed by Les Blank, shot during and about the chaotic production of Werner Herzog Fitzcarraldo is a 1982 film written and directed by Werner Herzog and starring Klaus Kinski as the title character His most recent film, All In This Tea (originally titled White Feathers, Black Bones), begun in 1997 and released in 2007, is a profile of the Berkeley, California-based tea importer and adventurer David Lee Hoffman. Year 1997 ( MCMXCVII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1997 Gregorian calendar Berkeley is a city on the east shore of San Francisco Bay in Northern California, in the United States. California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. Tea refers to the cured agricultural product of the leaves leaf buds and internodes of Camellia sinensis, which have been prepared and cured for the market

Les's son, Harrod Blank, has also become a documentary filmmaker. Harrod Blank (b Westminster California, United States, 1963 is an American documentary filmmaker and Art car artist living in Berkeley

Blank lives in El Cerrito, Contra Costa County, California, where his company, Flower Films, is based. El Cerrito is a City in Contra Costa County, California, United States.

Filmography

References

  1. ^ Notable Alumni, USC School of Cinematic Arts. Chulas Fronteras is a Documentary film from 1976 which tells the story of the norteño or conjunto music which is played on both sides of Always for Pleasure is a 1978 documentary film by Les Blank about social traditions in New Orleans Louisiana. Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe is a short documentary film directed by Les Blank in 1980 which depicts director Werner Herzog living up to Garlic Is As Good As Ten Mothers ( 1980) is a Documentary film about Garlic directed by Les Blank. Burden of Dreams (1982 is a feature-length documentary and making-of directed by Les Blank, shot during and about the chaotic production of Werner Herzog All In This Tea is a 2007 documentary film co-directed by Les Blank and Gina Leibrecht about Chinese tea.
  2. ^ About this Person: Les Blank, All Movie Guide, NY Times.

External links

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