My Name Is Oona

My Name Is Oona is a 1969 American avant-garde short film directed by Gunvor Nelson.[1][2] It uses footage of her daughter Oona that has been optically printed, with Oona's voice used for the soundtrack. The film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry in 2019.

My Name Is Oona
Directed byGunvor Nelson
StarringOona Nelson
Distributed byCanyon Cinema
Release date
  • 1969 (1969)
Running time
10 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Summary

Footage of Gunvor's daughter Oona saying her name multiple times and days of the week edited into an expressive rhythmical structure that accompanies the visual structure of the film that plunges into the experience of a child.[3]

Production

My Name Is Oona began with footage of Oona that Gunvor optically printed. Inspiration for the film's soundtrack came when Nelson attended a Steve Reich concert. Gunvor recorded Oona saying her name in different ways, and after hearing about the project, Reich sent Gunvor a recording he had made of Oona saying the days of the week. Gunvor worked with Patrick Gleeson to create the audio track. Once that was complete, Nelson made a final cut of the film by editing the image track based on the audio.[4]

Reception and legacy

When My Name Is Oona screened at the Whitney Museum, Danny Weiss of Show Business Illustrated identified it as a standout, calling it a lyrical film that "ends leaving the viewer a little high."[5] In The Village Voice, Amos Vogel declared it "one of the most perfect recent examples of poetic cinema."[6]

In 2019, the film was selected by the U.S. Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[7]

References
  1. The Renegades: American Avant-Garde Film, 1960--1973-Walker Art Center on YouTube
  2. The Renegades: American Avant-Garde Film, 1960--1973
  3. Gunvor Nelson: My Name is Oona (1969, 2 min excerpt) on Vimeo posted by Filmfourm
  4. MacDonald, Scott (1998). A Critical Cinema 3: Interviews with Independent Filmmakers. University of California Press. p. 188.
  5. Weiss, Danny (March 18, 1971). "A New Consciousness". Show Business Illustrated.
  6. Vogel, Amos (March 18, 1971). "Sweet fireworks". The Village Voice.
  7. Chow, Andrew R. (December 11, 2019). "See the 25 New Additions to the National Film Registry, From Purple Rain to Clerks". Time. Retrieved March 27, 2021.
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