Bas Jan Ader Movies

  • 1971
    I'm Too Sad to Tell You

    I'm Too Sad to Tell You

    I'm Too Sad to Tell You

    61971HD

    This short film is part of a mixed media artwork of the same name, which also included postcards of Ader crying, sent to friends of his, with the...

    I'm Too Sad to Tell You
  • 1970
    Fall 1

    Fall 1

    Fall 1

    61970HD

    Bas Jan Ader's first fall film shows him seated on a chair, tumbling from the roof of his two-storey house in the Inland Empire.

    Fall 1
  • 1970
    Fall 2

    Fall 2

    Fall 2

    61970HD

    Bas Jan Ader rides his bike into a canal in Amsterdam.

    Fall 2
  • 1971
    Nightfall

    Nightfall

    Nightfall

    11971HD

    Shot in his garage-studio, the camera records Ader painstakingly hoisting a large brick over his shoulder. His figure is harshly lit by two tangles...

    Nightfall
  • 2007
    Here Is Always Somewhere Else

    Here Is Always Somewhere Else

    Here Is Always Somewhere Else

    62007HD

    The life and work of enigmatic Dutch/Californian conceptual artist Bas Jan Ader, who in 1975 disappeared under mysterious circumstances at sea in the...

    Here Is Always Somewhere Else
  • 1971
    Broken Fall (Organic)

    Broken Fall (Organic)

    Broken Fall (Organic)

    61971HD

    Bas Jan Ader hangs from the branch of a tall tree, until he loses his grip and falls into a river below.

    Broken Fall (Organic)
  • 1971
    Broken Fall (Geometric)

    Broken Fall (Geometric)

    Broken Fall (Geometric)

    51971HD

    One of a series of ‘falls’ by Bas Jan Ader that he recorded on film, this work was filmed in West Kapelle, Holland in 1970.

    Broken Fall (Geometric)
  • 2019
    The Man Who Looked Beyond the Horizon

    The Man Who Looked Beyond the Horizon

    The Man Who Looked Beyond the Horizon

    02019HD

    More than 40 years ago, Bas Jan Ader decided to go on an adventure. In a tiny sailing boat, the Dutchman set sail across the ocean. Nine months later...

    The Man Who Looked Beyond the Horizon
  • 2008
    Broken Fall (Organic)

    Broken Fall (Organic)

    Broken Fall (Organic)

    02008HD

    Jemison adopts and refashions the premise of Bas Jan Ader’s work of the same name. As in the 1970s-era video, a young man clings to a tree...

    Broken Fall (Organic)
  • 1972
    Untitled (Tea Party)

    Untitled (Tea Party)

    Untitled (Tea Party)

    01972HD

    Untitled (Tea Party) is a short silent film. The camera slowly zooms into a sunlit clearing in a forest where Ader, formally dressed, is crawling...

    Untitled (Tea Party)
  • 1974
    Primary Time

    Primary Time

    Primary Time

    01974HD

    1974 Bas Jan Ader video work

    Primary Time