Carmen D'Avino

Background

Background is a 1973 American short documentary film directed by Carmen D'Avino. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short. The original version was preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2012.

Minestrone with Music

Short animation combining abstract patterns with photographs of famous personages.

Tarantella

Short animation featuring cut-out photographs of all kinds of shoes and feet dancing a tarantella.

A Finnish Fable

A stop-motion animation using mannequins in a forest setting impressionistically telling a Finnish folk story.

Pianissimo

An experimental animated short film in which a piano plays a song and the keys, hammers, and various other parts of the piano are different colors. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2007.

Stone sonata

Brightly coloured stones wander along the banks and through a river.

The Room

"A destitute room, transmuted by the startling magic of stop-motion photography into a luxuriant explosion of color. A new work by D’Avino (THE BIG O)." – Cinema 16 program notes, May 1959. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2007.

The Big O

Short animation

Theme and Transition

Short film by Carmen D'Avino.

Vernissage of American Artists

Vernissage, in the 19th century, referred to varnishing the painting, the final step to hanging in the gallery. Varnishing Day meant there were no more changes, the work was complete. Now the word has come to mean "the opening of an art exhibition" or a "private viewing"...here, vernissage is a glimpse into the creative lives of American artists (World War Two veterans) who came to study and work in Paris, the art capital of the world. World War Two Veterans studied art in Paris during the 1950's. They formed Gallery Eight, which became the showcase for the artwork. Carmen D'Avino filmed these artists in Paris in 1950 for his silent documentary 'Vernissage.' Transferred to video, and enhanced with a classical soundtrack and introduction notes in 2002. Featuring Jonah Kinigstein, Sidney Geist, Oscar Chelimsky, Norman Rubington, John Anderson, Shinkicki Tajiri, and Herbert Katzman.