Danny Williams 1/8/07

Saturday night I went to see three experimental films by Danny Williams. Williams was a friend of Andy Warhol's who worked in the Factory Scene. In 1965 he disappeared, never to be heard from again. His niece made a documentary film about his disappearance titled "A Walk In The Sea."

William's family did not know he made films until recently when the Museum Of Modern Art found the three films mixed in with a collection of Warhol films that are awaiting restoration. None of the films had a soundtrack, but at the showing live musicians created a soundtrack for the longest of the three.

The films were in 16mm black and white and we edited in the camera. (A very hard thing to do) The used a lot of slow and fashion motion techniques. Most of the footage was of people working or partying at the factory. There is a long party scene that includes Edie Sedgewick and poet Gerard Malanga. The people are squeezed onto a couch with their limbs strew over each other as the drink champaign and laugh. Although they were obviously happy and having a good time, there was something eerie about the footage. Something melencholy about it. Almost ghostly.

The last of the three films was the earliest footage of Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground. Lou looks like a scared boy who is in over his head in the factory scene.

The showing was only the fourth time the the films had been seen by the public. The audience included some of the old Factory people who I know from watching documentaries about the period. After was William's niece led a discussion Q&A with the audience. Both the film and the event were quite inspiring.