* 27.11.1935, Tampa, FL

Education:     Tulane University, New Orleans, LA (English, theater); USC, Los Angeles (communications)

Highly acclaimed, maverick auteur of offbeat documentaries ranging from GARLIC IS AS GOOD AS TEN MOTHERS (1980) (a cultural-folk history of the magic herb), to IN HEAVEN THERE IS NO BEER? (1983) (on Polish polka dancing), to WERNER HERZOG EATS HIS SHOE (1980) (the result of the eponymous German regisseur's losing a bet with his former assistant, Errol Morris).

Blank's best known work is the feature-length BURDEN OF DREAMS (1982), an extraordinary account of the production of Herzog's FITZCARRALDO (1982). His career has been the subject of major retrospectives at the Museum of Modern Art in New York (1979), the National Film Theatre in London (1982) and the Cinémathèque Française in Paris (1986). In 1990 the American Film Institute honored Blank with the Maya Deren award for outstanding lifetime achievement by an independent filmmaker. 

Combining obsessions with music and food, Blank gives his movies a taste and feel that few commercial filmmakers can match. He's not above cooking up a mess of red beans and rice behind the screen to enhance the experience. He reminds us that movies are meant to celebrate life.

Filmografie van Les Blank

1965   DIZZY GILLESPIE               regisseur, idea

1968   THE BLUES ACCORDIN' TO LIGHTNIN' HOPKINS         regisseur, idea

1968   GOD RESPECTS US WHEN WE WORK BUT LOVES US WHEN WE DANCE                                      

          regisseur, idea

1971   SPEND IT ALL                    regisseur, idea

1971   A WELL SPENT LIFE            regisseur, idea

1973   DRY WOOD                       regisseur, idea

1973   HOT PEPPER                     regisseur, idea

1976   CHULAS FRONTERAS           regisseur, idea

1978   ALWAYS FOR PLEASURE      regisseur, editor, photography

1979   DEL MERO CORAZON regisseur, idea

1979   POTO AND CABENGO photography

1980   CHICKEN REAL                   regisseur, idea

1980   GARLIC IS AS GOOD AS TEN MOTHERS     regisseur

1980   WERNER HERZOG EATS HIS SHOE            regisseur

1982   BURDEN OF DREAMS  regisseur, photography

1983   IN HEAVEN THERE IS NO BEER?               regisseur, photography

1983   SPROUT WINGS AND FLY                        regisseur, photography

1983   TURUMBA                                 

1987   IN THE LAND OF THE OWL TURDS  

1989   J'AI ÉTÉ AU BAL                   regisseur, screenwriter, photography

1990   YUM, YUM, YUM! A TASTE OF CAJUN & CREOLE COOKING          regisseur

1991   INNOCENTS ABROAD           regisseur, cinematographer

1991   JULIE: OLD TIME TALES OF THE BLUE RIDGE       regisseur

1991   MARC AND ANN                           regisseur

1992   WILD WHEELS                            cinematographer