Barbara Rubin and the Exploding NY Underground

The 29minute experimental film Christmas on Earth caused a sensation when it first screened in New York City in 1964 Its orgy scenes double projections and overlapping images shattered artistic conventions and announced a powerful new voice in the citys underground film scene All the more remarkable that vision belonged to a teenager 18yearold Barbara Rubin A Zelig of the 60s she introduced Andy Warhol to the Velvet Underground Bob Dylan to Kabbalah and bewitched Allen Ginsberg The same unbridled creativity that inspired her to make films when women simply didnt saw her breach yet another male domain Orthodox Judaism before her mysterious death at 35 Lifelong friend Jonas Mekas saved all her letters creating a rich archive that filmmaker Chuck Smith carefully sculpts into this fascinating portrait of a nearly forgotten artist An avantegarde maverick a rebel in a mans world Barbara Rubin regains her rightful place in film history