Speaking on his early films, Warhol stated that "people weren't supposed to see them as movies; they were only intended to be projected on the wall of a room so that you could take a look at them when you felt like it.
"[5] For his early works, filmmaker Jonas Mekas presented Warhol with the Independent Film Award of 1964, which was "the underground's answer to Oscar.
"[6] Art critic David Bourdon wrote that "far from literal transcriptions of reality, Warhol's films are more inventive, artificial and art-directed than some of his admires would like to believe.
In 1965, Warhol met Paul Morrissey and they collaborated on several films including My Hustler (1965), The Velvet Underground and Nico: A Symphony of Sound (1966), Chelsea Girls (1966), I, a Man (1967), San Diego Surf (1968) and Lonesome Cowboys (1968).
Warhol's assistance was sought, and in 1984, he placed his original film materials on deposit at the MoMA, while the Whitney began fundamental research for the catalogue raisonné.