Ed Pincus
Encyclopedia
Ed Pincus began filmmaking in 1964, developing a direct cinema approach to social and political problems. He has producer-director-DP credits on eight of his films and has been cinematographer on more than a dozen additional films.
Panola (1965-69), a portrait of a black man who may be a police informant, follows the ups and downs of his life as he tries to make sense of violence and non-violence during the heyday of the Civil Rights Movement in the South. One Step Away (1967), commissioned by Public Broadcasting Lab, charts the dissolution of a hippie commune during the Summer of Love
in San Francisco. The Way We See It, commissioned for a WNET Series. portrays a group of Hispanic teenagers as they try to make films on the Lower East Side of NYC.
Diaries: 1971-1976 (1981), about marriage, career, friends and family during the early days of the Women’s Liberation Movement
, was a seminal film in defining the possibilities of what came to be called “personal documentary.” Le Monde, in a front-page review, called Diaries “an epic work that redefines an art, forcing us to rethink what we thought we knew about the Cinema.”
Pincus stayed on the technical cutting edge of documentary—e.g., the early use of color in natural-light situations and the development of single-person filming techniques. A recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship (1972) and several National Endowment for the Arts
grants, Pincus started and developed the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) film section. He was Visiting Filmmaker at Minneapolis College of Art and Design
and Visiting Filmmaker for three years at Harvard.
, had its world premiere at the New York Film Festival
in 2007.
Films
His first film, Black Natchez (1965-67), telecast on NET Journal, charts early attempts to organize and register black voters in a Mississippi town. After a black leader is nearly killed in a car bombing, a power struggle develops within the black community for control. The National Guard is federalized, and a group of black men starts a self-defense organization.Panola (1965-69), a portrait of a black man who may be a police informant, follows the ups and downs of his life as he tries to make sense of violence and non-violence during the heyday of the Civil Rights Movement in the South. One Step Away (1967), commissioned by Public Broadcasting Lab, charts the dissolution of a hippie commune during the Summer of Love
Summer of Love
The Summer of Love was a social phenomenon that occurred during the summer of 1967, when as many as 100,000 people converged on the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco, creating a cultural and political rebellion...
in San Francisco. The Way We See It, commissioned for a WNET Series. portrays a group of Hispanic teenagers as they try to make films on the Lower East Side of NYC.
Diaries: 1971-1976 (1981), about marriage, career, friends and family during the early days of the Women’s Liberation Movement
Feminist movement
The feminist movement refers to a series of campaigns for reforms on issues such as reproductive rights, domestic violence, maternity leave, equal pay, women's suffrage, sexual harassment and sexual violence...
, was a seminal film in defining the possibilities of what came to be called “personal documentary.” Le Monde, in a front-page review, called Diaries “an epic work that redefines an art, forcing us to rethink what we thought we knew about the Cinema.”
Pincus stayed on the technical cutting edge of documentary—e.g., the early use of color in natural-light situations and the development of single-person filming techniques. A recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship (1972) and several National Endowment for the Arts
National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
grants, Pincus started and developed the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) film section. He was Visiting Filmmaker at Minneapolis College of Art and Design
Minneapolis College of Art and Design
Minneapolis College of Art and Design is a private, nonprofit four-year and postgraduate college specializing in the visual arts. Located in the Whittier neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, MCAD currently enrolls approximately 1,000 students offering curriculum that includes...
and Visiting Filmmaker for three years at Harvard.
Books
Pincus authored Guide to Filmmaking (1968) and co-authored The Filmmaker's Handbook (1984, 1999). After leaving filmmaking in the early 1980s, he lived and farmed in Vermont. Recently, he returned to filmmaking, forming a film company with Lucia Small, who made the award-winning documentary, My Father, the Genius. Their first film together, The Axe in the Attic, about the aftermath of Hurricane KatrinaHurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
, had its world premiere at the New York Film Festival
New York Film Festival
The New York Film Festival has been a major film festival since it began in 1963 in New York. The films are selected by the Film Society of Lincoln Center...
in 2007.