Programming
The Essential Film Repertory is the critical manifesto of Anthology Film Archives, and is presented yearly as a summing up and reminder of the standards of cinema.
Anthology maintains that the art of film must be defined in terms of selected works which indicate its essence and its possibilities. In addition to the Essential Cinema Repertory Anthology regularly presents new works and retrospectives of major independent filmmakers, those included in the repertory and those that are not; it premieres independent features, documentary, informational films and videotapes, and provides a platform for a variety of groups working with alternative forms of cinema.
During the first fifteen months at the Courthouse there were retrospectives of Hollis Frampton, Ernie Gehr, Marjorie Keller, Robert Breer, Yvonne Rainer, Alexander Hammid, Robert Frank, Maya Deren, Alain Robbe-Grillet, Alexander Kluge, Bruce Elder, Gunvor Nelson, Emile de Antonio, Su Fried rich, Peter Hutton, Warren Sonbert, Francis Lee, Michael Snow, Rudy Burckhardt. During the same period, Anthology provided temporary homes for the Millennium Film Workshop, the Collective for Living Cinema, festivals of Native American Cinema, the Lesbian and Gay Experimental Film Festival, and several other independent groups.