Stephen Dwoskin

The main intention of Behindert is to express (as far as possible) some of the subjective perspectives within the social/private confinements of a personal relationship as seen essentially from the point of view of the physically disabled person. (luxonline.com)

"The action of the film evolves around the rooms of a house. As one of the main characters, Lisiska, is waiting and is studied in depth as she prepares herself for a meeting & The film attempts to display sexual barriers and misconceptions, and about the role-playing and the confusion around the whole question of sexual and sensual involvement. The essence is the confrontation with self-deception, lies and the real fear of contact with both sexes." (Stephen Dwoskin)

His Oriental predator is at first clothed in black, her 'victim' in white; slowly the costumes change, the victim acquiring a veil of mourning, until finally - as if to underline the ambiguity and interchangeability of their respective roles - the colours are reversed altogether. Still more interesting is the way in which, as the game becomes more ambiguous, Dwoskin adds fresh layers of make-up to his characters' faces, until they become almost caricature masks of their original selves. (LUX Online)

In 1974 director Stephen Dwoskin got together a group of artistically inclined strangers and put them all in a single room for five weeks allowing them to explore their fantasies as he filmed them: they apply theatrical make-up and lounge around in ceremonial gowns while emotional and physical interactions take place between the participants.

Dirty manipulates film by stopping on certain frames, slowing down others, and letting some just be what they are.

Director Stephen Dwoskin pieces together home movies shot by his parents in New York City, a video letter recorded during the 1990 Gulf War by filmmaker Robert Kramer, and raw footage filmed by Dwoskin himself. A veteran of the New York independent film scene of the 1960s, Dwoskin constructs a film poem in which the strong sentiment of his personal story-he was stricken by polio and eventually confined to a wheelchair-never overwhelms the beauty of the film's distinct form. (stephendwoskin.com)

The film stares into the faces of four girls on the tiny, tatty stage of what is evidently a strip club; one after one they begin their routines, miserable, mechanical, bored, until gradually the presence of the camera encourages them to react against the deplorable indignities to which they have been submitted and they fix us with their eyes for minutes on end in silent pleas for help. (Philip Strick)

This is shot in colour and shows the face of a girl called Tina Fraser framed on a pillow. The dominant colour is red and this gives the film a warm feel as Tina smokes and either masturbates or simulates this act. We see her face as she works herself up to orgasm, then afterwards in complete relaxation. (Stewart Home)

A girl is attempting to seduce the beholder : the camera. A visual conveyance through material - film and paint - as the seduction progresses she becomes more covered in paint - representative of the beholder. (anonymous)

It is quite revealing how complex the simple form is. Shot one to one, a girl is confronted with nothing more than her thoughts. In the period of watching her (while she is looking at you) her expressions and movements turn into a 'mirror' for the viewer to experience his or herself. The experience is solely emotive between you and her, and occurs in "real" time. (Stephen Dwoskin)

"This is probably a good time to mention Dwoskin's use of comedy: Outside In is a film that deals with disability but is also funny and even burlesque. Of course, only the disabled can use this mode to stage themselves as disabled characters. Bergson states not only that "a deformity thay may become comic is a deformity that a normally built person, could succesfully imitate." (Michel Barthelemy)

Dwoskin's 'on-set' companion piece to Central Bazaar. An unsuspecting Labour Party canvasser calls at the house and falls under the provocative and playful influence of the feature films participants. (BFI Filmstore)

The film is just this kind wandering through the personal ways and whys of different kinds of pain in different kinds of people. Far from the academic and the medical, the film questions this phenomenon of pain. The film searches through the many levels of pain and finds it in its unique position between disaster and pleasure. Pain Is... thus plunges us instantly into the midst of controversy and the unknown. (MUBI)

An experimental short film by Stephen Dwoskin (anonymous)

A woman lies bored on a bed alone with nothing to do.

Shot in one continuous 8-hour session. Trixi records Beatrice Cordua’s responses to the situation, from initial shyness, fear and withdrawal through teasing and posturing to naked surrender and final exhaustion. (Letterboxd)

An ode, made up of short shots as well as more insistent and lyrical ones, to a multitude of young women who populate the filmmaker's fantasies. (imdb)