Avant-Garde Film (41 titles)

A list for people interested in alternatives to traditional narrative cinema.

by: Paul Taberham from Canterbury

100% from 5 members

Maya is sometimes referred to as the "Mother of Avant-Garde Cinema". She isn't, but she did make some lovely films. Sadly, they aren't available currently in this country on DVD but this film is. It's a good documentary in its own right, and it gives you a feel for her work.

In the Mirror of Maya Deren (2002)
Starring: Miriam Arsham, Stan Brakhage, Chao Li Chi
Director: Martina Kudlacek
Certificate:
Documentary about the life of avant-garde filmmaker Maya Deren, who led the independent film movement of the 1940s.

Rate this: 56% from 3 members

Gazwrx - The Films Of Jeff Keen

- our price: £27.93
Gazwrx - The Films Of Jeff Keen (4 discs) on DVD
Director: Jeff Keen
Certificate:
Jeff Keen began making films at the age of 37 when his art school film society needed things to show. And so began over forty years of unique, imaginative, irrepressible filmmaking. This release contains over 9 hours of films and videos by the visionary filmmaker from his 60s beatnik movies to the ..read more »

Rate this: 71% from 28 members

Bill Viola - The Passing

There's a load of Bill Viola DVDs on LOVEFiLM, this one is perhaps a good starting point.

Bill Viola - The Passing on DVD (1991)
Director: Bill Viola
Certificate:
THE PASSING is considered to be experimental filmmaker Bill Viola’s most accessible work and stands as an eloquent insight into the human existence.

Rate this: 68% from 35 members

Dreams That Money Can Buy

A bunch of avant-garde filmmakers who produced stuff in the 20s pooled together to make this series of shorts in '46.

- our price: £13.93
Dreams That Money Can Buy on DVD (1946)
Starring: Jack Bittner, Libby Holman, Josh White
Director: Hans Richter
Certificate:
Joe, a young man down on his luck, discovers he has the power to create dreams, and sets up a business selling them to others. The 'dreams' he gives to his clients are the creations of Max Ernst, Fernand Leger, Man Ray, Marcel Duchamp, Alexander Calder and Richter himself. The result is by turns ..read more »

Rate this: 59% from 100 members

Ten Minutes Older - The Trumpet / The Cello

Not strictly avant-garde, but it's a collection of 10-minute films by esteemed "World Cinema" directors.

- our price: £17.79
Ten Minutes Older - The Trumpet / The Cello (2 discs) on DVD (2003)
Starring: Markku Peltola, Kati Outinen, Ana Sofia Liano
Director: Aki Kaurismaki, Werner Herzog, Jim Jarmusch
Certificate:
Fifteen of the world's top directors including Bernardo Bertolucci, Wim Wenders, Spike Lee, Jim Jarmusch and Jean-luc Godard give a personal view on the nature of time...

Rate this: 55% from 921 members

The Short Films of David Lynch

I'll assume you know who David Lynch is. These are his shorts.

The Short Films of David Lynch on DVD
Director: David Lynch
Certificate:
6 films, all introduced by David Lynch. Set Comprises: Six Men Getting Sick (1967): 1 minutes film projected on sculptured screen. The Alphabet (1968): 16mm 4 minutes The Grandmother (1970): 16mm 34 minutes The Amputee (1973): Video - 2 versions 5 minutes / 4 minutes The Cowboy And The ..read more »

Rate this: 61% from 513 members

Dyn Amo

Dyn Amo (1972)
Starring: Jenny Runacre
Director: Stephen Dwoskin
Certificate:
'Dyn Amo' is a 'drama' exploring the distinction between a person's self and his projection of that self to others; and it's a 'horror movie' tragically suggesting how a projection can become more substantial than the self behind it. Its subjects are role-playing (especially sexual role-playing), ..read more »

Rate this: 55% from 2 members

The Collected Films of Takahiko Iimura No. 1

The Collected Films of Takahiko Iimura No. 1 on DVD
Starring: Takahiko Iimura
Certificate:
Takahiko Iimura is considered one of the most influential and important experimental filmmakers of our time. In an era of the explosion of Underground Film in the States, Iimura, almost alone in Tokyo, began making experimental film just reading the news from abroad without actually seeing them. ..read more »

Rate this: 70% from 4 members

Divine Horsemen

A documentary on Haitian Voodoo ritual based on Maya Deren's research, and footage that she shot

Divine Horsemen on DVD
Director: Maya Deren
Certificate:
A journey into the fascinating world of the Voudoun religion of Haiti filmed by Maya Deren during 1947-1951, and edited posthumously by Teji and Cherel Ito. The viewer attends the rituals of Rada, Petro and Congo cults, whose devotees commune with the cosmic powers through invocations - ritual ..read more »

Rate this: 74% from 24 members

Ian Breakwell - British Artist's Films

- our price: £12.93
Ian Breakwell - British Artist's Films on DVD
Director: British Artists' Films
Certificate:
Ian Breakwell was an artist and writer; a man with an eye for seeing the extraordinary in the ordinary. Renowned as a precursor to Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin, Breakwell was determined to be recognised by the widest possible audience by utilising television and radio to reach the masses.

Rate this: 58% from 34 members