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I’m so excited! Andy Warhol’s Screen Tests are coming out on DVD Feb. 17th 2009!
I was lucky enough to view about 16-20 of them in Toronto when they had an Andy Warhol exhibit. I just wanted to watch them over and over. The camera was on a person, and they would just sit there staring. Some would pose for awhile, then get comfortable and relaxed. Others would just have this coolness about them and stared back at the camera with no intimidation. It was so interesting to watch.

Between 1964 and 1966, Andy Warhol shot nearly 500 Screen Tests, beautiful and revealing portraits of hundreds of different individuals, from the famous to the anonymous, all visitors to his studio, the Factory. Subjects were captured in stark relief by a strong keylight, and filmed by Warhol with his stationary 16mm Bolex camera on silent, black and white, 100-foot rolls of film. The resulting two-and-a-half-minute film reels were then screened in slow motion, resulting in a fascinating collection of four-minute masterpieces that startle and entrance, mesmerizing in the purest sense of the word.

Released in conjunction with The Andy Warhol Museum, 13 Most Beautiful…Songs for Andy Warhol’s Screen Tests features 13 of Warhol’s classic silent film portraits. Subjects include Nico, Lou Reed, Edie Sedgwick, Dennis Hopper, and more. Shot between 1964 and 1966 at Warhol’s Factory studio in New York City, the Screen Tests are presented with newly commissioned soundtracks performed by Dean Wareham and Britta Phillips. This is the first ever authorized DVD release of films by Andy Warhol.

Dean & Britta have their own group together, but were previously with Luna, which is one of my favorite bands. The 13 Screen Tests included are Paul America, Susan Bottomly, Ann Buchanan, Freddy Herko, Jane Holzer (Toothbrush), Dennis Hopper, Billy Name, Nico, Richard Rheem, Lou Reed (Coke), Edie Sedgwick, Ingrid Superstar and Mary Woronov. You can pre-order a copy here for $30.