About

This program features the work of the Greek-American filmmaker Gregory J Markopoulos, with whom Beavers co-founded the Temenos Archive. It highlights the mythic dimensions of his cinema, and includes works completed during his stay in New York City between 1960-67 (Twice a Man 1963; Ming Green 1966) and just after he and Beavers relocated to Europe in 1967 (Bliss).

Twice a Man 1963

Set in New York City, the young Hippolytus (Paul Kilb) turns away from the advances of his mother, whom he sees in both her youth (Olympia Dukakis) and her old age (Violet Roditi). He is protected by Asclepius (Albert Torgessen), the older Artist Physician. The Greek term asclepieia refers to ancient temples which used dream states to heal pilgrims, and partially inspired Markopoulos’s vision for cinema and the Temenos.

Twice a Man marks a critical moment in Markopoulos’s filmmaking as he develops his vision for a new narrative form in which abstract, short film phrases (which he called the “thought-images” of the characters) interject traditional montage sequences. Markopoulos nurtures a healing synthesis between image and sound; between past, present, and future. He answers his own call for the modern filmmaker to “ravish the screen with his . . . vision.”

48 minutes | Ages 15+

Ming Green 1966

A portrait of Markopoulos’s New York apartment, made in the final months before he left for Europe. It was edited entirely in-camera at the moment of filming, features a soundtrack from Richard Wagner’s 'Wesendonck Song Cycle', and is dedicated to the filmmaker Stan Brakhage.

6 minutes | Ages 15+

Bliss 1967

The first film Markopoulos made after moving to Europe, Bliss is a portrait of the inside of the Byzantine church St. John the Baptist on the island of Hydra, Greece. It was filmed over two days and two rolls of film. Markopoulos captures the church’s resplendent colours using only natural sunlight. All editing and superimpositions were completed in-camera.

6 minutes | Ages 15+