Emile de Antonio

Documentary filmmaker Emile de Antonio created a great deal of controversy during his nearly 20 years as a filmmaker by making decidedly Marxist underground films that sharply criticized his native U.S. during the times when the Cold War was still very real. The Pennsylvania native was the son of a wealthy doctor and educated at Harvard--he was in the same class as JFK. Before becoming a filmmaker, he held odd jobs ranging from longshoreman to college instructor. De Antonio began making documentaries in the mid 1960s. As a filmmaker, he preferred to intricately edit old footage into something new. Many of his films were made without narration because he believed there was something fascist about someone telling the viewer what to think. His rather radical criticism of American institutions and government officials angered many officials who would send the FBI out to harass him. His style of filmmaking greatly influenced the avant-garde films of Andy Warhol.

~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide