time of the heathen street poster

Time of the Heathen

1961 / dir. Peter Kass / 76 min / New 4K Restoration

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Emerging from the void, mysterious drifter Gaunt (The Sting’s John Heffernan) wanders the upstate countryside in a daze with only his bible for company. But after happening upon the murder of a local female housekeeper at the hands of a rural deviant, Gaunt soon finds himself framed for the attack. Forced to flee deeper into the woods with the only witness to the crime — the woman’s young deaf mute son Jesse — the pair forge a complex bond that culminates in one of cinema’s most memorable, psychedelic, and unclassifiable endings.

A “lost” marvel of independent filmmaking, Time of the Heathen is set in the immediate shadow of the atomic bomb, yet narrativized through the groundbreaking aesthetics and shifting racial politics of the 1960s. Directed by Peter Kass, best known for his pathbreaking work in the New York theater world, and strikingly lensed by visual artist and avant garde filmmaker Ed Emshwiller, Heathen is major discovery for even the most well-versed cinephiles.

Restored in 4K in 2023 by UCLA Film & Television Archive and Lightbox Film Center, University of the Arts at Illuminate Hollywood laboratory, in collaboration with Corpus Fluxus and Audio Mechanics from the 35mm picture, the soundtrack negative and the original 1⁄4” stereo master recording of Lejaren Hiller’s score. Funding provided by Ron and Suzanne Naples.

Screenings:
May 10-23, 2024 Film at Lincoln Center New York, NY tickets
May 10, 2024 Lightbox Film Center Philadelphia, PA tickets
May 12+17, 2024 American Cinematheque Los Angeles, CA tickets
May 17-23, 2023 Gene Siskel Film Center Chicago, IL tickets
June 18-21, 2023 Guild Cinema Albuquerque, NM tickets
June 25, 2024 Hollywood Theatre Portland, OR tickets
July 11, 2024 Alamo La Vista Omaha, NE tickets
July 14, 2024 Cleveland Cinematheque Cleveland, OH tickets
July 17-25 2024 The Center for Contemporary Arts Santa Fe, NM tickets
July 24, 2024 Dreamland Cinema Sacramento, CA tickets
July 24, 2024 Suns Cinema Washington, DC tickets
July 27-August 4, 2024 Grand Illusion Cinema Seattle, WA tickets
August 16-18, 2024 Trylon Cinema Minneapolis, MN tickets
April 6, 2025 Close-Up Cinema London, UK tickets