MULTI-MEDIA RESOURCE CENTER PGM 7: PATTERN FILMS, PART 1

The majority of Laird Sutton’s work for the National Sex Forum (NSF) consisted of “pattern films,” so termed for their portrayal of a real couple’s (or individual’s, or group’s) sexual pattern. According to a 1979 NSF brochure, “actors are not used in these films; the participants are ordinary people behaving and responding sexually as they usually do…. The persons to be filmed are interviewed about their sexual patterns. Once sexual activity commences, no directions are given. Every effort is made to allow the individuals to feel at ease.” Reflecting their use in structured therapeutic sessions, this selection of pattern films is preceded by a short from the Multi-Media Resource Center’s “Humor and Mood Alteration” collection, meant to dispel unease ahead of these candid portraits.

Greg Von Buchau LOVE TOAD (1971, 2 min, 16mm-to-DCP) Laird Sutton POSSIBILITIES (1973, 12 min, 16mm) Laird Sutton QUIET AFTERNOON (1975, 20 min, 16mm) Edd Dundas NICK AND JON (1976, 20 min, 16mm) Laird Sutton BOTH/AND (1975, 25 min, 16mm)

Total running time: ca. 85 min.

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Introduced by Vinegar Syndrome archivist Oscar Becher.