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renowned Black photographer who worked for Life magazine; and Possibilities of Agam (1967), on the Israeli kinetic artist and philosopher Yaacov Agam. 5 ese films were commissioned and broadcast in the United States by National Educational Television, CBS and ABC, and distributed throughout Canada, Australia, Japan and West Germany. Forma also wrote the historical survey ey Were Ragtime (1976) and the novels e Falling Man (1973) and e Day God Smiled (2010). 6 Despite the caveat that 'demonstrating' on film is not the same as an unwitnessed act of creation, Forma's documentaries are important records of artists at work. Discussing e Americans: 3 East Coast Artists with one of its subjects, Hans Hofmann, the artist and art historian Dorothy Seckler described it as a very interesting film … You're standing there with all these brushes and … working all over and it was wonderful to see the picture come to life … It wasn't like it was just a performance, like a hand, because you could see what happened to the picture. 7 Seckler was adamant that e Americans should be acquired for the Smithsonian Archives. Nonetheless, Forma's films remain little known, their principal legacy being the sound recordings for 5 British Sculptors, which, via transcripts in the book of the same title, are frequently quoted in discussions of the artists' work. Why Forma chose his subjects is unknown, although his initial focus on groups of artists is certainly unusual. It is also not known how many projects failed to come to fruition. (Forma's approach to Giacometti, in 1965, was politely but regretfully declined, while repeated attempts to secure the Beatles proved unsuccessful.) 8 By the early 1960s, Forma had established his own small-scale company, Forma Art Associates Ltd. He relished not feeling compelled to accept work: 'If your overhead is too high, you have to. It's a matter of artistic liberty.' Equally, he admired the impact of simple, low-key lighting effects, citing the example of Harold Becker, who 'basically uses one light and works with it like a painter'. 9 Living in New York, Forma was able to draw upon a wealth of expertise, including that of the highly skilled filmmaker Manfred (Manny) Kirchheimer, who edited 5 British Sculptors, and Ross Gaffney, Inc., who supplied the music for the soundtrack. It is worth pausing, too, to consider Warren Forma as a person. Experience in advertising clearly shaded his approach, seen in details such as his acrostic letterhead (spelling 'FILM'), his sensitive photography of Frances Chadwick, informed by fashion shoots and reportage, and in arranging to include a man reading 5 British Sculptors in his film of Hepworth's United Nations sculpture being unveiled. 10 Although he could appear irrepressibly exuberant, he possessed an innate understanding of the issues at stake. Raised by his mother as a Christian Scientist, Forma could comfort Hepworth with the one aspect he took from his religious upbringing: that 'love is a healing agent', and that Hepworth – who gave so much of herself through her work – had 5. Forma made a second film on Yaacov Agam, entitled Agam and…, in 1980. 6. ey Were Ragtime, chronicling the years 1880–1918, was described as 'a masterly collage of [written] excerpts … and a wealth of contemporary photographs notable for their breadth and efficacy', Leland M. Roth, [review], Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, vol. 38, no. 3, 1979, p. 296. 7. Dorothy Seckler, 'Interview with Hans Hofmann', c.1964, Dorothy Gees Seckler collection of sound recordings relating to art and artists, 1962–1976, transcript, Smithsonian Institution Archives of American Art. 8. Alberto Giacometti, letter to Warren Forma, 11 June 1965. e Beatles project was mentioned in letters to Barbara Hepworth in 1967–68. 9. 'What it takes … to open your own production studio', Television Age, vol. XIV, no. 6, 10 October 1966, pp. 81, 83. 10. Warren credited Brian Urquhart, chief advisor to Dag Hammerskjöld, with 'the driving for the moving shots' and supplying 'the man' reading the book. Warren Forma, letter to Hepworth, 30 August 1964, Tate Archive, TGA 21032/1/61/1. 8