One of a Boston Breed

'I MAKE ALTERNATIVE films," says Randall Conrad '65. "What Hollywood has to offer is usually little in terms of important content. Their products are glossy packages which have little to say."

Conrad co-produced and co-directed Dozens, one of a wave of independently produced films by Boston filmmakers. These are films without huge budgets and without name stars, a radical departure from production values that have developed in Hollywood. "To make Dozens, we received grants from a huge variety of public and private foundations. The money was certainly tight--$70,000--but an effective product can be made even with a low ceiling on production costs."

Pursuing graduate studies in New York and Paris, Conrad returned to Cambridge and became an active member of a growing filmmaking community. "While the great independent repertory houses like the Symphony and the Park Square were closing, people around here weregrowing active making movies. I had always wanted to be a poet, but I began to find film appealing--a universally accessible medium that I found attractive and fascinating."

Conrad's early work is exclusively documentary (Three Thousand Years and Life, Cutting Up Old Touches), but with Dozens he moves into feature films. "Though most certainly a fiction feature, the film contains documentary elements. It is designed to make you think of your city and the people with whom you live. Your mind is frequently take off the fictional element by recognizing what is real." The film, the recipient of awards at film festivals around the world, was first released last April and has aired on national public television.

While at Harvard, Conrad "saw as many movies as possible," and studied film aesthetics with Stanley Cavell, Cabot Professor of the General Theory of Values and Aesthetics. He also wrote film reviews for The Crimson: "They were not at all good; I was still learning," says Conrad, adding, "Don't look them up."