July '71 in San Francisco, Living at Beach Street, Working at Canyon Cinema, Swimming in the Valley of the Moon

"Diary films have become a distinct genre of the independent film movement. Like a written diary, they forego the necessity of plot, character development and other attributes of a well-constructed story and concentrate simply but lovingly on the day-to-day or moment-to-moment events happening to the filmmakers. Peter Hutton's film is, to my mind, one of the best of the genre - for it truly lets us get inside the filmmaker's mind and sensations through, and in conjunction with, his role as filmmaker. It is almost as if we see how carrying around the camera and focusing on different people, things and events actually changes and refines the filmmaker's normal perception of them. The camera becomes an instrument not to record reality but to expand it. And like any diary, it is both an exploration and crystallization of events and impressions in one's life." - David Bienstock

"Very down to earth, very clear, very good feeling. The clarity of the mind, the clarity of the camera, the clarity of thought - it all adds to a very clear film." - Jonas Mekas, The Village Voice

Author: 

Year: 

1971

Country: 

United States
Technical data

Original format: 

16mm

Speed: 

24FPS

Aspect ratio: 

1.37:1

Colour: 

B&W

Sound: 

Silent

Length: 

35 minutes

Distribution/sales: 

Copies for rent:

  • Canyon Cinema

Image Gallery: 

July '71 in San Francisco, Living at Beach Street, Working at Canyon Cinema, Swimming in the Valley of the Moon (Peter Hutton, 1971)
July '71 in San Francisco, Living at Beach Street, Working at Canyon Cinema, Swimming in the Valley of the Moon (Peter Hutton, 1971)

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