Pittsburgh

Film sponsored by the Pittsburgh Bicentennial Association to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the city and its rebirth through the work of local citizens. Pittsburgh traces the city's history from its founding at the confluence of three rivers through its industrial development, decline and renaissance. This arresting short directed by Stan Brakhage illustrates its subject through animated photographs, archival footage and new handheld shots. In one of the film's several unusual effects, the city's air pollution abatement effort is dramatized by showing smoke retreating into smokestacks.

Pittsburgh Filmmakers reconstituted the work on video in 1997.

Avant-garde filmmaker Stan Brakhage took other assignments from On Film during the 1950s.