Experimental film
A mode of filmmaking opposing standard cinematic conventions.
Experimental film, also known as avant-garde cinema, is a mode of filmmaking that rejects standard cinematic conventions, often adopting non-narrative forms or alternatives to traditional narratives. It emerged in the 1920s in Europe, where avant-garde movements in visual arts flourished, and later developed in the United States. These films are typically produced on very low budgets, often self-financed or supported by small grants, with minimal crews or a single filmmaker, and aim to render a personal vision or promote new technology rather than to entertain or generate revenue.
- field
- Film
- known_for
- Non-narrative forms, abstract techniques, opposition to mainstream commercial cinema
- typical_budget
- Very low, self-financed or small grants
- typical_crew
- Minimal crew or single person
Lore & Background
Experimental filmmaking began in the 1920s in Europe, when cinema matured as a medium and avant-garde movements in visual arts flourished. Dadaists and Surrealists, including René Clair, Hans Richter, and Luis Buñuel, created shorts that rejected linear narrative. In France, the Lettrists caused riots at the Cannes Film Festival in 1952 with Isidore Isou's Traité de bave et d'éternité. The Soviet filmmakers Dziga Vertov, Sergei Eisenstein, and others contributed to montage theory, offering an alternative to classical Hollywood. In Italy, the Futurists, though many films were lost or unmade, promoted an anti-narrative aesthetic focused on motion and the image.
Reader's Guide
Experimental film has had a significant impact on the development of cinema by challenging mainstream conventions and expanding the possibilities of the medium. It has influenced commercial filmmaking, with some experimental filmmakers transitioning into mainstream roles or academic positions. The term 'experimental' covers a wide range of practice, often characterized by the absence of linear narrative, abstracting techniques like out-of-focus or scratching on film, and asynchronous sound or no soundtrack. The goal is to place the viewer in a more active and thoughtful relationship with the film. While some critics argue that much experimental film has become a mainstream genre, its legacy includes the establishment of self-financed 16 mm production and distribution models, as seen with Maya Deren's Meshes of the Afternoon (1943), and its continued use of non-narrative, impressionistic, or poetic approaches.
Did You Know?
- Many experimental films are produced on very low budgets with a minimal crew or a single person.
- The term 'underground' was used for experimental films in the 1960s.
- Some experimental films have been distributed through mainstream channels or made within commercial studios.
- The Soviet filmmakers Dziga Vertov, Sergei Eisenstein, and others contributed to film language of the avant-garde through montage theory.
More in Film History & Movements 1-21
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