Peter Goldman - Echoes of silence

Peter Goldman - Echoes of silence

Echoes of Silence (1965) 16mm – 75min – USA – subtitled in French & German + Pestilent City (1965) – 15min

RE:VOIR is proud to announce the VOD releases of Echoes of Silence and Wheel of Ashes – films from the forgotten American genius, the only bridge between the New York Underground and the French New Wave, the ‘apostle of the unique’ (Libération)

Born in New York in 1939, Peter Emanuel Goldman is an important, yet mostly unknown, filmmaker of American cinema. Echoes of Silence – a movie with no dialogue – was shot in 1964 on a small budget in Greenwich Village, following three wandering young men. Banned in France and Italy, it nevertheless won the special prize at Pesaro Film Festival in 1966, awarded by a jury including Godard, Bellochio and Bertolucci.

‘His people come to life simply and believably – more believably than most of the people in the Chabrol and Truffaut cinema… the film has a thematic and formal beauty that is remarkable.’ - Jonas Mekas

‘[…] the most exciting new filmmaker in recent years. Echoes of Silence, his first film, is a stunning piece of work.’ - Susan Sontag

Shot discontinuously in silent black and white with the mythical 16mm Bolex camera that would eventually become the hallmark of American underground cinema, Echoes of Silence finds in the simplicity of its expression and the extreme frugality of its budget, a rare inventive power, producing new forms of resonance and desire, constantly renewing the desperation of bonding and solitude.


Tourné en discontinu, en noir et blanc muet avec la mythique caméra Bolex 16 mm qui deviendra l’emblème du cinéma underground américain, Echoes of Silence trouve dans la simplicité de son geste et l’économie extrême de ses moyens une rare puissance d’invention, produisant d’inédites formes de réverbérations et d’inductions des désirs, renouvelant les figures du lien et du manque, court-circuitant le cinéma direct par la dérive amoureuse, à la lisière du réalisme onirique et en droite ligne des fantasmagories surréalistes.

Peter Goldman - Wheel of Ashes

Peter Goldman - Wheel of Ashes

Jonas Mekas - Out-takes From the Life of a Happy Man

Jonas Mekas - Out-takes From the Life of a Happy Man