A Well Spent Life
44 minutes, 1971 16mm, USA By Les Blank

A deeply moving tribute to the Texas songster, Mance Lipscomb, considered by many to be one of the greatest guitarist of all time. Mance was not "discovered" until 1960, when Chris Strachwitz first recorded him for Arhoolie Records. Before that, Mance lived by sharecropping, surviving the brutality of a system not much better that slavery. Amazingly, instead of growing bitter, the tough times made him sweet. The film captures Mance's music, set in his hometown of Navasota, Texas.

Flower Films
10341 San Pablo Avenue
El Cerrito, CA 94530
(510)525-0942
www.lesblank.com
Blankfilm@aol.com

Burden of Dreams
94 minutes, 1982 16mm, USA By Les Blank

An extraordinary documentary feature about the messianic German director Werner Herzog struggling against desperate odds in the Amazon basin to make his epic feature, "Fitzcarraldo." "Burden of Dreams" was honored with a British Academy Award for Best Documentary of 1982.

Flower Films
10341 San Pablo Avenue
El Cerrito, CA 94530
(510)525-0942
www.lesblank.com
Blankfilm@aol.com

Dizzy Gillespie
20 minutes, 1964 16mm, USA By Les Blank

Rare images of immortal bebop jazzman Dizzy Gillespie as he talks about his beginnings and music theories -- and blows a lot of hot music on his famous bent horn. Les Blank's earliest music film, focusing on the trumpet player himself, who, along with Charlie Parker, Theolonius Monk and others, sparked the change from jazz into Bop in the '40s.

Flower Films
10341 San Pablo Avenue
El Cerrito, CA 94530
(510)525-0942
www.lesblank.com
Blankfilm@aol.com

Gap-Toothed Women
31 minutes, 1987 16mm, USA By Les Blank

A charming and humorous valentine to women born with a space between their teeth, ranging from lighthearted whimsy to a deeper look at issues like self-esteem and societal attitudes toward standards of beauty. Interviews were conducted with over one hundred women, including model Lauren Hutton and Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

Flower Films
10341 San Pablo Avenue
El Cerrito, CA 94530
(510)525-0942
www.lesblank.com
Blankfilm@aol.com

J'ai ´Eté Au Bal (I Went to the Dance)
84 minutes, 1989 16mm, USA By Les Blank

The definitive film on the history of the toe-tapping, foot-stomping music of French Southwest Louisiana. Includes many Cajun and Zydeco greats, featuring Michael Doucet and Beausoleil, Clifton Chenier, Marc and Ann Savoy, D.L. Menard, and many others. A nostalgic look at the New Orleans area almost two decades before Hurricane Katrina.

Flower Films
10341 San Pablo Avenue
El Cerrito, CA 94530
(510)525-0942
www.lesblank.com
Blankfilm@aol.com

My Old Fiddle
17 minutes, 1994 16mm, USA By Les Blank

The long-awaited sequel to Sprout Wings and Fly (Les Blank's first film about this homegrown Appalachian fiddler and raconteur) is a gentle celebration of mountain living, a once-thriving American way of life. This portrait showcases Tommy's unpretentious folk wisdom and reminiscences. The soundtrack features his singing and fiddling, spiced with a visit to the Smithsonian to test-drive an authentic Stradivarius violin.

Flower Films
10341 San Pablo Avenue
El Cerrito, CA 94530
(510)525-0942
www.lesblank.com
Blankfilm@aol.com

The Blues According to Lightnin' Hopkins
31 minutes, 1969 16mm, USA By Les Blank

In his own words and his "own" music, Lightnin' Hopkins reveals the inspiration for his blues. He signs, jives, ponders.   He boogies at an outdoor barbecue and a black rodeo, and takes you with him on a homecoming visit to his boyhood home of Centerville, Texas.   Blank has captured Lightnin' blues in their fullest darkest power.   The film reaches "past the impish bluesman himself into the blues itself, into the red-clay Texas, into hard times, into black-ness, into the senses... you begin to understand the reasons why black Texas people might be in love with this land and yet angry with the poverty.

Flower Films
10341 San Pablo Avenue
El Cerrito, CA 94530
(510)525-0942
www.lesblank.com
Blankfilm@aol.com

The Maestro: King of the Cowboy Artists
54 minutes, 1995 16mm, USA By Les Blank

What happens when a dedicated husband and father quits his job, adopts the persona of a Western-Movie Singing Cowboy, takes on the entire art establishment (including Christo and Andy Warhol), and refuses to accept money for his art? Meet Gerry Gaxiola, AKA The Maestro, an ex-wage slave who gave up everything to make art for art's sake. The Maestro's story could inspire a whole new generation of Van Goghs.

Flower Films
10341 San Pablo Avenue
El Cerrito, CA 94530
(510)525-0942
www.lesblank.com
Blankfilm@aol.com

Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe
22 minutes, 1980 16mm, USA By Les Blank

Yes, German film director Werner Herzog really does eat his shoe to fulfill a vow to fellow filmmaker Errol Morris -- boldly exemplifying his belief that people must have the guts to attempt what they dream of.

Flower Films
10341 San Pablo Avenue
El Cerrito, CA 94530
(510)525-0942
www.lesblank.com
Blankfilm@aol.com