Robert Nelson Movies

A ‘film wake’. Though celebratory in mood, it has a mournful subtext… death and dying. We dedicated it to Dr. Sam West, departed...

A chaotic film featuring the Grateful Dead. The songs that are included are Sitting on Top of the World, Good Morning Little Schoolgirl, Cold Rain...

"Even when we know the game is an illusion, the experience of Bleu Shut is entirely a pleasure: the ‘game’ is fun, the Nelson/Wiley...

Experimental filmmaker Robert Nelson brings his characteristic wit to this restaging of the famous “play rehearsal” scene from Hamlet,...

A continuous dissolve of 87 male and female nudes. "The film's fascination lies with the suspense of that magic moment, halfway between two persons,...

[1970/2003, color, 7.5 min] Experimental short film preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2007.

"Special Warning is like a poem more than a narrative or story. It suggests states of isolation, barrenness, sexual guilt and sin, but even these...

A feature-length documentary directed by Dorothy Wiley and Gunvor Nelson about five working San Francisco artists: William T. Wiley, Robert Hudson,...

"Nelson experiments with presenting his viewer with the two sides of every subject in a dense visual masterwork of stark superimpositions." (Mark...

A kinetic film sketch designed to involve the viewers muscles. The rocky seaside cliffs near Stinson Beach, California, hold the wrecked carcass of a...

The Off-Handed Jape is an afternoon’s lark made by Nelson and his artist friend William Wiley. The two men perform whimsical actions and poses...

“When Picasso died I wanted to make the first post-mortem documentary, as I knew would happen anyway, and cheaply. The film took four hours to...

Made by Robert Nelson and William Allan in cooperation with KQED-TV San Francisco. Starring an ensemble cast that includes Bill Gourley, Bruce...

"I'm definitely not interested in passing along intellectual information about California. There's plenty of that everywhere. I'm trying to get at...

George visits underground filmmaker Robert Nelson in Milwaukee, and they brave the cold on Lake Michigan.

Shooting in 1966 without script, story, or any narrative preconception, Nelson and Wiley created a masterwork of ‘60s independent cinema. The...

A film by Robert Nelson

A film by Robert Nelson. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2011.

“In their starkly minimal film, The Awful Backlash, directors Robert Nelson and William Allan, focus solely on a pair of hands as they begin to...

The first part of what was intended to be a three-part experimental travelog for Nelson’s home state of California, this film covers the...