Self-styled magician Kenneth Anger is one of the most distinctive artists in cinema. Renowned as the author of the scandalous best-selling book Hollywood Babylon, Anger is a legend in his own time. The mythology that has grown around him has many sources, from his involvement with the occult, astrology and the pop world of Mick Jagger, Marianne Faithfull and Jimmy Page, to the announcement of his own death in the pages of the Village Voice, and the destruction, loss and banning of his films. At the heart of all this mythology is a filmmaker of prodigious talent, whose skill and imagination create films of great visual force, influencing filmmakers such as Martin Scorsese, David Lynch and Rainer Werner Fassbinder.

The Magick Lantern Cycle, with will be released as a 2-disc set on DVD and Blu-ray on 25th May 2009 by the BFI, contains the following films: Fireworks (1947); Puce Moment (1949); Rabbit's Moon (1950/1971, the rarely seen 16 mins version); Eaux d'Artifice (1953); Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome (1954); Scorpio Rising (1964); Kustom Kar Kommandos (1965); Invocation of My Demon Brother (1969); Rabbit's Moon (1979); Lucifer Rising (1981).

Special features on both discs will be:

• Newly recorded commentaries by Kenneth Anger;
• The Man We Want to Hang (2002) – Anger's film on the art of Aleister Crowley;
• Restoration work demo;
• Anger Me (2006) – Elio Gelmini's portrait of Kenneth Anger
• Illustrated booklet containing Modesty and the Art of Film (1951), an original article by Kenneth Anger; The Crowned and Conquering Child (2008), a newly commissioned essay by author Gary Lachman; and film credits.

Anger will also be at BFI Southbank on 12th May to introduce a special screening of Rabbit's Moon (1950 version). After the screening, Gary Lachman, Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard will discuss with Anger his influences and legacy. The screening takes place on Tuesday 12th May at 6.20pm in NFT1. Tickets are £9, concessionary £6.65.