Behind The Scenes1975

This mysterious, delighful film opens with a sound collage of jazzy music and voices played against a black background.  After a few minutes, there is an extended shot of a young woman sitting at a table by a window with a slight look of embarrasment as she tries to keep a straight face under the camera’s gaze.  Made just after Shift, it continues Gehr’s early experiments with sound editing.  It is startling in the context of his other work as his first film with a straight on close shot of a person. 

                   –  David Schwartz “Gehr at the Turn of the Century”, Serene Intensity:    The Films of Ernie Gehr, MOMI. 1999