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Piero Heliczer – Ephemera

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SECTION F:
This index includes flyers and announcements for readings and film screenings


1. DEAD LANGUAGE / LE SOLEIL DANS LA TETE
Paris: Dead Language, c. 1959
Flyer, 6.25″ x 11″, letterpress printed by Piero Heliczer

Note: An announcement for a reading at the Left Bank bookshop-gallery, Le Soleil Dans La Tête. The text reads: “burroughs heliczer horovitz maclise norse & om in dead languages last poem session two xiii. & viv. august ix. pm soleil dans la tete 10 rue vaugirard”.

2. PIERO HELICZER WILL READ HIS POEMS
London: Gallery Bookshop, 1961
Flyer, 5″ x 7.75″, offset printed

Note: announces a poetry reading by Piero Heliczer at the Gallery Bookshop, Soho, London on December 9, 1961. Illustrated with the same photograph by Ph. Mechanicus that appears in Outburst, No. 2 and on the cover of & I Dreamt I Shot Arrows In My Amazon Bra.

3. THE DEAD LANGUAGE PRESENTS WM BURROUGHS reading from THE NAKED LUNCH (recorded in paris 1959) & PIERO HELICZER reading his latest book of poems THE FIRST BATTLE OF THE MARNE
New York: Dead Language, 1962
Handbill, 7″ x 14″, letterpress printed by Piero Heliczer

Note: announces a reading on December 16, 1962 at B Flat, 201 Avenue B, New York, “admission one dollar”. Illustrated with the photograph from the front cover of Heliczer’s poetry collection, The First Battle of the Marne, with the same art nouveau decorative border.

4. THE DEAD LANGUAGE PRESENTS A BENEFIT FOR FLAMING CREATURES / THE FILMS OF SMITH
New York: The Dead Language, 1963
Flyer, 7.5″ x 7″, offset printed

Note: announces screening of Jack Smith’s Flaming Creatures on March 9, 1963 at painter Jerry Jofen’s cavernous West 20th Street loft, which, among other things, had a reputation as a shooting gallery. Jofen was known for collaborating with Jack Smith, Jonas Mekas, Ken Jacobs, and Angus Maclise. This screening was a benefit for Flaming Creatures, which was in its final stages of editing and would premiere to the public a month later.

5. FIRST RUSHES OF PIERO HELICZERS NEW FILM
New York: Astor Play House, 1965
Flyer, 4.75″ x 5.5″

Note: announces a screening of a new (unnamed) film by Piero Heliczer at the Astor Play House in New York on Friday, July 30, 1965.

6. NEW YORK UNDERGROUND: 8-HOUR SPECTACLE – APPEARANCE OF THE STARS
New York: Broadway Central Hotel, 1965
Flyer, photocopy printed

Note: announces ‘New York Underground: 8-Hour spectacle, appearance of the stars’ in New York on August 11, 1965. Calligraphy by Angus Maclise. This marks one of the earliest performances of the Velvet Underground, appearing as the Falling Spikes. This event also marks a joint appearance of Piero Heliczer and Jack Smith as MC’s, who were both arrested at the event for outstanding warrants.

7. PIERO HELICZER – THE LAST RITES
New York: Filmmakers Cinematheque, 1965
Flyer, 8.5″ x 11″, photocopy printed

Note: announces a performance of Heliczer’s multimedia play The Last Rites at the Filmmaker Cinematheque on November 10, 1965 in New York.

8. PIERO HELICZERS CHRISTMAS SHOW
New York: U-P Film, 1966
Flyer, 11″ x 8.5″, photocopy printed

Note: announces screening of Heliczer’s Dirt Trilogy (Dirt, Satisfaction, Venus in Furs) presented by the Paris Filmakers Cooperative at the U-P Film in New York on December 15-16, 1966.

9. PIERO HELICZERS NEW YEAR SHOW
New York: U-P Film, 1968
Flyer, 11″ x 8.5″, photocopy printed

Note: announces screening of Heliczer’s Joan of Arc with music by Tony Conrad and starring Andy Warhol, Ted Berrigan and “many others” presented by the Paris Filmakers Cooperative at the U-P Film in New York on January 19-20, 1968.

10. MEDALS OF THE UNDERGROUND
New York: U-P Screen, 1968
Flyer, 8.5″ x 11″, photocopy printed

Note: announces screening of Heliczer’s The Stone Age resented by the Paris Filmmakers Cooperative at U-P Screen on February 23-24, 1968.

11. UNDERGROUND FILMS
Paris: The American Centre, 1968
Flyer, 8.5″, x 11″, photocopy printed

Note: announces screening of Heliczer’s The Stone Age Part Two, and USA v Piero Heliczer, plus other films by Gerard Malanga, Storm de Hirsch, Andy Warhol, Jonas Mekas and others at The American Centre in March 1968.

12. PIERO HELICZERS CHRISTMAS SHOW
Paris: The American Center for Students and Artists, 1968
Flyer, 11″ x 8.5″, photocopy printed

Note: announces screening of Heliczer’s Dirt and Joan of Arc, parts one and two at The American Center for Students and Artists on November 29–December 1, 1968.

13. RETURN OF THE LIGHT, PIERO HELICZERS NEW YEAR SHOW
Paris: The American Center for Students and Artists, 1969
Flyer, 9.5″ x 14″, offset printed

Note: announces a screening of three films by Piero Heliczer, presented by the Paris Filmmakers Coop, “avec wm burroughs andy warhol jeff keen betaudier & the children of albion” at 9pm, January 24-26 (1969) at The American Center for Students and Artists located at 261 Blvd. Raspail (Paris).

15. PIERO HELICZER – AQUARIUM & HEART
London: ICA, 1969
Flyer, 8″ x 13″, offset printed

Note: announces a screening of films by Piero Heliczer at the ICA in London on March 15, 1969. Prints a 16-line text by Tom Raworth and a list of titles of other work by Heliczer, including Autumn Feast (1961), Satisfaction (1965) and Rushes from the Stone Age (the latter featuring Tom Raworth, Jack Smith, Gerard Malanga et al).

According to BeatBooks catalog #86, The title of Heliczer’s film, Aquarium, had previously appeared in the name of Aquarium Productions, set up by Heliczer and Angus MacLise sometime around April 1965 for a multimedia stage presentation they were organizing at the Film-Makers’ Cinematheque in New York. Called Launching The Dream Weapon, it featured an early incarnation of the Velvet Underground and preceded Andy Warhol’s Exploding Plastic Inevitable shows by almost a year.

16. POETRY & FILMS
New York: Ikon & Millenium, 1969
Flyer, 11″ x 8.5″, offset printed. Illustrated with a montage by Jud Yalkut featuring two central images of Piero Heliczer, one of them showing him with his 8mm  camera.

Note: announces a poetry reading at Ikon at 78 East 5th Street in New York on October 11, 1969 and films at Millenium at 46 Great Jones Street in New York on October 12, 1969.

17. PIERO HELICZERS CHRISTMASS HOW
New York: Elgin Cinema, 1969
Flyer, 8.5″ x 11″, offset printed. Illustrated with a montage by Piero Heliczer.

According to BeatBooks catalog #86,  announces screenings of five films by Piero Heliczer at the Elgin Cinema in New York City on December 21, 1969. The films shown included Venus in Furs (named after the Velvet Underground song and featuring Lou Reed, John Cale, Angus MacLise and Barbara Rubin), and Satisfaction (also featuring Cale, MacLise and Rubin, along with Gerard Malanga, Irene Nolan, Mario Montez, and Jack Smith).

18. PIERO HELICZER NEWY EARS HOW
New York: Bleecker Street Cinema, 1970
Flyer, 8.5″ x 11″, offset printed

According to BeatBooks catalog #86, announces a benefit for the Paris Filmmakers Coop featuring screenings of films by Piero Heliczer, Andy Warhol, Tony Conrad and Ira Cohen at the Bleecker Street Cinema in New York at midnight on January 31, 1970. Lists the world premiere of Heliczer’s film, ‘Stone Age’, along with Andy Warhol’s ‘Couch’ (in which Heliczer appeared with Gerard Malanga); ‘The Flicker’ by Tony Conrad; and Ira Cohen’s ‘The Invasion of Thunderbolt Pagoda’, though the film title is not stated on the flyer. The multi-media event also featured a performance by Angus MacLise, readings by Gerard Malanga and William Burroughs (possibly from his recently completed novel, ‘The Wild Boys’), a light show, theatre, and ‘inflatable environments’.

19. BLEECKER STREET CINEMA
New York: Bleecker Street Cinema, February 1970
Flyer, 11″ x 8.5″, offset printed

Note: announces a benefit for the Paris Filmmakers’ Coop at the Bleecker Street Cinema in New York, featuring a midnight screening of films by Piero Heliczer, Andy Warhol, Stan Brakhage, Ron Rice, Jud Yalkut, Yayoi Kusama (presumably ‘Kusama’s Self-Obliteration’), and Jack Smith. Designed by Piero Heliczer.

20. ITALIAN TOUR
Paris: Paris Filmmakers Coop, (c. 1970)
Fyler, 9.5″ x 12.75, offset printed. Illustration by Hundertwasser.

Note: announces ‘Italian Tour – piero heliczer 29 30 31 Mai andy warhol larry rivers irene nolan pattilee chenis claudio monteverde the rolling stones pluto venus 261 Bd Raspail à 21 h’.

21. PIERO HELICZERS APRIL FOOLS SHOW
flyer_aprilfool
Boston: Kenmore Square Cinema, 1970
Flyer, 8.5″ x 11″, photocopy printed

Note: announces screenings of Heliczer films at the Kenmore Square Cinema at 644 Beacon in Boston on Friday and Saturday, April 3-4, 1970.

22. PIERO HELICZERS EASTER SHOW
flyer_aquarium
New York: Bleeker Street Cinema, 1970
Fyler, 8.5″ x 11″, offset printed

Note: announces Aquarium Productions and Museum of the Future gala benefit for Paris Filmmaker Cooperative held at Bleeker Street Cinema in New York on April 10, 1970. The event included screenings of Stan Brakhage’s film Moth Light, Heliczer’s films Robin Hood (avant premiere), Venus in Furs, Satisfaction, Joan of Arc, The Stone Age, and The Plays of Piero Heliczer (avant premiere), plus William Burroughs, Andy Warhol, The Velvet Underground, Jack Smith, and others.

23. THANKSGIVING SHOW
New York: Max’s Kansas City, 1970
Flyer, 8.5″ x 11″, photocopy printed

Note: announces the screening of Dirt, Joan of Arc, and The Autumn Feast at Max’s Kansas City in New York City on November 25, 1970

24. UNIVERSAL MUTANT THEATRE
New York: Universal Mutant Theatre, 1970
Flyer, 8.5″ x 11″, photocopy printed. Illustrated with a montage by Heliczer

According to BeatBooks catalog #86, announces screenings of films by Piero Heliczer, Ira Cohen, Marty Topp, Charles Henri Ford, Patti Lee Chenis, and Bruce Conner, “plus films by Schneider [Don Snyder?] Malanga &C a benefit for the museum of the future film school at Universal Mutant Theatre 141 Prince Street”, at midnight on December 11-12, 1970. The building on Prince Street, just outside Greenwich Village, was also home at the time to the Daughters of Bilitis, the first lesbian organization in the United States.

25. UNDERGROUND FILMS
Paris: The American Centre, 1972
Flyer, 8.5″, x 11″, photocopy printed

Note: announces screening of Heliczer’s Robin des Bois at The American Centre on January 28-29, 1972.

26. A MAJOR POETRY READING BY PIERO HELICZER
New York: Saint Marks Church, 1972
Flyer, 11″ x 8.5″, photocopy printed

Note: announces a reading at Saint Marks Church in New York on Wednesday, November 29, 1972

27. CROWN OF THE UNDERGROUND – PIERO HELICZER’S ST VALENTINES DAY SHOW
New York: Paris Filmmakers Coop, 1973
Flyer, 8.5″ x 11″, offset printed

According to BeatBooks catalog #86,  announces film screenings presented by the Paris Filmmakers Coop at Dramatis Personae at 114 West Street in New York on February 13-14, 1973. Lists the world premiere of “Heliczer’s latest film”, Robin Hood, along with Rushes from Ste Therese. Also lists screenings of Storm De Hirsch’s film, Shaman, A Tapestry for Sorcerers (1966), and Jonas In The Brig, newsreel footage of “Jonas Mekas shooting his filmed version of The Brig on the set of the Living Theatre production” (1964).

28. PARIS FILMMAKERS COOPERATIVE
Paris: The American Centre, 1972
Flyer, 8.5″, x 11″, photocopy printed

Note: announces screening of Heliczer’s Robin des Bois at The American Centre on January 28-29, 1972.

29. PARIS FILMMAKERS COOP
Paris: Paris Filmmakers Coop, 1976
Flyer, 8.25″ x 11.75″, offset printed

According to BeatBooks catalog #86,  announces screenings of three films by Piero Heliczer presented by the Paris Filmmakers Coop on April 10 and 17, 1976 at Theatre Mouffetard at 76 Rue Mouffetard in Paris. The first screening showed Autumn Feast (1961) and Dirt (1965), as well as films by Patti Lee Chenis and Ray Wisniewski; the second date showed Joan of Arc (c. mid-60s), and Couch by Andy Warhol. Heliczer co-founded the Paris Filmmakers Coop with mover/shaker and filmmaker Barbara Rubin and her friend, Pamela Badyk, a member of the American Living Theatre company, and its venue for screenings, as here, was invariably the cinema at “La Mouffe” the “Maison pour tous” on rue Mouffetard.

30. PARIS FILMMAKERS COOP
Paris: Paris Filmmakers Coop, 1976
Flyer, 8.5″ x 11″, offset printed

According to BeatBooks catalog #86,  announces a screening of films by Piero Heliczer presented by the Paris Filmmakers Coop at Theatre Mouffetard at 76 rue Mouffetard in Paris on May 15 and May 22, 1976. The first date featured Heliczer’s film Robin Hood and the second, Sainte Thérèse. The screenings also showed Yoghurt Subculture, a film by Patti Lee Chenis (who also appeared in Robin Hood), and Paul Sharits’s film, Nothing.

31. FOURTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE CORONATION…
Amsterdam: n.p., 1977
Flyer, 8.5″ x 11″, photocopy printed

Note: announces the fourth anniversary of Piero Heliczer’s Coronation as Emperor of Europe in Amsterdam on January 1-2, 1977, with a screening announced for January 3-4.

32. VOTE FOR PIERO HELICZER
Amsterdam: n.p., 1979
Flyer, 8.5″ x 13″, photocopy printed.

Note: prints a song text with musical notes and the slogan “Europe Without Piero Is Like A Song Without Words” with the credit line: “1979 Piero Heliczer. The Committee For The Restoration Of The Holy Roman Empire, Van Woustraat 5, 1074 AA Amsterdam”.

33. PIERO FOR PRESIDENT
New York: Rare Book Room, (c. 1985)
Flyer, 11″ x 8.5″, photocopy printed

According to BeatBooks catalog #86, reproduces a photograph of two Rabbis, captioned with one saying to the other: “I hear the Rabbi is running for President!”, and the other replying: “You mean, Piero Heliczer?”. A box below requests that signatures for Piero’s name to be on the ballot should be sent to the Rare Book Room at 125 Greenwich Avenue in New York. The flyer coincides with the period when Piero Heliczer was living on the streets of New York, wandering the city and marking its monuments and walls with his signature holograph, a capital ‘P’ inside a segmented circle, with the words ‘Vote for Piero Heliczer’ or ‘Piero Heliczer for President’.

34. PIERO HELICZERS BOOK STREET
New York: Piero Heliczers Book Street, (c. 1987)
Flyer, 8.5″ x 11″, photocopy printed

Note: announces “Piero Heliczers Book Street Waverly Place & Sixth Avenue”. Dates from the period Piero was living rough on the streets of New York and eking-out a meagre living by selling used books.

35. SUNDAYS CHILD
New York: Rare Book Room, (c. 1988)
Flyer, 8.5″ x 11″, photocopy printed

Note: announces the Rare Book Room’s publication of Heliczer’s autobiographical sketch, Sundays Child printing a brief descriptive blurb, and simultaneously announcing Heliczer’s campaign for the American presidency.The flyer coincides with the period when Heliczer was living on the streets of New York, wandering the city and marking its monuments and walls with his signature holograph, a capital ‘P’ inside a segmented circle, with the words ‘Vote for Piero Heliczer’ or ‘Piero Heliczer for President’.

36. PIERO HELICZER – FILM RETROSPECTIVE
New York: Film Art Fund, Inc., 1990
Flyer, 8.5″ x 11″, photocopy printed

Note: announces a series of screenings of Heliczer films during May and June, 1990 at the Anthology Film Archives. The flyer is illustrated with a collage of Andy Warhol with barbells and two nuns set against the backdrop of a crucifixion scene.

37. PIERO HELICZERS CHRISTMAS SHOW
New York: Saint Marks Church, 1990
Flyer, 8.5″ x 11″, photocopy printed

Note: announces “piero heliczer’s christmas show” on December 10, 1990 at Saint Marks Church, illustrated with a Dezo Hoffmann photo of the Beatles collaged against a backdrop of a bridge over the Seine (presumably referencing the group’s 1963-64 Christmas shows).

38. PIERO HELICZERS MYSTERIOUS REAPPEARANCE
New York: Knitting Factory, 1990
Flyer, 11″ x 8.5″, photocopy printed

Note: announces “piero heliczer’s mysterious reappearance” at the “knitting factory” on December 12, 1990, reproduces a Dezo Hoffmann photo of the Beatles with the addition of a large photo of Heliczer’s high school graduation photo from June 1954.

39. SCREENINGS OF DIRT AND AUTUMN FEAST
Amsterdam, Poets Cinema, 1992
Flyer, 11″ x 8.5″, photocopy printed

Note: announces screenings for Dirt and Autumn Feast on September 20, 1992 at Poets Cinema in Amsterdam.

Piero Heliczer – Film

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SECTION D:
This index includes films by Piero Heliczer, with a short section at the end highlighting films that Piero Heliczer appears in


Films by Piero Heliczer: 

1. THE AUTUMN FEAST (1961) [film on Ubu Web]
Format: 8mm, 14 minutes, black and white and color, silent / sound on tape
Writer/Director: Piero Heliczer
Cinematography: Jeff Keen
Cast: Piero Heliczer, Kate Heliczer, Jacqueline Keen and others
Music: Angus MacLise – cembalum, Tony Conrad – mandolin, Piero Heliczer – flute

Note:  a deliberately non-synchronous film, shot in 8mm with the sound on tape. Piero Heliczer reads his poem “The Autumn Feast,” and the visuals interact with, but do not represent what is read.

“A grown up fantasy based on Guy Fawkes Day, the great children’s holiday of England, which is a combination of Halloween and the Fourth of July.” – Piero Heliczer.

“The Autumn Feast lays bare (there should be something that rhymes with hair here or bare there) the mythic structure behind the orange domes and cardboard battlements and gilded gables of our Pasty National Howard Johnsons Baghdad. It rubs the very noses of our mannequins in our mold and sends us spinning into the street – undone and toothless” – Jack Smith

2. THE SOAP OPERA (c. 1964)
Format: 16mm, 13 minutes, silent
Cinematography: Piero Heliczer
Cast: Piero Heliczer, Angus MacLise, Jack Smith, Marian Zazeela, LaMonte Young and others.

“This is basically a documentary on the beginnings of the cultural revolution on the Lower East Side, New York. While finishing this film, Piero Heliczer starred in Jack Smith’s FLAMING CREATURES and later in Bill Vehr’s AVOCADA.” – The Film-Makers Coop

“Also known as THE HOME OPERA and THE PANIC OPERA. At home in a small loft in the early days of the Golden Age of the Lower East Side. With Piero Heliczer, Angus Maclise, Jack Smith, LaMonte Young, Marian Zazeela and others.” – Piero Heliczer.

3. DIRT (1965) [film on Ubu Web]
Format: 8mm, 12 minutes, color/black and white, silent with sound on tape
Writer/Director: Piero Heliczer
Producer: Andy Warhol
Cast: John Cale, Storm De Hirsch, Bobby Driscoll [Nun], Dee Dee Driscoll, Rose Feliu-Pettet [Bride], Charles Henri Ford, Julie Garfield, Kate Heliczer, Sally Kirkland, Gretl Learned, Angus MacLise, Gerard Malanga, Jack Martin, Ann Mattingley, Barbara Maultsby, Jonas Mekas, Mario Montez, Irene Nolan, Bobby Notkoff, Barbara Rubin, Edie Sedgwick, Harry Smith, Jack Smith, Charles Stanley, Andy Warhol, La Monte Young, Marian Zazeela
Music: Marc Antoine Charpentier: Kyrie and Credo from the mass, “Assumpta Est Maria”
Filming location: New York City

Note: planned as a three hour epic, but when finished was only 12 minutes: also known as BATH SEQUENCE.

“Two nuns take a bath, then meet a sailor on the Staten Island Ferry. With Irene Nolan, Gretl Learned, Angus Maclise, Mario Montez and others.” – Piero Heliczer.

“Among all the new movies (it has been quiet lately on the underground scene) Piero Heliczer’s Dirt touched me most deeply. Its beauty is very personal and lyrical. And every frame of it is cinema. I can do not justice to this beautiful work in one paragraph. It was shot on 8mm and much of its beauty and its cinema come from 8mm properties of camera and film. It is all motion. Together with Brakhage’s Songs, Branaman’s abstractions and Ken Jackob’s not yet released work, Heliczer’s Dirt is one of the four works that use 8mm film properly and for art’s sake” – Jonas Mekas, Village Voice.

4. THE LAST RITES (1965)

5. SATISFACTION (c. 1965)
Format: 16mm, 10 minutes, color/black and white, silent with sound on tape
Writer/Director: Piero Heliczer
Cinematography: Piero Heliczer
Cast: John Cale, Sally Kirkland [The Nun], Angus MacLise, Gerard Malanga [Flash Gordon], Mario Montez, Irene Nolan [School Girl], Barbara Rubin [The Nun], Jack Smith [God], Frances Stillman [The Nun]
Music: The Rolling Stones (“Satisfaction”)
Sound Engineer: Tony Conrad

“A nun goes to Heaven and arrives there at the same time as Flash Gordon. With Sally Kirkland (as the Nun), Irene Nolan (as the School Girl), Frances Stillman and Barbara Rubin (as Nuns), Gerard Malanga (as Flash Gordon, Jack Smith (as God), Jack Martin, Angus Maclise, Mario Montez, and others.” – Piero Heliczer.

6. VENUS IN FURS (1965)
Format: 16mm, 16 minutes, color, silent with sound on tape
Director: Piero Heliczer
Cinematography: Piero Heliczer
Cast: John Cale, Piero Heliczer, Angus MacLise, Lou Reed, Barbara Rubin, The Velvet Underground
Music: The Velvet Underground (“Heroin”, “Venus in Furs” with Piero Heliczer on saxophone)
Sound Engineer: CBS-TV News

“This companion film to SATISFACTION is set at the opposite solstice and recapitulates part of DIRT. With Julie Garfield and Barbara Rubin (as Nuns), Chas Stanley (as Death), Margaret Boyce Cam (as the Nurse), Lou Reed, John Cale, Angus Maclise and others. A chess game under the bridge becomes a party in Hell. A must for lepidopterists.” – Piero Heliczer.

7. JOAN OF ARC
Format: 16mm, 11.5 minutes, color, silent with sound on tape
Cast: Arnold Rockwood (as the Policeman), Jack Smith (as LBJ), Rene Ricard, Ira Cohen, Wm. de Vore, Gerard Malanga, Tuli Kupferberg (as Bonnie Prince Charlie), Jose Rodriguez Soltero (as the Priest), Angus MacLise, Irene Nolan (as Marlene Dietrich), Chas Henry Ford, Jane Waldren, Wendy Norins, Andy Warhol, and many others
Music: Tony Conrad

“The story of Joan of Arc as applied to the present revolution in arts and mores. The Gothic is applied to the War in Vietnam. The film is experimental in the sense that in it the visual becomes tactile. With Arnold Rockwood (as the Policeman), Jack Smith (as LBJ), Rene Richard, Ira Cohen, Wm. de Vore, Gerard Malanga, Tuli Kupferberg (as Bonnie Prince Charlie), Jose Rodriguez-Soltero (as the Priest), Chas. Henri Ford, Jane Waldren, Wendy Norins and many others.” – Piero Heliczer.

8. THE STONE AGE
Format: 16mm, 24 minutes, color/black and white, silent with sound on tape
Cast: Tom Raworth, Mary and Gudmundur Gudmunsson Erro, Agneta Freiberg, Jane Fagin, Michael Malce, Francois le Coeur, Jackie Curtis, Viva, Michal Auder, Terence Ork, Mario Anniballi, Jud & Jeni Yalkut, Marion Brown, Mossa Bildner, Dexter Kelly, Betsy Greenstein, Gerorge Whitman, Alferdo Leonardi, Patti-Lee Chenis, Cornelia Wessels, Joseph Arak, Jose Rodriguez-Soltero, Rolando Pena, Suzanne de Maria, Lohr Wilson, Jerry Benjamin, Jack Smith (as Casanova), Michael Snow (as Aristotle), Gerard Malanga (as Orfeo) and many others
Music: Claudio Monteverdi (“Orfeo – Act III”)

9. HARUNOBU
Format: 8mm, 5 minutes, color, silent with sound on tape
Cast: Antoine Perich and others

“The action takes place in a pissoir in june/1958 the weather is very good every now and then it/ rains very hard at night there is lightning in/ the day time bright sun without rain bows the / day is bright as urine/ some of the action takes place on the outer/ surface of the pissoir shell/ harunobu wears a white noh mask and/ reddish black wig her japanese dress is white/ lack and red like a st raphael advertisement/ jean sebastien bach/ gregory shaxper/ with antoine perich and others.” – Piero Heliczer.

10. BESSIE SMITH (1967)
Format: 16mm, 6 minutes, color, silent with sound on tape

“Photographed by gerard malanga in the subways of new york (actually the set of the blue centaur left over from the economy cutbacks at mgm and paramount/ joseph smith; patti lee chenis/ barrabas son to joseph smith: bill iwata/ captain john smith/ captain smiths band white masks mustaches armored round quattrocento helmets/ angel black face wears a checkered ginham dress/ band of angels/ johann sebastian back wears a wig in blackface looks a lot like george washington two fingers of his left hand are missing/ bessie smith: lily ocasio/ joseph smith and barabbas smith are played by one man preferably buster keaton/ angel and bach are played by one man preferably django reinhardt/ captain smiths band is played by the band of angels.” – Piero Heliczer.

11. THE NAKED LUNCH (1968)
Format: 1/4″ magnetic tape, 30 minutes

“A film for tape recorder no projector needed/ sound by wm burroughs.” – Piero Heliczer.

12. ST. THERESE DE L’ENFANT JESUS
Format: 16mm, 40 minutes, black and white, silent

13. ROBIN HOOD
Format: 16mm, 39.5 minutes, black and white, silent


Film with Appearances by Piero Heliczer: 

1. BENGASI (1942)
Director: Augusto Genina
Writers: Edoardo Anton, Ugo Betti, Alessandro De Stefani, Augusto Genina
Piero Heliczer (as Sandrino Berti (aka “Pucci”))

2. ACQUE DI PRIMAVERA (1942)
Director: Nunzio Malasomma
Writers: Nunzio Malasomma, Sergio Pugliese
Piero Heliczer (as “un altro bambino”)

3. FLAMING CREATURES (1963)
Format: 16mm, 45 minutes, black and white, mono
Writer/Director: Jack Smith
Cinematography: Jack Smith
Cast: Francis Francine (as himself), Sheila Bick (as Delicious Dolores), Joel Markman (as Our Lady of the Docks), Mario Montez (as The Spanish Girl (aka Dolores Flores)), Arnold Rockwood (as Arnold), Judith Malina (as The Fascinating Woman), Marian Zazeela (as herself), Beverly Grant (as Whirling Dervish), Piero Heliczer (as himself)
Music: Tony Conrad
Filming Location: New York City

“An experimental film that features graphic sexual imagery, an earthquake, and a lipstick commercial.”

4. COUCH (1964)
Format: 16mm, 54 minutes, black and white, silent
Director: Andy Warhol
Producer: Andy Warhol
Cast: Bingingham Birdie, Rufus Collins, Gregory Corso, Allen Ginsberg, Kate Heliczer, Pierre Helzicer, Jane Holzer, Jack Kerouac, Mark Lancaster, Joseph LeSeuer, Naomi Levine, Gerard Malanga, Taylor Mead, Billy Name (as Billy Linich), Ivy Nicholson, Ondine, Peter Orlovsky, John Palmer, Amy Taubin, Gloria Wood

The couch at Andy Warhol’s Factory was as famous in its own right as any of his Superstars. In Couch, visitors to the Factory were invited to “perform” on camera, seated on the old couch. Their many acts-both lascivious and mundane-are documented in a film that has come to be regarded as one of the most notorious of Warhol’s early works. Across the course of the film we encounter such figures as poets Allen Ginsberg and Gregory Corso, the writer Jack Kerouac, and perennial New York figure Taylor Mead.

5. SCREEN TEST(1965)
Format: 16mm, 3 minutes, black & white, silent
Director/Producer: Andy Warhol
Cinematography: Gerard Malanga

Piero Heliczer, dressed in a broad-brimmed black hat and high collar, is placed in front of a plastic sheeting. He slowly smokes a cigarette, occasionally blowing a smoke ring. Towards the end of the roll he smiles, closes his eyes and sticks his tongue out at the camera

Note:between 1964 and 1966 Andy Warhol made about 500 different Screen Tests of various personalities who visited his atelier Factory.

6. BROTHEL (1966)
Format: 16mm, 45 minutes, color, mono
Director/Writer: Bill Vehr
Producer: Bill Vehr
Cinematrography: Bill Vehr
Cast: Mario Montez, Jack Smith, Piero Heliczer, Tosh Carillo, Francis Francine

Brothel is a 45-minute color film starring Mario Montez, Jack Smith, Piero Heliczer, Tosh Carillo, and Francis Francine. Filmmaker Carl Linder was particular taken with Vehr’s film, describing the film’s protagonist as “neo-romantic, Beardsley-esque phantoms from an Oscar Wilde garden.”

7. HOMEO (1967) [link to Dailymotion]
Format: 16mm, 38 minutes, color
Director: Étienne O’Leary
Cast: Michel Asso, Michel Auder, Yves Beneyton, Dennis Berry, Juliet Berto, Margareth Clémenti, Pierre Clémenti, Francis Conrad (as Konrad), Billy Copley, François De Menil, Barbara Girard, Michèle Giraud, Piero Heliczer, Nicole Laguigner, Taylor Mead

O’Leary’s second film is a disjointed collage of beautifully shot footage: cityscapes, signs and billboards, nudes and cameos by other French actors/filmmakers of the day.

8. NO PRESIDENT (1967)
Format: 16mm, 50 minutes, black and white
Director: Jack Smith
Cast: Tally Brown, Tosh Carillo, Doris Desmond, Charles Henri Ford (as Lady Dracula), Bill Fortenberry, Francis Francine, Piero Heliczer, Donna Kerness, Nancy King, Robert Lavigne, Gerard Malanga, Joel Markman, Gay Martini, Mario Montez, Irving Rosenthal

Note: original title was “The Kidnapping of Wendell Willkie by the Love Bandit”