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Lawrence Jordan

Directing Born Jan 1, 1934 Denver, Colorado, USA 122 credits

Biography

Known principally as a maverick spirit in the world of avant-garde American cinema, Lawrence Jordan played an important role in the late 1950s and early 1960s San Francisco art scene. Jordan has made over seventy experimental films, including a number of fanciful, filmic animations made from collaged cut outs of Victorian engravings. The animations extend dreamlike imagery of collaged landscape into a cinematic realm of transformation and free form symbolism. Jordan seeks to delve into the deep structures and Jungian connotations of the mythological images his films reference. His alchemical approach to imagery creates what he has called the “theater of the mind, which you construct. That is the Underworld... the realm of the imagination. You have to have a place to work with images.”

Jordan founded the film department of the San Francisco Art institute in 1969 and taught there for over thirty years. He made his own box assemblages in Cornell ’s lyrically evocative style since the mid-1960s. Many feature ingenious mechanical and kinetic effects. He continues to make films and box collages at his home and studio in Petaluma where he has lived since 1978.

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Known for

Chuhai Lips: Canned Flavor of Married Women

2025
Film

The Extraordinary Child

1954

Frequent co-stars

Robert Benson 1 shared title
Stan Brakhage 1 shared title
Yvonne Fair 1 shared title
Walter Newcomb 1 shared title

Career timeline

Hommage · DirectorReve d'Or · Director
Harper's Bazar · DirectorHarper's Bazar · Animation
Alchemy · DirectorBelle du Jour · DirectorBelle du Jour · Editor
Encounters in Light
The Ogre's Garden · DirectorOz · Director
Delirium · Director
Entr’acte III · DirectorTime Travel · Director
Night Light · Director
The Apoplectic Walrus · DirectorThe Apoplectic Walrus · DirectorEntr'acte II · Director
Entr'Acte · DirectorEntr'Acte · Director of PhotographyEntr'Acte · EditorDriving Demons · DirectorInferno · Director
After the Circus · DirectorAfter the Circus · EditorAfter the Circus · CinematographySolar Sight III · DirectorSolar Sight III · Writer
Solar Sight II · Director
Solar Sight · Director
Cosmic Alchemy · DirectorBeyond Enchantment · Director
Circus Savage · Director
The Miracle of Don Cristobal · DirectorThe Miracle of Don Cristobal · EditorBlue Skies Beyond the Looking Glass · Director
Silent Sonatas · Director
Poet's Dream · Director
Enid's Idyll · DirectorChateau/Poyet · Director
Postcard from San Miguel · Director
The Grove · DirectorThe Grove · CinematographyThe Grove · EditorStar of Day · DirectorStar of Day · Editor
The Black Oud · DirectorThe Black Oud · CinematographyThe Black Oud · Editor
The Visible Compendium · Director
TapestryTapestry · Director
Sophie's Place · Director
Adagio · DirectorWinter Light · Director
In a Summer Garden · Director
Masquerade · Director
Carabosse · DirectorFinds of the Fortnight · Director
Moonlight Sonata · Director

Full filmography

  • Hommage (2024) Director
  • Reve d'Or (2024) Director
  • Harper's Bazar (2022) Director
  • Harper's Bazar (2022) Animation
  • Alchemy (2021) Director
  • Belle du Jour (2021) Director
  • Belle du Jour (2021) Editor
  • Encounters in Light (2020) as The Filmmaker
  • The Ogre's Garden (2019) Director
  • Oz (2019) Director
  • Delirium (2018) Director
  • Entr’acte III (2017) Director
  • Time Travel (2017) Director
  • Night Light (2016) Director
  • The Apoplectic Walrus (2015) Director
  • The Apoplectic Walrus (2015) Director
  • Entr'acte II (2015) Director
  • Entr'Acte (2014) Director
  • Entr'Acte (2014) Director of Photography
  • Entr'Acte (2014) Editor
  • Driving Demons (2014) Director
  • Inferno (2014) Director
  • After the Circus (2013) Director
  • After the Circus (2013) Editor
  • After the Circus (2013) Cinematography
  • Solar Sight III (2013) Director
  • Solar Sight III (2013) Writer
  • Solar Sight III (2013) Editor
  • Solar Sight II (2012) Director
  • Solar Sight (2011) Director
  • Cosmic Alchemy (2010) Director
  • Beyond Enchantment (2010) Director
  • Circus Savage (2009) Director
  • The Miracle of Don Cristobal (2008) Director
  • The Miracle of Don Cristobal (2008) Editor
  • Blue Skies Beyond the Looking Glass (2008) Director
  • Silent Sonatas (2007) Director
  • Poet's Dream (2005) Director
  • Enid's Idyll (2004) Director
  • Chateau/Poyet (2004) Director
  • Postcard from San Miguel (1996) Director
  • The Grove (1993) Director
  • The Grove (1993) Cinematography
  • The Grove (1993) Editor
  • Star of Day (1993) Director
  • Star of Day (1993) Editor
  • Star of Day (1993) Cinematography
  • The Black Oud (1992) Director
  • The Black Oud (1992) Cinematography
  • The Black Oud (1992) Editor
  • The Visible Compendium (1991) Director
  • Tapestry (1988) as Himself
  • Tapestry (1988) Director
  • Sophie's Place (1986) Director
  • Adagio (1983) Director
  • Winter Light (1983) Director
  • In a Summer Garden (1982) Director
  • Masquerade (1981) Director
  • Carabosse (1980) Director
  • Finds of the Fortnight (1980) Director
  • Moonlight Sonata (1979) Director
  • Cornell, 1965 (1978) as Narrator (voice)
  • Cornell, 1965 (1978) Director
  • Cornell, 1965 (1978) Editor
  • Cornell, 1965 (1978) Director of Photography
  • Ancestors (1978) Director
  • Ancestors (1978) Animation
  • Visions of a City (1978) Director
  • The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (1977) Director
  • The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (1977) Writer
  • The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (1977) Adaptation
  • The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (1977) Editor
  • The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (1977) Animation
  • The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (1977) Producer
  • The Apparition (1976) Director
  • Once Upon a Time (1973) Director
  • Once Upon a Time (1973) Animation
  • Orb (1973) Director
  • The Sacred Art of Tibet (1972) Director
  • The Sacred Art of Tibet (1972) Editor
  • The Sacred Art of Tibet (1972) Cinematography
  • The Sacred Art of Tibet (1972) Producer
  • Three by Cornell (1972) Director
  • Hildur and the Magician (1970) Director
  • Hildur and the Magician (1970) Writer
  • Hildur and the Magician (1970) Producer
  • Hildur and the Magician (1970) Editor
  • Hildur and the Magician (1970) Cinematography
  • Our Lady of the Sphere (1969) Director
  • For Life, Against the War (1967) Director
  • The Old House, Passing (1967) Director
  • Rodia-Estudiantina (1966) Director
  • Big Sur: The Ladies (1966) Director
  • A Legend for Fountains (1965) Co-Director
  • Gymnopédies (1965) Director
  • Hamfat Asar (1965) Director
  • The Dream Merchant (1965) Director
  • Duo Concertantes (1964) Director
  • Johnnie (1964) Director
  • Ein Traum der Liebenden (1964) Director
  • Jewel Face (1964) Director
  • Pink Swine! (1963) Director
  • The Forty and One Nights (1961) Director
  • Portrait of Sharon (1960) Director
  • Hymn in Praise of the Sun (1960) Director
  • The Season's Change (1960) Director
  • The Soccer Game (1960) Director
  • Minerva Looks Out into the Zodiac (1959) Director
  • Triptych in Four Parts (1958) Director
  • Spectre Mystagogic (1957) Director
  • Trumpit (1956) Director
  • The One Romantic Venture of Edward (1956) Director
  • Water Light (1956) Director
  • Three (1956) Director
  • Undertow (1955) Director
  • Untitled Film of Geoffrey Holder's Wedding (1955)
  • The Extraordinary Child (1954)
  • Desistfilm (1954)
  • Man Is in Pain (1954) Director
  • Unglassed Windows Cast a Terrible Reflection (1953)
  • The Egg Director
  • Untitled Early Film Director