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Kenneth Anger
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{{short description|American filmmaker and writer (1927–2023)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2024}} {{Infobox person | name = Kenneth Anger | image = Kenneth Anger FFFM 1.jpg | caption = Anger in 2019 | birth_name = Kenneth Wilbur Anglemyer | birth_date = {{Birth date|1927|02|03}} | birth_place = [[Santa Monica, California]], U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|2023|05|11|1927|02|03}} | death_place = [[Yucca Valley, California]], U.S. | occupation = {{hlist|Filmmaker|actor|writer}} | movement = [[Experimental film|Avant-garde cinema]] | years_active = 1937–2010s | awards = [[Maya Deren Award]] (1996) }} {{Thelema|expand=Key figures}} '''Kenneth Anger''' (born '''Kenneth Wilbur Anglemyer''', February 3, 1927 – May 11, 2023) was an American [[Underground film|underground]] [[experimental film]]maker, actor, and writer. Working exclusively in short films, he produced almost 40 works beginning in 1937, nine of which have been grouped together as the "Magick Lantern Cycle".<ref>{{harvnb|Hunter|2002|p=108}}</ref> Anger's films variously merge [[surrealism]] with [[homoeroticism]] and the [[occult]], and have been described as containing "elements of erotica, documentary, psychodrama, and spectacle".<ref name="Kinsey">[[The Kinsey Institute]], [http://www.kinseyinstitute.org/publications/newsletterFall2004.htm#anger ''Spotlight on the Collections: Filmmaker Kenneth Anger''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060310172549/http://www.kinseyinstitute.org/publications/newsletterFall2004.htm |date=March 10, 2006 }} 2004. Retrieved June 1, 2010.</ref> He has been called "one of America's first openly gay filmmakers",<ref>{{cite web|last=Svede|first=Mark Allen|year=2002|url=http://www.glbtq.com/arts/anger_k.html|title=Anger, Kenneth|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060526232054/http://www.glbtq.com/arts/anger_k.html |archive-date=May 26, 2006|website=glbtq}}</ref> with several films released before [[LGBT rights in the United States|homosexuality was legalized in the U.S.]] Anger also explored [[occult]] themes in many of his films; he was fascinated by the English occultist [[Aleister Crowley]] and an adherent of [[Thelema]], the religion Crowley founded. Anger was born into a middle-class [[Presbyterian]] family in [[Santa Monica, California]]. He began making short films when he was 14 years old, although his first film to gain any recognition was the homoerotic ''[[Fireworks (1947 film)|Fireworks]]'' (1947). The work's controversial nature led to his trial on obscenity charges, but he was acquitted. A friendship and working relationship subsequently began with pioneering [[sexologist]] [[Alfred Kinsey]]. Moving to Europe, Anger produced a number of shorts inspired by the [[avant-garde]] scene there, such as ''[[Eaux d'Artifice]]'' (1953) and ''[[Rabbit's Moon]]'' (1971). Returning to the U.S. in the early 1950s, Anger began work on several new projects, including the films ''[[Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome]]'' (1954), ''[[Scorpio Rising (film)|Scorpio Rising]]'' (1964), ''[[Kustom Kar Kommandos]]'' (1965), and the gossip book ''[[Hollywood Babylon]]'' (1965). The latter became infamous for various dubious and sensationalist claims, many of which were disproved, though some remain [[urban legend]]s.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Robey |first1=Tim |title=Was 'It girl' Clara Bow the real-life epitome of Babylon – or one of predatory Hollywood's earliest victims? |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/girl-clara-bow-real-life-epitome-babylon-one-predatory-hollywoods/ |access-date=January 4, 2023 |work=The Telegraph}}</ref> Getting to know several notable [[countercultural]] figures of the time, Anger involved them in his subsequent Thelema-themed works, ''[[Invocation of My Demon Brother]]'' (1969) and ''[[Lucifer Rising (film)|Lucifer Rising]]'' (1972). After failing to produce a sequel to ''Lucifer Rising'', which he attempted through the mid-1980s, Anger retired from filmmaking, instead focusing on ''Hollywood Babylon II'' (1984). In the 2000s he returned to filmmaking, producing shorts for various film festivals and events. Anger described filmmakers such as [[Auguste and Louis Lumière]], [[Georges Méliès]], and [[Maya Deren]] as influences,<ref>{{harvnb|Landis|1995|p=24}}</ref> and has been cited as an important influence on directors like [[Martin Scorsese]],<ref>{{Cite book|title = The Encyclopedia of American Independent Filmmaking|last = LoBrutto|first = Vincent|publisher = Greenwood|year = 2002|isbn = 0-313-30199-9|location = Connecticut|pages = [https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofam0000lobr/page/16 16]|url-access = registration|url = https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofam0000lobr/page/16}}</ref> [[David Lynch]],<ref>{{harvnb|Lachman|p=19}}</ref> and [[John Waters]].<ref>{{harvnb|Landis|1995|p=195}}</ref> ''[[Kinsey Institute|Kinsey Today]]'' argued that Anger had "a profound impact on the work of many other filmmakers and artists, as well as on music video as an emergent art form using dream sequence, dance, fantasy, and narrative."<ref name="Kinsey" />
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