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In 1966, Italian documentary filmmaker Antonello Branca (1935–2001), endowed with an independent, militant gaze, far removed from the dominant televisual aesthetics, left Italy for the United States. In New York City he soon encountered a generation in a constant state of protest, engaged and fascinated by new modes of artistic creation and life. With his 16 mm camera Branca became a unique witness, filming Pop Artists (Robert Rauschenberg, Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol and Fred Mogubgub) and Beat Generation poets (Allen Ginsberg and Gregory Corso among others). The documentary he made (What’s happening?, 1967) is a portrait of a society that was disrupted by the Vietnam war and social disparities and by the dreams of the new counterculture movement. From a formal point of view What’s happening? – shot quickly, in just 15 days – unfolds like a jazz improvisation; the soundtrack is an articulation of noises, music and radio broadcasts, and the camera moves in New York city as a nervous and hungry boy, a reminiscence of Jonas Mekas’ hand-held camera or the quick editing of Fred Mogubgub in his short pop film parodies The Pop show (1966) and The great society (1967). The intention of this chapter is to reconstruct the historical context and the creative process behind What’s happening? (notes, pictures, unused footage) in order to reflect a revolutionary way to conceive art as having no boundaries with life.

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What’s Happening? Antonello Branca and Documentary as a Happening Art Form

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  • 发表日期：

    2025年

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  • Milo Adami

摘要

In 1966, Italian documentary filmmaker Antonello Branca (1935–2001), endowed with an independent, militant gaze, far removed from the dominant televisual aesthetics, left Italy for the United States. In New York City he soon encountered a generation in a constant state of protest, engaged and fascinated by new modes of artistic creation and life. With his 16 mm camera Branca became a unique witness, filming Pop Artists (Robert Rauschenberg, Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol and Fred Mogubgub) and Beat Generation poets (Allen Ginsberg and Gregory Corso among others). The documentary he made (What’s happening?, 1967) is a portrait of a society that was disrupted by the Vietnam war and social disparities and by the dreams of the new counterculture movement. From a formal point of view What’s happening? – shot quickly, in just 15 days – unfolds like a jazz improvisation; the soundtrack is an articulation of noises, music and radio broadcasts, and the camera moves in New York city as a nervous and hungry boy, a reminiscence of Jonas Mekas’ hand-held camera or the quick editing of Fred Mogubgub in his short pop film parodies The Pop show (1966) and The great society (1967). The intention of this chapter is to reconstruct the historical context and the creative process behind What’s happening? (notes, pictures, unused footage) in order to reflect a revolutionary way to conceive art as having no boundaries with life.