Screening at the IFC Center, the documentary Barbara Rubin and The Exploding New York Underground examines the brief, incandescent life of a teenage filmmaker who shocked New York’s experimental scene in the 1960s, introduced Andy Warhol to the Velvet Underground, and later vanished into an anonymous Hasidic life.
An 18-Year-Old Wunderkind Who Shook New York
Long before she became a mythical figure of the 1960s counter-culture, Barbara Rubin was just an 18-year-old filmmaker when she made Christmas on Earth, a 1963–1965 art-porn masterpiece that ran 30 minutes and instantly rattled New York’s experimental film scene according to the IFC Center. Made when she was just 18 years old, Barbara Rubin’s art-porn masterpiece Christmas On Earth (1963-65) shocked NYC’s experimental film scene and inspired NYC’s thriving underground. Made during an era when American cinema strictly forbade nudity, her work found an unconventional home. Rubin’s films were part of the program when art films co-mingled with porno movies in…strip clubs and dirty book stores, as noted in Film Threat’s review.
Engineering the Counter-Culture’s Iconic Meetings
Beyond her own camera work, Rubin operated as an irrepressible catalyst who connected the defining artists of her generation. Described by the IFC Center as a mythical “Zelig” of the sixties, she introduced Andy Warhol to the Velvet Underground and Bob Dylan to the Kabbalah and famously brought the musician straight to Andy Warhol’s factory according to Film Threat. Floored by the visiting pop star, Warhol went right to work shooting one of his screen tests of Dylan as he did for many Factory denizens — the subject sat in a chair, looked directly into the camera for several minutes and did nothing else. Dylan, unable to stay still, puffs on a cigarette and chuckles at one point.
Rubin also engineered the historic meetup between Warhol and the Velvet Underground. Her social network spanned independent cinema and poetry; she was a longtime friend of independent filmmaker Jonas Mekas — she met him through family connections, who treasured her letters and films—and grew especially close to Allen Ginsberg, who at the time was one of the country’s foremost poets, with whom she eventually retired to a farm.
Nostalgia Versus the Rough Edges of a Fast Life
Director Chuck Smith’s documentary captures the intoxicating glamour of lower Manhattan’s cultural golden age, yet reviewers note that the film pulls back on darker realities. Smith’s take on the era, as attractive as it may seem, is steeped in nostalgia and has a tendency to gloss over some rough patches, Film Threat observed.
Among those unexamined rough patches is her early medical history with stimulants. As a chubby teen, doctors prescribed amphetamines to help her strip off pounds, as was the accepted practice of the time. While the film alludes to her drug use — later on, drugs made her hair fall out — but doesn’t explain how that may have played into her artistic endeavors. Also, sketchy is her institutionalization as a young teen. Those factors played a significant role later in her life, but the thread is never thoroughly examined.
From Experimental Pioneer to Orthodox Hasidic Life
After a falling out with the Warhol crowd and with Ginsberg, she dropped all vestiges of her artistic past and pursued a path of Orthodox Judaism. Her friends were stunned by the impulsive move. She shocked everyone by converting to Hasidic Judaism, marrying and moving to France to live an anonymous life.
Her filmmaking career was fiercely brief, yet she truly believed that film could change the world. Tragedy cut her journey short when she died in 1980 after giving birth to her fifth child.
Festival Acclaim and Where to Watch
The documentary has a running time of 78 minutes, with distribution handled by Juno Films as noted by the IFC Center. The project earned the Metropolis Grand Jury Prize at DOC NYC and secured an official selection as an Official selection: International Film Festival Rotterdam, cementing Rubin’s legacy long after her retreat from the public eye.
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