In 1944 Lye moved to New York City, initially to direct for the documentary newsreel The March of Time. He settled in the West Village, where he mixed with artists who later became the Abstract Expressionists, encouraged New York’s emerging filmmakers such as Francis Lee, taught with Hans Richter, and assisted Ian Hugo on Bells of Atlantis. Color Cry was based on a development of the “rayogram” or “shadow cast” process, using fabrics as stencils, with the images synchronized to a haunting blues song by Sonny Terry, which Lye imagined to be the anguished cry of a runaway slave. —Harvard Film Archive
Len Lye
Director
Hi Stranger65%
Once Upon a Studio82%
Yellow Is the New Black65%
Day & Night77%
The Ugly Duckling69%
DC Showcase - Batman: Death in the Family70%
Piper81%
Lou75%
Banana71%
Kung Fu Panda: Secrets of the Furious Five68%
Mad God68%
Heavy Traffic65%
Cars Toon Mater's Tall Tales69%
Hawaiian Vacation69%
Affairs of the Art61%
Party Central67%
Wanderers73%
Small Fry68%
Competition61%
Canvas63%
