Avant-garde (dvd collection)
Encyclopedia
Avant-Garde is a DVD-series with experimental films released by Kino International.
Experimental Cinema of the 1920s and 1930s
Avant-Garde: Experimental Cinema of the 1920s and 1930s is a 2-disc, 6-hour DVD collection, released in August 2005 by Kino International which includes the following titles:- Le Retour à la RaisonLe Retour à la RaisonLe Retour à la Raison is a 1923 film directed by Man Ray. It consists of animated textures, Rayographs and the torso of Kiki of Montparnasse .-Sources:*Flicks - March 2001 ; Chris Dashiell -External links:* *...
(Return to Reason) (France, 1923) directed by Man RayMan RayMan Ray , born Emmanuel Radnitzky, was an American artist who spent most of his career in Paris, France. Perhaps best described simply as a modernist, he was a significant contributor to both the Dada and Surrealist movements, although his ties to each were informal...
, 2 minutes - Emak-BakiaEmak-BakiaEmak-Bakia is a 1926 film directed by Man Ray. Subtitled as a cinépoéme, it features many filming techniques used by Man Ray, including Rayographs, double exposures, soft focus and ambiguous features.-Synopsis:...
(Leave Me Alone) (France, 1926) directed by Man Ray, 16 minutes - L'Étoile de MerL'Étoile de merL'Étoile de mer is a 1928 film directed by Man Ray. The film is based on a script by Robert Desnos and depicts a couple acting through scenes that are shot out of focus.-Synopsis:...
(The Starfish) (France, 1928) directed by Man Ray, 15 minutes - Les Mystères du Château de Dé (The Mysteries of the Chateau of Dice) (France, 1929) directed by Man Ray, 20 minutes f
- MénilmontantMénilmontantMénilmontant is a neighbourhood of Paris, situated in the city's 20th arrondissement. It is affectionately known to locals as "Ménilmuche".-History:...
(France, 1926) directed by Dimitri KirsanoffDimitri KirsanoffDimitri Kirsanoff was an early filmmaker, considered part of the French Impressionist movement in film. He is known for his inexpensively made experimental films.-Early life:...
, 37 minutes - Brumes d'Automne (Autumn Mists) (France, 1928) directed by Dimitri Kirsanoff, 12 minutes
- The Life and Death of 9413: a Hollywood ExtraThe Life and Death of 9413: a Hollywood ExtraThe Life and Death of 9413: a Hollywood Extra is a American short silent experimental film.-Plot:The film tells the story of a man who comes to Hollywood to become a star, only to fail and be dehumanized...
(US, 1928) directed by Robert FloreyRobert FloreyRobert Florey was a French screenwriter, director of short films, and actor who moved to Hollywood in 1921. In 1950, Florey was made a knight in the French Légion d'honneur....
and Slavko Vorkapich, 13 minutes - Lot in SodomLot in SodomLot in Sodom is a short silent experimental film, based on the Biblical tale of the city of Sodom and Gomorrah. It was directed by James Sibley Watson and Melville Webber....
(US, 1933) directed by James Sibley WatsonJames Sibley WatsonDr. James Sibley Watson, Jr. was a Rochester, New York, medical doctor, philanthropist, publisher, editor, and early experimenter in motion pictures....
and Melville Webber, 27 minutes - Rhythmus 21 (Germany, 1921) directed by Hans RichterHans Richter (artist)Hans Richter was a painter, graphic artist, avant-gardist, film-experimenter and producer. He was born in Berlin into a well-to-do family and died in Minusio, near Locarno, Switzerland.-Germany:...
, 3 minutes - Vormittagsspuk (Ghosts Before BreakfastGhosts Before BreakfastGhosts Before Breakfast is a 1928 German animated short film directed by Hans Richter. It utilizes stop motion for some of its effect and live action for others. The original soundtrack was destroyed by the Nazis, but new audio tracks have been created by artists such as The Real Tuesday Weld...
) (Germany, 1928) directed by Hans Richter, 9 minutes - Anemic CinemaAnemic CinemaAnemic Cinema or Anémic Cinéma is a Dadaist, surrealist, or experimental film made by Marcel Duchamp. The film depicts whirling animated drawings -- which Duchamp called Rotoreliefs -- alternated with puns in French. Duchamp signed the film with his alter ego name of Rrose Sélavy.Rotoreliefs were...
(France, 1926) directed by Marcel DuchampMarcel DuchampMarcel Duchamp was a French artist whose work is most often associated with the Dadaist and Surrealist movements. Considered by some to be one of the most important artists of the 20th century, Duchamp's output influenced the development of post-World War I Western art...
, 6 minutes - Ballet mecaniqueBallet mécaniqueBallet Mécanique was a project by the American composer George Antheil and the filmmaker/artists Fernand Léger and Dudley Murphy. Although the film was intended to use Antheil's score as a soundtrack, the two parts were not brought together until the 1990s. As a composition, Ballet Mécanique is...
(France, 1924) directed by Fernand LégerFernand LégerJoseph Fernand Henri Léger was a French painter, sculptor, and filmmaker. In his early works he created a personal form of Cubism which he gradually modified into a more figurative, populist style...
, 11 minutes - Symphonie Diagonale (Germany, 1924) directed by Viking EggelingViking EggelingViking Eggeling was a Swedish artist and filmmaker. His work is of significance in the area of experimental film, and has been described as absolute film and Visual Music....
, 7 minutes - Le Vampire (France, 1939–1945) directed by Jean PainlevéJean PainlevéJean Painlevé was a film director, actor, translator, animator, critic and theorist. He was the son of mathematician and twice prime-minister of France, Paul Painlevé.-Upbringing:...
, 9 minutes - Hearts of AgeHearts of AgeThe Hearts of Age is the first film made by Orson Welles. The film is an eight-minute short, which he co-directed with William Vance in 1934. The film stars Welles' first wife, Virginia Nicholson, as well as Welles himself...
(US, 1934) directed by Orson WellesOrson WellesGeorge Orson Welles , best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio...
and William Vance, 8 minutes - Uberfall (Germany, 1928) directed by Erno Metzner, 22 minutes
- La Glace a trois faces (France, 1927) directed by Jean EpsteinJean EpsteinJean Epstein was a French filmmaker, film theorist, literary critic, and novelist. Although he is remembered today primarily for his adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's The Fall of the House of Usher, Epstein directed three dozen films and was an influential critic of literature and film from the...
, 33 minutes - Le TempestaireLe TempestaireLe Tempestaire is a 1947 French short drama film written and directed by Jean Epstein. The title translates as "The storm tamer". The story revolves around a woman who is worried for her fiancé, who is out at sea during a storm...
(The Tempest) (France, 1947) directed by Jean Epstein, 22 minutes - Romance SentimentaleRomance sentimentaleRomance sentimentale is a 1930 French film directed by Grigori Aleksandrov and Sergei M. Eisenstein.The film is also known as Sentimental Romance ....
(France, 1930) directed by Sergei EisensteinSergei EisensteinSergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein , né Eizenshtein, was a pioneering Soviet Russian film director and film theorist, often considered to be the "Father of Montage"...
and Grigori V. Alexandrov, 16 min. - Autumn Fire (US, 1931) directed by Herman G. Weinberg, 15 minutes
- ManhattaManhattaManhatta is a short documentary film directed by painter Charles Sheeler and photographer Paul Strand.-Production background:Manhatta documents the look of early-20th-century Manhattan...
(US, 1921) directed by Paul StrandPaul StrandPaul Strand was an American photographer and filmmaker who, along with fellow modernist photographers like Alfred Stieglitz and Edward Weston, helped establish photography as an art form in the 20th century...
and Charles SheelerCharles SheelerCharles Rettew Sheeler, Jr. was an American artist. He is recognized as one of the founders of American modernism and one of the master photographers of the 20th century.-Early life and career:...
, 25 minutes - La Coquille et le clergyman (The Seashell and the ClergymanThe Seashell and the ClergymanThe Seashell and the Clergyman is considered by many to be the first surrealist film.-Production background:The film was directed by Germaine Dulac, from an original scenario by Antonin Artaud, and premiered in Paris on 9 February 1928...
) (France, 1928) directed by Germaine DulacGermaine DulacGermaine Dulac was a French filmmaker, film theorist, journalist and critic. She was born in Amiens and moved to Paris in early childhood. A few years after her marriage she embarked on a journalistic career in a feminist magazine, and later became interested in film...
, 31 minutes - Regen (Rain) (Netherlands, 1929) directed by Joris IvensJoris IvensJoris Ivens was a Dutch documentary filmmaker and committed communist.-Early life and career:...
, 14 minutes - H2OH2O (1929 film)H2O is a short silent film by photographer Ralph Steiner. It is a cinematic tone poem showing water in its many forms.In 2005, H2O was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically...
(US, 1929) directed by Ralph SteinerRalph SteinerRalph Steiner was an American photographer, pioneer documentarian and a key figure among avant-garde filmmakers in the 1930s.-Biography:...
, 12 minutes - Even As You and I (US, 1937) directed by Roger Barlow, Harry HayHarry HayHenry "Harry" Hay, Jr. was a labor advocate, teacher and early leader in the American LGBT rights movement. He is known for his roles in helping to found several gay organizations, including the Mattachine Society, the first sustained gay rights group in the United States.Hay was exposed early in...
, and LeRoy Robbins, 12 minutes
Avant Garde 2 – Experimental Cinema – 1928–1954
On 24 July 2007, Kino International released a second DVD collection of experimental films Avant-Garde Vol. 2: Experimental Films 1930–1954. This release includes:- Geography of the Body (US, 1943) directed by Willard MaasWillard MaasWillard Maas was an American experimental filmmaker and poet.-Personal life and career:He was the husband of filmmaker Marie Menken...
, 7 minutes - The Mechanics of Love (US, 1955) directed by Willard MaasWillard MaasWillard Maas was an American experimental filmmaker and poet.-Personal life and career:He was the husband of filmmaker Marie Menken...
and Ben Moore, 5 minutes - Visual Variations on Noguchi (US, 1945) directed by Marie MenkenMarie MenkenMarie Menkevicius was an American experimental filmmaker and socialite.-Early life:The daughter of Catholic-Lithuanian immigrants, she grew up in Brooklyn.-Personal life:...
, 4 minutes - The Potted Psalm (US, 1946) directed by Sidney PetersonSidney PetersonSidney Peterson was an American author, artist, and avant-garde filmmaker. He attended UC Berkeley, worked as a newspaper reporter in Monterey, and spent time as a practicing painter and sculptor in France in the 1920s and 1930s...
and James BroughtonJames BroughtonJames Broughton was an American poet, and poetic filmmaker. He was part of the San Francisco Renaissance...
, 18 minutes - The Cage (US, 1947) directed by Sidney PetersonSidney PetersonSidney Peterson was an American author, artist, and avant-garde filmmaker. He attended UC Berkeley, worked as a newspaper reporter in Monterey, and spent time as a practicing painter and sculptor in France in the 1920s and 1930s...
, 28 minutes - House of CardsHouse of CardsHouse of Cards is a 1990 political thriller television drama serial by the BBC in four parts, set after the end of Margaret Thatcher's tenure as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. It was televised from 18 November to 9 December 1990, to critical and popular acclaim...
(US, 1947) directed by Joseph VogelJoseph VogelFor American-Lebanese basketball player, see Joe VogelJoseph Vogel is an American author and music critic.-Career:...
, 16 minutes - Christmas, U.S.A. (US, 1949) directed by Gregory MarkopoulosGregory MarkopoulosGregory J. Markopoulos was a Greek-American experimental filmmaker. Born in Toledo, Ohio to Greek immigrant parents, Markopoulos began making 8 mm films at an early age. He attended USC Film School in the late 1940s, and went on to become a co-founder — with Jonas Mekas, Shirley Clarke, Stan...
, 13 minutes - Adventures of Jimmy (US, 1950) directed by James BroughtonJames BroughtonJames Broughton was an American poet, and poetic filmmaker. He was part of the San Francisco Renaissance...
, 10 minutes - InterimInterimInterim is an album by British rock band The Fall, compiled from live and studio material and released in 2004. It features the first officially released versions of "Clasp Hands", "Blindness" and "What About Us?" — all of which were later included on the band's next studio album Fall Heads Roll —...
(US, 1952) directed by Stan BrakhageStan BrakhageJames Stanley Brakhage , better known as Stan Brakhage, was an American non-narrative filmmaker who is considered to be one of the most important figures in 20th century experimental film....
, 24 minutes - Unglassed Windows Cast a Terrible Reflection (US, 1953) directed by Stan Brakhage, 29 minutes
- The Way to Shadow Garden (US, 1954) directed by Stan Brakhage, 11 minutes
- The Extraordinary Child (US, 1954) directed by Stan Brakhage, 13 minutes
- Rebus-Film Nr. 1 (Germany, 1925) directed by Paul LeniPaul LeniPaul Leni born Paul Josef Levi was a German filmmaker and a key figure in German Expressionist filmmaking, making Backstairs and Waxworks in Germany, and The Cat and the Canary , The Chinese Parrot , The Man Who Laughs , and The Last Warning in...
, 15 minutes - The Fall of the House of Usher (US, 1928) directed by James WatsonJames Sibley WatsonDr. James Sibley Watson, Jr. was a Rochester, New York, medical doctor, philanthropist, publisher, editor, and early experimenter in motion pictures....
and Melville Webber, 12 minutes - Pacific 231Pacific 231Pacific 231 is an orchestral work by Arthur Honegger, written in 1923. It is one of his most frequently performed works today.The popular interpretation of the piece is that it depicts a steam locomotive, an interpretation that is supported by the title of the piece. Honegger, however, insisted...
(France, 1949) directed by Jean MitryJean MitryJean Mitry was a French film theorist, critic and filmmaker, co-founder of France's first film society and later of the Cinémathèque Française in 1938....
, 10 minutes - Arrière Saison (France, 1950) directed by Dimitri KirsanoffDimitri KirsanoffDimitri Kirsanoff was an early filmmaker, considered part of the French Impressionist movement in film. He is known for his inexpensively made experimental films.-Early life:...
, 15 minutes - Traité de Bave et d'Èternité (Venom and Eternity) (France, 1951) directed by Jean Isidore IsouIsidore IsouIsidore Isou , born Ioan-Isidor Goldstein, was a Romanian-born French poet, film critic and visual artist...
, 111 minutes
See also
- Unseen Cinema: Early American Avant Garde Film 1894-1941Unseen Cinema: Early American Avant Garde Film 1894-1941Unseen Cinema: Early American Avant Garde Film 1894-1941 is a 7-disc and 19-hour DVD retrospective released by Image Entertainment in October 2005, and which includes some of the earliest American experimental film. It includes the work of:...