Les Blank
Les Blank (Leslie Harrod Blank Jr., 1935–2013) was an acclaimed American independent documentary filmmaker whose work meticulously chronicled American folk, regional food, and roots music traditions. He earned a master's degree in filmmaking from the University of Southern California and founded his own production company, Flower Films, in 1967. Rather than framing his projects through a conventional journalistic lens, Blank focused heavily on the cultural and geographical contexts of his subjects. This approach produced seminal music documentaries like The Blues Accordin' to Lightnin' Hopkins (1968), Spend It All (1971), Chulas Fronteras (1976), and J'ai Été Au Bal (1989). With Alice Gerrard, Cece Conway, and Maureen Gosling he made Sprout Wings and Fly (1983), about fiddler Tommy Jarrell. In recognition of his contributions to the preservation of American regional idioms, two of his films were selected for preservation in the National Film Registry, and he was honored with the American Film Institute's Maya Deren Award and the Edward MacDowell Medal.
In the newsletter
- No. 28 January 2002