Film Series
Les Blank
Inimitable ethnographer of offbeat and unknown Americana, the late, great documentarian Les Blank chronicled the music, food, and rituals of regional micro-cultures. From odes to garlic and gap-toothed women, to intimate portraits of blues and folk music legends, to broadcasts from the wacky world of Werner Herzog, Blank’s films are joyous celebrations of folk traditions and larger-than-life personalities.
Blank celebrates Louisiana’s Cajun and Creole cultures in these boisterous documentaries.
Blank profiles two musical legends in these exuberant documentary portraits.
Blank tours the sights, sounds, and tastes of Louisiana in this pair of documentaries.
The eccentric filmmaker does penance, plus a valentine to America’s polka-mad underground.
Blank chronicles the various setbacks in the making of Werner Herzog’s Fitzcarraldo.
Werner Herzog helms this epic about a man’s quest to build an opera house in the Amazon.
Hippies, gap-toothed women, and garlic lovers are featured in this trio of Blank shorts.
Blank captures the music and musings of two remarkable Texan bluesmen.
Blank profiles two true American originals in these short documentaries.