Mandala Filming Locations

One of Belson's early surviving films. He first painted imagery on long scrolls in his home studio in San Francisco. Using these long paper scrolls, he could paint fluidly down the length of the scroll, then film it frame by frame. Mandala is his first film to use mandala imagery, and an early expression of his interest in eastern philosophies. This film was restored from Belson's 16mm originals by Center for Visual Music, and new 16mm prints have been screened at select museums, as well as digital copies. Animation historian William Moritz described Mandala as "a calm, meditative imagery of centric arrangements, accompanied by Balinese gamelan music that uncannily mirrors the shimmering textures."