Warning Note: Film and video cameras are forbidden without permission at Burning Man.
If you are considering filming for professional purposes, you must have a commercial agreement on file with the media team prior to your arrival onsite. Even with an agreement on file, you still must have permission from Burning Man (the Burning Man Organization) to use any images commercially. All video cameras must beregistered and tagged.
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Burning Man Video List
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BM @ Black Rock
by Larry Harvey - 1991
The Man arrives in the desert, produced by the founder of the Burning Man Festival, this film offers a rare insight into the early days of the Festival's relationship with the Black Rock Desert. After 5 years on San Francisco's Baker Beach, Burning Man had grown too large and needed a new space.
BM @ Black Rock shows this first excursion to Nevada and chronicles the evolution of some of the core concepts that shaped the event.
not available for purchase - special screenings at regional burning ma film
festivals.www.burningman.com
Burning Man: 1994
by Chuck Cirino - 1994
One of the first full-length documentaries of the event, Cirino captures Burning Man when the population was 2,000, you could still get a lift across the city by a truck towing a toilet, and the Drive By Shooting Range was, for some, the highlight of the event.
74 min, not available for purchase - special screenings at regional burning man film festivals.
not available for purchase
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The Burning Man Festival
by Joe Winston - 1995
Widely seen and loved since its 1996 release, "The Burning Man Festival" is considered by many to be the finest documentary on the Burning Man Festival. This film is of special interest to those who've more recently become immersed in the event, which has dramatically grown and evolved over the years
This 40-minute documentary, shot at the 1995 Festival, gives a lively introduction to America's largest counter cultural event, wherein thousands of people gather each year to built a temporary community around a 40-foot tall human effigy -- which, of course, they burn at the climax of the festival. If you've seen this video, definitely check out the newly released sequel, "Burning Man: Just Add Couches."
40 min VHS only
http://www.owmyeye.com/burningman.html
Burning Man: Just Add Couches
by Joe Winston - 1996
Finally, a sequel that surpasses the original: filmmaker Joe Winston and his pals return to participate in the Burning Man Festival. Packed with humor and surprises, "Burning Man: Just Add Couches" strips away all pretense and gets right down to the essence of what it's like to put on a desert freak show.
One year after "The Burning Man Festival," the same guys return to participate in the event. Seeking to create an average American living room in the harsh environment of the Black Rock Desert, they lug out couches, a tent, satellite TV, and a fridge full of cold beer. Not content to simply lounge, they also construct an untested invention called "The Minute of Fame Booth." An excellent companion piece to "The Burning Man Festival."
49 min VHS only
New Special edition DVD
The Burning Man Festival/Burning Man: Just Add Couches
by Joe Winston - 1995-1996
http://www.owmyeye.com/couch.html
NOW AVAILABLE ! both of Joe Winston's Burning Man films are available on one DVD.
Joe Winston's documentary movies do a great job of capturing this madness, and shedding some light on the people who put this show on year after year, from the festival organizers on down.
The DVD is broken into two parts. The first movie is essentially a National Geographic travelogue, following a car full of newcomers to Burning Man. Together with them, we marvel at the parade of strange sights and colorful, often naked people.
The second movie finds the same group returning to the festival to set up their own attraction. I'm not sure whether watching these four guys struggle to set up their tent, couches and videotaping booth would encourage viewers to go to Burning Man, but anyone who's ever gone camping or put on a play can sympathize with their - often hilarious - travails.
The two documentaries on this DVD, by first-time filmmaker Joe Winston, are a huge improvement. The first of these two films captures perfectly the wonderment of arriving at Burning Man for the first time, not knowing what you are in for. The filmmakers are greeted by a fearsome-looking man with a machine gun (they don't do this anymore) who forces them to sing "This Land is Your Land."
The camera then sort of wanders through the event - which has grown much bigger since this movie was made, but retains the same spirit. We meet all sorts of strange and wonderful characters, some of whom do seem pretty wasted, but many of them have fascinating things to say about what it means to be at Burning Man.
That is the key to the festival. Burning Man is something different for everybody. There's no official line on what it is exactly, and no one ever tries to sell you anything. If only the rest of the world could be like that, we'd be in a much better place (a sentiment echoed by several festival goers in the documentary.)
The second movie, called "Burning Man: Just Add Couches," gets into more depth as to why the festival is so special to so many people. The filmmakers come back the following year, and set up their own Theme Camp. They participate in the event. A slogan you'll hear a lot if you go to Burning Man is "no spectators."
Winston and his friends are clearly under prepared for putting together their Theme Camp project, a tent with couches and satellite TV they call "Couch Potato Camp." But their struggles are presented with such wonderful, self-effacing humor that it's impossible not to sympathize with them.
Everyone who's been to Burning Man more than once knows what it's like to be out in the middle of nowhere and forgotten your #14 socket wrench.
In the end, this DVD should appeal to veteran Burners and people who've never heard of the event. The movies do not assume that viewers are familiar with Burning Man, but they don't condescend to longtime fans of the event. That's a difficult line to walk, and this movie does it well.
89 min plus Exclusive DVD extras include 30 of the 1,000 recordings made in the Minute of Fame Booth at Burning Man. DVD
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00029YLWC/qid=1111999558/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-2449169-7235937?v=glance&s=video
Burning Man: 1997
by Chuck Cirino - 1997
Chuck Cirino has produced video accounts of Burning Man since 1994 and views it with the loving eye of an insider. Skillful editing is combined with great music to capture the excitement and chaos of Burning Man 1997. This 70-minute video begins with a 5-minute history, using black & white video from early years at Baker Beach and Black Rock, along with the voice of Larry Harvey in the background. It then leads into the colorful and controversial issues with local authority during ’97 and also takes a humorous jab at the circus of video cameras at the event.
It includes clips of the Bone Arch, Giant Rocking Horse, Marching Band, Mobile Living Room, Rocket Car, Ice Ball and the VegOmatic. Focusing on imagery and activity, it captures the joyous merriment during the lighting of the Fire Cauldron, the beauty of Water Woman at Fly Hot Springs and the striking image of a stuntman enveloped in flames as he dances between the legs of the Man and initiates the burn. There is a lot of history captured here, including bits of 'Save the Man' speech and the first glowing EL wire costumes to appear on the playa.
High nudity content is artistically and tastefully incorporated as part of the whole. A powerful and moving video, this is the one to share with friends.
Memories of Burning Man growing hazy?
Or were they hazy while you were still there?
Re-experience the people, the place, and the artistry.
The mud, the fire, and the nudity. The color, the light, and the darkness.
The Odd, the Strange, the Weird, and the Wholly Other.
Re-live the flame and the ashes of the 1997 Burning Man festival!
From the producer/director who brought you The Original Burning Man '94 Video, Talk Show Camp Show and Weird-TV! A complete week-long cross-section from behind the scenes, in front of the scenes, and slightly next to the scenes.
Contains Footage of: - The Burn - Camps from other Planets - Roving Living Rooms - Hundreds of Dead Cattle - Media Orgies -
Flaming Toilet Paper - Marching Bands from the Id -
Policemen Guarding Money - Sexes Of All Kinds - Live Nude Statues -
Dangerous Burning Man Staff in Their Natural Habitat - and more!
DEEPLY COOL MUSICAL SCORE!
Music provided by Burning Man participants:
Chris Cunningham, Idiot Flesh, Scot Generic, TchKung,
Noodle, Hydraulic Clown Head Music and others!
Plus ultra-bomb musical guest, UNDERWORLD.
70 min VHS only
http://marketplace.burningman.com/catalog.php?act=view_prod_info&id_prod=102&i=&l=&sid=34114EREFSJS6C9
http://www.weirdamerica.com/index2.htm
Burning Man: Where's the Fire?
by Fernando Joel Velasquez - 1997
This long-awaited film was produced only after Fernando sold his San Francisco cafe and made the push to document the physical manifestation of a Trojan Horse he envisioned at Burning Man the year before. His intention was to ritually burn the concept of war & deception out of the consciousness of humankind.
Follow the participants who created the Trojan Horse for Burning Man 1997 on an unauthorized hermetic journey as they transport this 1/2 ton wooden horse to the desert, improvising the logistics involved in placing it on the playa and then creating a psychedelic crucible with Beyond Race coming out the horse's bowels delivering a trans-elevation al performance.
Make for a great story line? Along the way, interesting characters join the group at Burning Man, including a Bolivian Coriander, a Hindu devotee, and a child named Krishna, on a cross-cultural tribal search for truth and freedom.
"Where's the Fire?" includes commentary by founder Larry Harvey on the significance of Burning Man as a cultural force as well as imagery of the Ice Sculpture, House of Doors, Idiot Flesh‚ various fire performances, and a dream sequence of the Daughters of Ishtar fire opera.
"We are the sages, seers, gypsies, geniuses, & dropouts who have escaped the psychosis of the collective mind in our search for truth & freedom! Our aim is to take individual self expression as far as we possibly can and dream into reality a much better world...We return to community...We honor tribalism... We embrace the illuminating fire, which lights our path to a new beginning!"
This is a magical story not told by any other video.
57 min VHS only
http://marketplace.burningman.com/catalog.php?act=view_prod_info&id_prod=107&i=&l=&sid=34114EV28KR9VMF
Flashback: Burning Man
by Ed Pavara - 1997
FlashBack is a document of Burning Man 1997. This year's event was the biggest, best, and most bizarre yet. Our camera crews approached the event from the inside, capturing what the experience looks, sounds, and feels like. Director Ed Favara and several talented collaborators have brought another dimension to the consciousness of Burning Man through unique views, audio re-conceptualization, and a creative manipulation of the content, (including an animated 3-D version of the burningman!)
No home video recording could hope to have capture as much. We're very excited about it and want to share it with you
running time unknown, not available for purchase
http://www.omniwave.com/flashback/
Juicy Danger Meets Burning Man
by David Vaisbords - 1997
The Juicy Danger Show is an underground circus act named for its power blend of bursting watermelons and flailing chainsaws.
Vaisbord’s 1997 documentary sketches the juiciness of the performers’ bodies, the raw danger of their personas, and drags the audience with them—Tom Comet, a former Jim Rose Sideshow, and Christine Taylor, a Vancouver one-woman carnival—into the grinning anarchy of the Burning Man festival.
It’s a potent combination, and this video elicits cheers and applause throughout. At Burning Man no one is a spectator; everyone is there to participate and draw their own audience with costumes, crazy campsites, or performances at any time of day or night
55 min VHS only http://marketplace.burning man.com/catalog.php?act=view_prod_info&id_prod=105&i=&l=&sid=34114FAL5JV4EU7
Into the Heart of Fire
by tapeworm, Inc. - 1998
From the Director who is unknown
You have to see it to believe it. For mature audiences only.
reviews
"Bijou Cafe," "Hype" Online Magazine - April 16, 1999
Join us for a video odyssey into the realm of the Burning Man Festival in Nevada's Black Rock Desert. For one week a year, this vast expanse of sun baked earth becomes the sixth largest population point in the entire state. Burning Man is a celebration of individuality, free expression and performance art. Participation is mandatory!... No Rules, No Turning Back, No Fear...
Bijou Café "Hype" Online Magazine - April 16, 1999 "Free form and all the more exciting because of it, Into the Heart of Fire: At the Burning Man Festival is not a re-discovered 'making of' of The Wicker Man but rather a genuine documentary. Recorded by "two guys with camcorders" who just "captured what they saw" (as the humble intro scrawl tells us), it is nonetheless a very slickly produced bit of underground video making.
Imagine Mardis Gras in the desert. Actually, imagine Fellini making that film. Fellini's Burning Man. Ah, si. Perfecto. The documakers' fluid, handheld camerawork give the entire proceedings an unearthly feeling of constant but dreaded expectancy. What the hell is going to enter this long, hand-held shot next? The camera suddenly rounds a tent and finds first a belly dancer, then a strange box theater play featuring weird geeks doing ham radio broadcasts, and finally rests on a guy inside a geodesic dome he's built that glows at night and allows him to rotate 360 in any direction while stationary.
See the theme? Neither do I. And that's why Fellini comes to mind. The celebration of the fantastic in the everyday is clearly at least one intent of the documakers based on its surreal charm.
Misc brief interviews with participants & Larry Harvey (founder). Video is from both day and night.
running time unknown, VHS
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/6305419574/qid=1111997135/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-2449169-7235937?v=glance&s=video
Chris Baxter's burning man 1998
by Chris baxter
VHS,running time unknown, not available for purchase
http://wrybread.com/gametone/burning man/chris/index.shtml
Burning Man 2020
by Christoph Gampl 1998
Why does the best film on the 'phenomenon' BURNING MAN come from Europe? i dunno... but BURNING MAN 2020 from director Christoph Gampl (Germany) is the one movie that really takes you to the spirit of BM. It's bizarre and igniting just as the festival itself. It's Mad Max meeting Woodstock and road movie on sex&drugs&rock'n'roll. If you never been to Nevada joining the community then go get the movie and you'll be on the Playa next year running around naked with a big smile on your face. I really loved the soundtrack and editing. The performance of Scot Jeneric (industrial drummer) is a blast. High five to cybersam and the crew. I watched the movie with some friends and we were tripping after 20 minutes. I've seen a lot of docs by now but this one carried me away!
Writing credits Christoph Gampl
take a ride to the desert & get naked with a smile, Completed 26 January 2005
Burn
by David Sectar - 1998 & 1999
This 90-minute production by David Secter documents the 1998-99 festival and provides a rare, behind the scenes peek with interviews of Burning Man organizers in San Francisco and at the event. Secter's enterprising camera records families, children and nearly every type of person one might encounter in Black Rock City.
Historical perspective is provided with early archival footage from Baker Beach and the first year on the Playa. The camera also covers members of The Rabbit Hole camp from their beginnings in LA to their experiences in Black Rock City. This video contains matter-of-fact nudity, which is balanced by a large volume of art & theme camp snippets.
The history rendering collage of still images at the end is remarkable.
90 min, VHS only http://marketplace.burningman.com/catalog.php?act=view_prod_info&id_prod=101&i=&l=&sid=34114FAE6EJM1E4
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0002ZFVAM/qid=1111997135/sr=1-4/ref=sr_1_4/104-2449169-7235937?v=glance&s=video
The Playa Project
by Bill Breithaupt - 1999
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AquaBurn.com
20 min
Bill Breithaupt is a twelve year Burning Man veteran, having attended and filmed the festival every year consecutively since 1999, when he ventured out to the playa for the first time and was blown away at what he experienced. Returning home he couldn’t stop talking about how amazing Burning Man was. Realizing that he never could quite convey the experience to others through words, he decided to express it through film, a medium he’s been working with for over 20 years. Breithaupt hunkered down and spent hours editing his footage into a film, Playa Project, which featured Dr. Megavolt. When he came back to the playa the following year he brought with him 100 copies of Playa Project to gift to his fellow burners. This became his annual tradition, filming, editing and returning the next year with films to gift on the playa
.not available for purchase
a burning man music video
by hanuman das ski
Art springs to life from the dusty playa of Black Rock City.
Windy rapture under a desert sun.
Fire in the skies at night!
Special video effects by Dove*Sterling excites the memory.
Relive a slice of those glittering days set to music, and dance again like we did last summer.
Original Music
Stewart Anthony Fallin
The Blue Musician
Remember the blue tent raves??
Hardtrance / ambient, electronic excitement.
40 min VHS,For more information,
http://www.burningmanmusicvideo.com/
Got Fire?
by Bill Breithaupt - 2000
In 2000 Bill Breithaupt started screening his films at Flambé Lounge, a pre-Burning Man party held in San Francisco. At Club Cocomo he gave the video jockey a copy of Playa Project, which was promptly played on the screens in the club. It was a hit with the crowd, hailed as “hip, new, and exciting”. The next year at Flambé Lounge they showcased his film, Got Fire? from Burning Man 2000. It was through this event that he met Andie Grace, Burning Man Org Communications Manager, with whom he shared his idea of a Burning Man Film Festival to showcase the many Burning Man films suddenly springing up. There was electricity in the air as people embraced the year’s upcoming theme The Floating World at the Flambé Lounge Blue Ball in 2002. Breithaupt showed his 2001 film PlayaScape, and the crowd was ecstatic, cheering in unison as the credits rolled.
.not available for purchase
AquaBurn.com
40min
EGG, the arts show, WNET New York
by Amy Teuteberg - 2000
Each year, artists, teachers, mechanics, farmers, grandparents, and grandkids come together in Nevada's Black Rock Desert, one of the harshest environments on earth, for Burning Man. Braving extreme temperatures and weather conditions, this community convenes to build a city dedicated to radical self-expression.
The only rule is that you can't just stand on the sidelines and watch -- you have to participate. From monumental sculpture to art cars, Burning Man proves to be an oasis of creativity.
9 min, not available for purchase - special screenings at regional burning man film festivals.
Gifting It
by Renea Roberts - 2000 & 2001
Gifting It is a meditative piece that explores one aspect of the Burning Man festival that truly makes it different. Giving provides the foundation for a host of social elements to recreate themselves beyond the boundaries set in a world increasingly turning commodified. Here, things are different.
You can make your own unique mould and be different too. And if you decide you'd like to take it with you, well - there's no charge. It's all about gifting...
At the London Burning Man Film Festival, the screening will be followed by a talk from Larry Harvey, the founder of Burning Man.
74 min DVD/VHS
http://www.giftingit.com/
www.titleset.com
Playascape
by Bill Breithaupt
The next year at Flambé Lounge they showcased his film, Got Fire? from Burning Man 2000. It was through this event that Bill Breithaupt met Andie Grace, Burning Man Org Communications Manager, with whom he shared his idea of a Burning Man Film Festival to showcase the many Burning Man films suddenly springing up.
There was electricity in the air as people embraced the year’s upcoming theme The Floating World at the Flambé Lounge Blue Ball in 2002. Breithaupt showed his 2001 film PlayaScape, and the crowd was ecstatic, cheering in unison as the credits rolled.
.not available for purchase
AquaBurn.com
25min
Burn Baby Burn
by Paynie - 2001
I did it !!!! - I made my film, shot and edited all within 10 days,
and in my humble opinion, it rocks.
I worked very hard on this and I'm very proud of it.
It's the best work I've ever done.
If for any reason you don't like it, send it back and I'll refund your money
I'll pop back down to the local strip joint and take the cash back from the strippers garter belt.
She's not going to like it, but a promise is a promise.
running time unknown, VHS only
http://homepage.mac.com/paynie/BMweb2.html
Journey to the Flames
by Dony Jacobson - 2001
For one week every year, 30,000 people gather in the Black Rock Dessert to build acity.
Journey to the Flames is an underground documentary that follows a group of friends as they head off to the desert. This Real World on acid takes you into the madness to discover a world of art, sexuality, music and fire....lots of fire.
55 min, not available for purchase
Burning Man: Nosolomusica
by Carlota Nelson - 2001
The very first Spanish-language documentary on Burning Man, produced by a crew from Madrid for the Telecinco network show "Nosolomusica". Nelson and her crew travel the world and report on unique festivals and celebrations.
This will be the first and only time this piece will be shown in the U.S. It includes interviews with artists, performers and Larry Harvey. In Spanish.
33 min, not available for purchase - special screenings at regional burning man film festivals.
Burning Man 2001: The 7 Ages of Man
by Steven Piasecki - 2001
Shot during Burning Man 2001 and mirroring the festival's theme of The 7 Ages of Man, the film is a flowing collage of image and music, celebrating that which makes the event so special and unique - the extraordinary art works which are peculiar to the playa.
17 minutes, not available for purchase - special screenings at regional burning man film festivals.
Pyromid
by Brian Scully - 2001
The Pyromid chronicles how a simple theme camp by day can transform into the most chaotic and dangerous burn on the playa. Dick Dale and William S. Burroughs narrate.
18 minutes, not available for purchase - special screenings at regional burning man film festivals.
bus tour - 2001
by unknown
In August 2001, LAFCO set out on it's most ambitious project yet: to tour the continental United Sates for an entire year visiting small towns and making films with local artists used to working in other media.
We started at Burning Man, an experience whose inspirational power will without a doubt carry us through our entire journey, which we plan on ending at next year's Burning Man.
"FILM WILL ONLY BECOME ART WHEN ITS MATERIALS ARE AS INEXPENSIVE AS PENCIL AND PAPER." - Jean Cocteau
VHS,
http://www.lafco.tv/indexBUS.html
THE BURNING MAN EXPERIENCE !
by michael pilmer
Coming soon from the SICK video empire is THE BURNING MAN EXPERIENCE, an amazing video retrospective of the annual Burning Man festival in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada.
Seasoned participants will revel in the glory that is THE BURNING MAN EXPERIENCE, while those unfamiliar with the event will be wide-eyed with amazement as they witness the marvels that are so numerous in this wonderful, ephemeral city.
With highlights including Dr. Megavolt and his amazing, lightning shooting tesla coils and the Princess of Pain with her death-defying broken glass act, as well as annual favorites like the "Critical Tits" bike ride, this video will have you living THE BURNING MAN EXPERIENCE in the comfort of your own self-contained survival fortress again and again!
running time unknown, not available for purchase
http://www.sickvideo.com/brng_man.html
AquaBurn
by Bill Breithaupt - 2002
BM2002, 24 minutes, by Bill Breithaupt
Aqua Burn is an interpretive look at BM 2002 that documents the water theme, the spirituality, the creativity, and the fun! It showcases the participants' imagination, effort, and time that went 
into the art projects, camps, and activities to make them so engaging.
Aqua Burn includes enlightening interviews with participating Burners, from first timers to veterans. Breithaupt has given out hundreds of his energetic annual films that capture the experience of BM: "The Burning Man Project" (1999), "Got Fire?" (2000), and "Are You Lost?" (2001). Aqua Burn is a change of pace from Bill's prior films, but arguably more compelling. He has really burned the midnight oil to get this 2002 film ready in less than 30 days.
Described as "a cross between Koyaanisqatsi and an extreme sports video", Aqua Burn explores the Floating World, the theme of Burning Man 2002, capturing the spirituality, creativity, energy and fun of the event.
Showcasing the imagination, effort and time that participants injected into the art projects, camps and activities, Bill Breithaupt's fourth BM film shows how these projects engage the other participants and help to make Burning Man the ultimate interactive community.
Enlightening interviews with participating Burners, from first timers to veterans, complete the picture.
http://www.aquaburn.com/ 
Fall and Rise of the Fools Ark - 2002
by Dadara and Jesse Limmen
THE ANIMATED MOVIE ABOUT THE ADVENTURES OF THE FOOLS ARK AND GREYMAN IN THE NEVADA DESERT. WITH MUSIC BY LAMB AND HIPOPTIMIST.
"Far away in the Unknown Territories still not discovered by the Evil Eye of the Kingdom of Greed, a few men are building an Ark to save the few fools left on earth from corporate evil..."
Yellow Submarine meets Monty Python in this part-animated story of the Greymen and their battle against the Fools' Ark. Footage from the building of the Fools' Ark art installation at Burning Man 2003 is intertwined into an audio-visual journey through forgotten worlds to tell the tale behind the project.
The result is a magical meeting of reality and fantasy that departs from the documentary format common in many films about Burning Man, and gives an insight into the depth of imagination that lies behind many Burning Man installations.
46 min, DVD
http://www.foolsark.com/
http://www.dadara.nl/index.php
http://www.notv.com/index?section=store
Dust Devils
by Dearbhla Glyne & April Blake - 2001 & 2002
Once a year, far out on a vacant expanse of the Nevada Desert, a most surreal city is constructed in the scorching heat. Dust Devils is a stylish and emotive documentary at the heart of the Burning Man experience. Spectacular images, magical music and candid interviews capture the impact of this unique social gathering on Irish and American participants.
Lots of people interviews, Center Cafe activity and extensive coverage of artist David Best and the Temple construction and burn. This documentary captures the swirling columns of dust that were created during the intense heat of the 2002 Temple burn.
runnung time unknown, DVD only
http://marketplace.burningman.com/catalog.php?act=view_prod_info&id_prod=817&i=&l=&sid=34114F9CR5BH873
One Minute to Burn
by Paul Andresen & Moe Stoebe - 2001 & 2002
This is where conceptual cinematography meets Burning Man and highlights many of the short memorable idiosynchratic aspects of life in the desert.
Paul and Mo compiled 51 short videos, each capturing an example of the random creativity and spontaneity that makes Burning Man so vibrant.
The collection makes an amusing and intriguing overall picture.
51 min
http://www.baddogfilms.com/
Black Rock Burning
by Kim Barr/ Aleece Germano - 2002
Art cars prowl the desert in the guise of fire breathing dragons, glittering fish, and Spanish galleons. "Burners" create theme camps that range from recreations of the Thunderdome to hillbilly porches; and massive and ephemeral sculptures created solely for the weeklong event rise unexpectedly from the desert sand.
BRB also captures the creative chaos of Black Rock City, and the intensely personal and collective nature of the Burning Man experience for all who participate.
The production of Black Rock Burning was in itself an act of radical self-reliance and communal effort. Germano raised funds for the production of BRB by organizing loft parties, and the film was produced with a small and dedicated Canadian crew.
not available for purchase - special screenings at regional burning man film festivals.
blackrockburning.com
Confessions of a Burning Man
by unsu lee and paul barnett - 2001 & 2002
windline films
hotbed production
For one week every year, a virtual city is erected on the surface of the Black Rock Desert in Nevada: Black Rock City, otherwise known as Burning Man. The documentary CONFESSIONS follows Samantha Weaver, Anna Getty, Kevin Epps, and Michael Winaker as they journey for the first time to the event.
These four subjects are thrown together in the visual maelstrom that is Burning Man. Humanity, art and dust collide in an encounter that is out-of-this-world. Samantha builds a labyrinth in an attempt to participate.
Kevin, hesitant at first, discovers a suprisingly accepting community, and his hip-hop music gets some air-time on a local radio station.
In order to meet as many strangers as possible, Michael takes on his familiar career of a driving cab, which he is forbidden to do anywhere else but Burning Man. And Anna finds herself on a personal journey where she comes to painful truths about her family and her past.
Burning Man's growth and socio-economic implications are told lyrically by its founder, Larry Harvey. His oral history weaves like a world-scale version of what the four individuals experience as part of this temporal desert community.
Whether from the individual or the collective perspective, there can be no doubt that Burning Man is one of the most important and unique cultural phenomena to emerge from contemporary American.
"While Confession of a Burning Man manages to accurately capture the Burning Man spirit, it falls just short of capturing the entire Burning Man experience."
not available for purchase - special screenings at local film festivals.
83min,
http://www.burningmanconfessions.com/
http://www.threesixtyrecords.com/bmcd.html
Firefall: Road to Burning Man
by Sandy Gentile - 2002
"FIREFALL: Road to Burning Man" is a feature-length documentary chronicling the creation of a large-scale sculpture from its concept to its unveiling.
Berkeley artist Kiki Pettit is chosen to create the keyhole project at Burning Man 2002, as the film follows her on a journey of endless challenges...from aesthetics to logistics, and even the mundane.
All of these challenges must be overcome if she hopes to realize her surreal vision of a 14-ft copper fountain that flows fire on water. (Photo courtesy of Scott "Sparky" Bartlett.).
Through this film you can experience the struggles, challenges and triumphs that she and her team encounter on their journey to build and display the keyhole art installation at BM 2002.
89 min, not available for purchase - special screenings at local film festivals.
http://www.spherical-productions.com/firefall/firefall1.html
Sensation - A Trip to Burning Man
by Laurent LeGall - 2002
What started out as a five minute report for French television expanded into a full length documentary on Burning Man by first time attendee Laurent LeGall.
Roughly 20% of the 300 media outlets attending the event are international, coming from Europe, Canada and Asia.
LeGall's piece is a good example of how the event is being portrayed overseas.
45 min, not available for purchase - special screenings at local film festivals.
Whistleworks
by Jon Groot - 2002
This documentary follows the Whistleworks project from concept to completion and includes interviews with the participants and artist Grag Worthingon.
At Camp Whistleworks, participants were invited to become ceramic artists and help build a steam-powered musical sculpture that became the centerpiece of a drum circle performance.
15 min, not available for purchase - special screenings at regional burning man film festivals.
http://audiovideoweb.tv/whistle/
Nothing Without You
by Ted Mattison Paul Kelleher - 2002
Naked in the desert, a lone man throws himself at the mercy of the people at Burning Man: An extraordinary experiment in humanity.
Ted would start naked with NOTHNG. No water, food, sunblock, or supplies in a a 50x80 foot perimeter at Burning Man in the harsh Black Rock Desert Nevada.
He would rely entirely on donations from strangers to make it through the week. All participants must "come totally prepared for survival in a harsh desert environment.
" Nothing Without You turns this mantra on it's head while, ironically, highlighting the greatest strength of Burning Man; the generosity of its people. Bold, humorous and inspiring. USA.
52 min, DVD,
http://www.nothingwithoutyou.net/
Burning Karma
by Bill Breithaupt - 2003
Bill Breithaupt has been filming at Burning Man since 1999 and each year would produce a film, walk around the next years event and gift people with copies.
"Burning Karma" is the 2003 film in a series of annual Burning Man films by director Bill Breithaupt, a Burning Man sanctioned filmmaker. His films are best known for capturing the creativity, spirituality and emotion of the annual Burning Man Festival held in the Nevada desert.
"Burning Karma" is darker and more intense than its predecessor, "Aqua Burn", yet it maintains a focus on the incredible art installations of the year's them (Beyond Belief), highlighted by enlightening interviews with festival attendees.
http://www.aquaburn.com/
Folding Time and Space at Burning Man
by Timothy Childs - 2002 & 2003
Time-lapse video showing the life cycle of Black Rock City and various videos and slide shows from the years 2000 thru 2003.
5 Burning Man Movies from 2003 and 2002, including Otter Clan does Burning Man, showing the people, communities and activities inside a Theme Camp at Burning Man 2003.
5 Folding-Time Movies from 2002.
4 slide shows of Burning Man Panoramas 1999-2003.
running time unknown,
http://marketplace.burningman.com/catalog.php?act=view_prod_info&id_prod=1145&i=&l=&sid=34114FBFSM9RJ1H
http://www.folding-time.com/ftschedule.html
Are You Lost?
by Bill Breithaupt - 1999 - 2003
Are You Lost a five minute film collage of the 1999 Burning Man event, 2000 Burning Man event and 2001 Burning Man event.
Drawing upon his expertise in music video editing, coupled with his trademark cinemaphotography, such incredible subject matter as Burning Man takes on a new feeling.
The result is a funny, fast-paced montage of live action clips, quotes and footage from Burning Man 1999-2003, set to a killer soundtrack by Brother Jasper. "Are You Lost?" creates the need for a new genre of short films.
Although sometimes over-shadowed by it's well-developed cousin "Aqua Burn", "Are You Lost?" also has it's own claim to fame. In 2003 "Are You Lost?" won third place in the Upward Rising Developement Short Film Festival, proving that it too was worthy of notice. 
AquaBurn.com
AstroBlaze
by Bill Breithaupt - 2004
Perennial favorite and extreme editor Bill Breithaupt returns with a piece shot and edited in the month between the start of the 2004 event and the film festival.
His past pieces, "Aqua Burn" (2002) and "Burning Karma" (2003) received standing ovations from the audience.
In another bout of brillant filmmaking Bill has once again completed his annual film in the month between Burning Man and the Santa Cruz Burning Man Film Festival. The final film in the Aqua Burn trilogy 
celebrates the Vault of Heaven theme of 2004. Having evolved into a serene and meditative incarnation, Astro Blaze maintains the magic and imagination that went into it's predecessors.
Beautiful and moving music underscore this collaberation of art, earth and people. Time lapses so beautiful they could have only been shot in a sand storm. Interviews with regulars and newbies alike. And a Burn that is a total blast Previously featured artists Peter Hudson and Nate Smith give us insight into their newest projects. Introducing Kate Raudenbush, David Biggs and Dana Moonfire and their projects, respectively.
"AstroBlaze" being the final film in the AquaBurn Trilogy of Burning Man films, celebrates the (Vault of Heaven) theme of 2004. Having evolved into a serene and meditative incarnation, AstroBlaze maintains the magic and imagination that went into it's predecessors.
Beautiful and moving music underscore this collaboration of art, earth and people. Interviews with Burning Man veterans newbies alike, Previously featured Burning Man artists Peter Hudson and Nate Smith give us insight into their newest projects. Introducing Kate Raudenbush, David Biggs and Dana Moonfire and their projects, respectively. Plus a Burn that is a total blast.
http://www.aquaburn.com/
"Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life."
-Pablo Picasso
