A remembrance of artist, U-M prof and Ann Arbor Film Festival founder George Manupelli
George Manupelli, the former U-M art professor who founded the Ann
Arbor Film Festival, died on Sunday, September 14, just 2 weeks shy of
his 83rd birthday.
Born in Boston’s North End on September 29, 1931, Manupelli earned an MA and PhD in fine art and fine art education from Columbia University before embarking on a 38 year teaching career. In addition to being a longtime faculty member at U-M, Manupelli also taught at York University in Toronto and the San Francisco Art Institute.
What locals will likely remember most about Manupelli, though, is his founding of the Ann Arbor Film Festival in 1963, which he oversaw as director for 17 years. AAFF, the longest-running independent and experimental film festival in North America, began life as the First American Film Festival at U-M’s old Architecture and Design Auditorium.
Still in its infancy, AAFF drew iconic film critic Pauline Kael as a judge in the event’s second year (1964); was accused of showing “pornographic films” in 1965; enticed Andy Warhol, The Velvet Underground and Nico to appear in 1966; and showed work by Yoko Ono, George Lucas, Gus Van Sant, and a music video by Devo.
“Indie film is really about a single person with a vision, making shorts or features that are groundbreaking or polarizing,” said former AAFF director Donald Harrison. “(Manupelli) saw the need for a platform for work that was being marginalized. There wasn’t a place to share this kind of work, or see it, if you weren’t living in New York or Los Angeles or San Francisco. So he recognized the need for it, created a platform to celebrate it, and it worked.”
But how did Manupelli make a modest indie festival – at a time when there were very few festivals - into a landmark event, seemingly overnight?
“I think George knew the time was ripe (for AAFF),” said current AAFF chair Leslie Raymond. “Things were things happening on East Coast and and the West Coast, and I think he saw an opportunity to do something in the Midwest. And he was connected to people. They came to Ann Arbor by knowing George, and … (AAFF) was emerging from this time of cultural and social upheaval. … That kind of spirit has endured, to a degree.”
Manupelli had also been a member of the Once Group, an Ann Arbor-based collective of “artists and architects and musicians and dancers who were making work together in the early ‘60s and late ‘50s,” said Raymond. “George’s involvement with them led to a projected moving image component of the group, and out of that was born the Film Fest.”
As a avant garde filmmaker, Manupelli – whose private collection of previously unseen artworks were unveiled in an exhibit in Jackson this past February – was best known for his Dr. Chicago series.
“Working from the perspective of a visual artist is different than coming at it from the other side, where someone’s a filmmaker first,” said Raymond. “He was coming at the language of film in a different way. … His films often worked in a way that was similar to his artwork, in that he did a lot of collage and assemblage work, where you take what already exists, put it together and make something new. And instead of using trained actors, he’d use other artists. That’s another example of taking the resources available to you and using them in your artwork.”
Raymond said that the 52nd annual AAFF - scheduled for March 24-29, 2015 - will pay tribute to Manupelli.
But when AAFF marked its milestone 50th anniversary in 2012, Manupelli traveled to Ann Arbor from his home in Bethlehem, New Hampshire, despite his failing health.
Indeed, Manupelli had to spend a significant amount of time in the hospital during that trip; and Harrison (then director of AAFF), though worried that Manupelli wasn’t feeling well, also felt grateful in the end for getting to spend more personal time with Manupelli than he would have otherwise.
“Even in bad health, even in the hospital, he had this spirit that was magnetic, and I spent a full day with him,” said Harrison. “ … It was really inspiring to spend time close to him. … It made me hope that someday, when I’m at that point when I’m not feeling well, I’ll remember that it’s so much more about the spirit of who you are.”
Raymond met Manupelli for the first time in 2009, when he came to AAFF and delivered a Penny Stamps lecture.
“I just remember … I felt an immediate connection to him,” said Raymond. “He was such a warm and generous and open person. … His spirit is still living through the festival. He was irreverent and fun and had this great wit.”
That’s evident in Manupelli’s Clio Award-winning short, starring a character regularly featured then on “Saturday Night Live,” Father Guido Sarducci.
Harrison echoed the sentiment that AAFF’s identity remains an extension of Manupelli’s own personality and values.
“For him to be a filmmaker and artist and event organizer, for him to wear those different hats – that gave him the perspective to create a festival that’s artist-centric,” Harrison said. “ … (AAFF) was a representation of the qualities that were in George: uncompromising, showing work that might be unpopular and challenging, but at the same time, doing it with a charm and humor that draws people like me, and people from around the world, to go to something that might be more alienating if not for this magnetic sort of charm and charisma.”
Jenn McKee is an entertainment reporter for The Ann Arbor News. Reach her at jennmckee@mlive.com or 734-623-2546, and follow her on Twitter @jennmckee.
Born in Boston’s North End on September 29, 1931, Manupelli earned an MA and PhD in fine art and fine art education from Columbia University before embarking on a 38 year teaching career. In addition to being a longtime faculty member at U-M, Manupelli also taught at York University in Toronto and the San Francisco Art Institute.
What locals will likely remember most about Manupelli, though, is his founding of the Ann Arbor Film Festival in 1963, which he oversaw as director for 17 years. AAFF, the longest-running independent and experimental film festival in North America, began life as the First American Film Festival at U-M’s old Architecture and Design Auditorium.
Still in its infancy, AAFF drew iconic film critic Pauline Kael as a judge in the event’s second year (1964); was accused of showing “pornographic films” in 1965; enticed Andy Warhol, The Velvet Underground and Nico to appear in 1966; and showed work by Yoko Ono, George Lucas, Gus Van Sant, and a music video by Devo.
“Indie film is really about a single person with a vision, making shorts or features that are groundbreaking or polarizing,” said former AAFF director Donald Harrison. “(Manupelli) saw the need for a platform for work that was being marginalized. There wasn’t a place to share this kind of work, or see it, if you weren’t living in New York or Los Angeles or San Francisco. So he recognized the need for it, created a platform to celebrate it, and it worked.”
But how did Manupelli make a modest indie festival – at a time when there were very few festivals - into a landmark event, seemingly overnight?
“I think George knew the time was ripe (for AAFF),” said current AAFF chair Leslie Raymond. “Things were things happening on East Coast and and the West Coast, and I think he saw an opportunity to do something in the Midwest. And he was connected to people. They came to Ann Arbor by knowing George, and … (AAFF) was emerging from this time of cultural and social upheaval. … That kind of spirit has endured, to a degree.”
Manupelli had also been a member of the Once Group, an Ann Arbor-based collective of “artists and architects and musicians and dancers who were making work together in the early ‘60s and late ‘50s,” said Raymond. “George’s involvement with them led to a projected moving image component of the group, and out of that was born the Film Fest.”
As a avant garde filmmaker, Manupelli – whose private collection of previously unseen artworks were unveiled in an exhibit in Jackson this past February – was best known for his Dr. Chicago series.
“Working from the perspective of a visual artist is different than coming at it from the other side, where someone’s a filmmaker first,” said Raymond. “He was coming at the language of film in a different way. … His films often worked in a way that was similar to his artwork, in that he did a lot of collage and assemblage work, where you take what already exists, put it together and make something new. And instead of using trained actors, he’d use other artists. That’s another example of taking the resources available to you and using them in your artwork.”
Raymond said that the 52nd annual AAFF - scheduled for March 24-29, 2015 - will pay tribute to Manupelli.
But when AAFF marked its milestone 50th anniversary in 2012, Manupelli traveled to Ann Arbor from his home in Bethlehem, New Hampshire, despite his failing health.
Indeed, Manupelli had to spend a significant amount of time in the hospital during that trip; and Harrison (then director of AAFF), though worried that Manupelli wasn’t feeling well, also felt grateful in the end for getting to spend more personal time with Manupelli than he would have otherwise.
“Even in bad health, even in the hospital, he had this spirit that was magnetic, and I spent a full day with him,” said Harrison. “ … It was really inspiring to spend time close to him. … It made me hope that someday, when I’m at that point when I’m not feeling well, I’ll remember that it’s so much more about the spirit of who you are.”
Raymond met Manupelli for the first time in 2009, when he came to AAFF and delivered a Penny Stamps lecture.
“I just remember … I felt an immediate connection to him,” said Raymond. “He was such a warm and generous and open person. … His spirit is still living through the festival. He was irreverent and fun and had this great wit.”
That’s evident in Manupelli’s Clio Award-winning short, starring a character regularly featured then on “Saturday Night Live,” Father Guido Sarducci.
Harrison echoed the sentiment that AAFF’s identity remains an extension of Manupelli’s own personality and values.
“For him to be a filmmaker and artist and event organizer, for him to wear those different hats – that gave him the perspective to create a festival that’s artist-centric,” Harrison said. “ … (AAFF) was a representation of the qualities that were in George: uncompromising, showing work that might be unpopular and challenging, but at the same time, doing it with a charm and humor that draws people like me, and people from around the world, to go to something that might be more alienating if not for this magnetic sort of charm and charisma.”
Jenn McKee is an entertainment reporter for The Ann Arbor News. Reach her at jennmckee@mlive.com or 734-623-2546, and follow her on Twitter @jennmckee.
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