Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Avant-Garde Filmmakers

The avant-garde (or experimental) filmmaking practice that began in the early 1920s in France and has existed continuously globally until the present day. There are major phases and periods of attenuation in avant-garde filmmaking activity but the experimental mode has established traditions and classics, movements, genres and counter-classics, counter-movements and anti-genres.
  • The first major phase is the German "graphic" cinema of the early twenties. The French cinema saw the rise of Cubist, Dada, cinéma pur and Surrealist filmmaking through to the 1930s. While the avant-garde continued through the early sound era, it was not until the early 1940s that American artists Maya Deren, Kenneth Anger, Joseph Cornell, James Broughton and Sydney Peterson refreshed connections with Surrealism and recharged experimental filmmaking in the U.S.
  • American experimental cinema then developed a succession of genres from the "trance" to the "mythopoeic" film through the Fifties and Sixties. There was also a renewal of graphics cinema, which eventually encountered computers, as well as an international rise of Surrealist animation. With "structural film" of the late Sixties, avant-garde filmmaking again became more broadly international, starting with the important work of Canadians Michael Snow and Joyce Wieland, Americans Ernie Gehr, Hollis Frampton and Paul Sharits, then filmmakers in England, Germany, France and Japan.
  • Many of the artists involved in this movement remained outside of the mainstream commercial cinema and entertainment industry and became teachers at universities such as the State University of New York.
Those who did not “comform” to the new Hollywood production line often broke off and formed films of their own – usually with deeper meaning then any you would see in your local cinema. Avant-Garde (literally “advance guard”) is an experimental style of film that uses unconventional filmmaking styles to express a meaning to an audience. These films are usually plotless, surreal, dark, humorous and part of the “underground” sub-culture. The purpose of these films is not to achieve world-wide appeal, but to simply share artistic vision.

Luis Buñuel

Luis Buñuel is probably known to all readers – as said before, his collaborating with Salvadore Dali is one of the most known avant-garde films. Un Chien Andalou is one of the most timeless of all shorts in the genre. The haunting images stay with the audience for times to come.
Un Chien Andalou was made by Buñuel and Dali in 1929, and made use of many pointless scenes and plots, such as a woman getting her eye slit, in the way a cloud slices across the moon. Ants crawling out of a hand, a priest dragging a piano, rotting donkeys, all pointless but incredible images to convey meaning. Later on, Buñuel tried his hand at making actual films with plots, one being Belle de Jour with Catherine Deneuve, but in the later parts of his life, he reverted back to making films with little plots, just as he had started out. The clip above is from the wonderfully absurd The Phantom of Liberty.

Jonas Mekas

Jonas Mekas
The “Godfather” of avant-garde, Mekas came a long way from his childhood, which he spent in hiding after escaping from a prisoner of war camp in Germany, during World War II. After buying a 16mm camera, he discovered the film media, and the importance of screening his films, which he regularly did at a local cinema after moving to Brooklyn, New York.
He was involved in the underground movement of the 1960s, mingling with other artists such as Nico and Allen Ginsberg. He was a fan of Jack Smith’s controversial short “Flaming Creatures”, but shopping it around various cinemas brought on an arrest for screening an obscene film. Afterwards though, he was one of the first to incite a campaign against the strong censorship laws (a few years before Jack Valenti’s introduction of letter based ratings)

Man Ray

Man Ray Salvador Dali
A frequent collaborator of Salvador Dalí, Man Ray worked more or less as an absurdest painter and photographer before moving to film. It was Man Ray who first exhibited Dali’s and Luis Buñuel’s Un Chien Andalou, including it with his own film, Les mystères du château de Dé.
Though American, Man Ray spent his artistic life in Paris, first exhibiting his work with the likes of Pablo Picasso and Joan Miró. One artwork done by Man Ray that most will be familiar with is Violon d’Ingres, a photograph of Alice Prin (Kiki de Montparnasse) with f shaped holes, normally found on a violin, on her back. It was in the 1920s that Man Ray started to make short films, most of which were only a few minutes in length. Not only did he make his own films, he assisted with his vision on a number of other avant-garde films of the era, usually doing photography or editing work.

Maya Deren


In 1943, Maya Deren and her husband Alexander Hammid filmed the influential Meshes of the Afternoon (above), a surrealistic fantasy short that hinted at the turmoil that her and her husband were going through. The film contains many distinct and famous images: a flower placed by an outstretched arm, a haunting figure in a hood, a key which turns into a knife, all of which add to the effect that the film has on the audience.
The short was filmed with a 16mm camera that was bought with the money left to Deren by her late father. Over all, the budget was revealed to have been just $275, but lack of funds did not hinder Deren’s artistic vision. Born in the Ukraine, but moving to New York as a child, Deren not only made avant-garde films, she wrote about them, in books, newspaper columns, in fact, she repeatedly attacked Hollywood for lacking artistic direction and controlling cinema. It seemed as if she wanted all films to have the same treatment to the world. She never did achieve this, however, as in 1961, she died suddenly at age 44. She spent her life making films which communicated with their audience, rather then just give them what they had seen before.

in_the_mirror_of_maya_deren

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Andy Warhol

Who here would not be familiar with Andy Warhol? His art of Marilyn Munroe, Elizabeth Taylor and cans of Cambell’s soup are surely timeless, but Warhol made many shorts from his studio “The Factory”, such as Taylor Mead’s Ass (which consisted of Taylor Mead standing in front of the camera without trousers), Sleep (which consisted of a man sleeping) and many others that not only consisted of simple images, but lasting ones that the audience would take home.
Warhol was born to Ukrainians. After moving to New York from Pittsburgh, he remained there all his life. His first move was towards artwork, but with a twist. Several of his prints consisted of soup, coke bottles, dollar bills and shots of famous actors. He started on his short films in the early 1960s, and began making them from The Factory, a studio on the 5th floor of a building on East 47th st, Midtown. He not only made films, but hosted wild parties. His films made here, however, featured what were called “Warhol superstars”, the regular casts of his film, which included Nico, Edie Sedgwick, Ultra Violet, Viva, Mary Woronov, Taylor Mead and Billy Name. His ideas for his film were often very simple and not planned out. For example, for Chelsea Girls, he took a napkin, drew a line down it, put B on one side and W on the other. Sure enough, the film was made in split screen with one side in Black & White and the other side in Colour.


Alejandro Jodorowsky

The man responsible for creating the “midnight movie” sub-culture, Jodorowsky’s El Topo found artistic success through these means. At midnight, at cinemas like the famous Elgin in New York, his film would screen to an audience not expecting what they were about to experience.
A Chilean, Jodorowsky moved to Mexico where he would make his yes work. In 1970, Jodorowsky made El Topo, a surrealistic western, often called an acid western. It was through celebrities like John Lennon and Yoko Ono that the film received a wider release. Lennon, Ono and even George Harrison were such fans of El Topo that they invested in his next project, The Holy Mountain, which was just as surreal and bizarre as El Topo. Jodorowsky was going to film an adaptation of Frank Herbert’s Dune, which was to feature Salvador Dali and Orson Welles, amongst other big names, but the project was too large in the end to produce.

Rainer Werner Fassbinder

Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Fassbinder was, along with filmmakers such as Win Wenders and Werner Herzog, one of the founders of New German Cinema. He spent his early career making feature length avant-garde films before making critically acclaimed theatrical films like Ali: Fear that Eats the Soul.
Fassbinder’s first films were avant-garde shorts, such as Love is Colder then Death and Beware of the Holy Whore. These films were the first to bring Fassbinder to critical acclaim. From the favorable release of these is what brought Fassbinder to start making films for the masses. These were almost all shot very quickly, on 16mm and with a minuscule budget, but never the less, Fassbinder remained popular internationally from them. He never got to see the premier of his last film, Quarelle, as after a hectic life of strong drugs, he overdosed at age 37.


David Lynch


Hollywood director David Lynch hardly seems like a suitable submission here, but his films, especially his early work, do contain traits of avant-garde, especially his haunting 1968 short, The Alphabet. Throughout his career, his films kept these elements, and never did deviate too much.
In his 20s, during the 1960s, Lynch experimented with short film. He did several apart from The Alphabet, such as Six Figures Getting Sick, The Grandmother, and The Amputee. His first feature film, Eraserhead, kept many of the techniques he used in his shorts, apart from giving his film a (semi) feasible plot. His later films, like Dune, Blue Velvet, Lost Highway and Mulholland Drive, in some ways, keep trace elements of the haunting mystery he used extensively in his early shorts.

Kenneth Anger

Kenneth Anger spent his life filming what he felt inside: his films contained his pent-up homo erotica that he could never himself admit. Films like Fireworks and Scorpio Rising were not only avant-garde film, they were an expression of Anger’s inner feelings towards himself.
Fireworks was made while Anger was still young; in fact, he filmed it the weekend his parents were out of town. Never the less, the film stands as the ultimate expression of the underground homosexual culture. Several years on, and Anger continued making these kinds of films. Scorpio Rising, about a group of gay, nazi, sado-masochistic bikers, gained critical acclaim during it’s release in the early 1960s, however, during a screening of the film, police raided the theatre and arrested Anger and the theatre manager. The case of Art vs. Obscenity was brought to the Supreme Court, where they ruled in Anger’s favor.

Source: http://listverse.com/2011/08/11/top-10-avant-garde-filmmakers/

23 comments:

  1. Hi Miss Jalilvand, it's Ana Gonzalez, from 4th pd. I wanted to comment on the director Kenneth Anger. I loved how he dealt with the issue of homosexuality in his films, and how the way he expressed on film. I actually seen Scorpio Rising, and I didn't consider it with obscenity, but art like Kenneth wanted it to be portrayed.

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  2. Maya Deren spoke in metaphors, which I love. She accomplished a lot, especially with her budget and with the fact that she was a female filmmaker doing the least understood kind of films. She desired to do something different, which is something we need more of in today's day and age. It is unfortunate that she did not get to see her desires accomplished, and I do not feel like we have gotten to the place she envisioned even now.

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    1. At Land, A Study in Choreography for Camera, and Ritual in Transfigured Time - writing, producing, directing, editing, and photographing them with help from only one other person, Hella Heyman, as camerawoman.

      She loved mixing art forms. SUCH A VISIONARY.
      I'm gonna post a small part of a documentary about her 'IN THE MIRROR OF MAYA DEREN"

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  3. Rainer Werner Fassbinder is the one i will comment on. I think its neat he teamed with Win Wenders and Werner Herzog to form the "New German Cinema" that shows great leadership and determination for me. Also I think its great he had a focus on more interesting controversial films which attributed to his "avant-garde" -ness. His speed and thrifty-ness is also impressive. Its very sad that he never got to see his last piece. :(

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    1. Check this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSmKm0DhgTs

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  4. It's intresting how the avant-garde film era started just about right after the avant-garde visual art era started. In the late 1800s, Paul Cezanne(the father of modern art) started introducing his post-impressionistic and cubism work. Immediately there after artist such as these arrived on the scene. I think it's fair to say that Paul Cezanne introduced a new revolution that inspired all artists, performing and visual, and their interpretation carried over experimental styles that now inspire us!

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    1. I agree-
      There are lots of films that can be paralleled with particular art movements like,
      Double Indemnity or Pi - Baroque
      8 1/2- Cubist
      Winter Light- Impressionist
      Daisies - Dada

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  5. We've talked about David Lynch a little in class and it's really cool to learn more about him through here. His movies sound so interesting to me and I've heard nothing but great reviews about him and his films from everyone in class. I can't wait to learn more about him and watch his films.
    -Maddie P.

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  6. I wish our era of movie making could be just as expiramental as the Avant-Garde movement! Now that we are just learning about it, I know how to identify what that is in movies. Im a sucker for movies that are artistic, experimental, risqué, moody, cerebral, and eye-opening. Many directors like Kubrick, Scorcese, and Von Trier have elements of Avant-Garde in their films. I saw a movie called Hugo and what was interesting about it is that it touched on the subjects of early cinema and surrealism. Things in movies like sexuality, violence, taboo, even pornography have been filmed on camera ever since the dawn of cinema. I will give one thing to the french, they've had quite an influence on film... -Christian Salinas

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  7. Wow, I did not know that Warhol also experimented in Avant-Garde film. It's really important to remember, especially in our school where things are 'clustered off', that creativity cannot be bound to one subject or medium. Just because I've viewed as a violinist, or costume designer doesn't mean ceramics or tap dancing can't also be my passion!
    -River

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  8. I watched the film Man Ray, it was very interesting how they had the viewing screen in almost thirds and how they transitioned and faded in and out with stills...I also like how they used the calming violin and the Frech voice over, taking French I was able to understand some things!

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  9. Luis Bunuel said that if he were told he had 20 years to live and was asked how he wanted to live them, his reply would be: "Give me two hours a day of activity, and I'll take the other 22 in dreams -- provided I can remember them." Dreams were the nourishment of his films, and from his earliest days as a surrealist in Paris to his triumphs in his late 70s, dream logic was always likely to interrupt the realism of his films. That freedom gave them a quality so distinctive that, like those of Alfred Hitchcock and Federico Fellini, they could be identified almost immediately.

    Un Chien Andalou was written in collaboration with the notorious surrealist artist Salvador Dali, was "Un Chien Andalou" (1928). Neither the title ("an Andalusian dog") nor anything else in the film was intended to make sense. It remains the most famous short film ever made, and anyone halfway interested in the cinema sees it sooner or later, usually several times.

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    1. By Roger Ebert http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/

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  10. LOVE Fassbinder's work. Even though the lack of effort put into "Fear eats the soul" , I think it's mad inspiring/interesting that that was one of his greatest films - his capability to interpret a low budget film as a classic film of its time. It definitely highlights his effortlessly natural talent. Plus it's a classic.

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  11. I am especially intrigued by Alejandro Jodorowsky's work. I've always enjoyed western movies, so I'm excited to see what direction he takes with this acid western films. Turning something like a simple western movie into something surreal that makes you think sounds extremely interesting.

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  12. My interest is in Andy Warhol. He was a very popular artist of his time and many films after him are inspired by him. I admire him because he was a misfit -a diamond in the rough- and that is what made him brilliant. "Pop-art" was a very big part of his career and even the simplicity in taking pictures of Campbell soup cans were inspiring.

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  13. I personally am very intrested in avant garde. the flow of the films is what intrest me as its random and smushed together yet it flows in a collaboration thats started a worldwide movement. keeneth anger of all the artist struck me as the most modern. His style was so rebellious and forceful. I appreciate the honesty of his work and how he used his films to emulate his war-torn mindset about his feelings on his sexuaility not being accepted and what not. All together this was a great read!

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  14. Avant garde gives people and artist the ability to get their thoughts out in a way that the mind actually works. The mind is very random and all over the place. Avant Garde is like free writing to playwriters. I can not wait to make my own avant garde!!!!

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  15. I see Andy Warhol as like the grandfather of urban art. Last year in Mrs. Edmondsons photography class, we watched the Banksy documentary & we watched how Andy Warhol influenced many of the artists in the film. I love that when you use the concept of avant garde you can make street art/urban art/modern ideas sophisticated.

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  16. this being my first time reading about a certain film genre, it was awesome reading about avante garde. one thing that really stuck out to me was that andy Warhol was an avante garde film maker. i think that as an artist, one should have their foot in more than one art- or form of art. i'm a musician but i've always been so so interested in film making and the relationship between music and the visual aspect of it. Andy Warhol was interested in still pictures and also movement. that is really inspiring to me.

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  17. I commented on the Avante Garde film by Mekas on facebook, but I shall do it again here.
    I commented on how the men featured in the video were quite handsome in my opinion, and the likeness in facial features of the dark haired man to Joseph Gordon- Levitt. The long black haired girl with the fringe reminded me of Yoko Ono. And the blue shirted girl's jeans were gorgeous. They were probably waist highs. The green color rampant in the film I thought was fantastic, and I always love that kind of fuzzy, off color picture quality of that time period. Coupled with an Avante Garde agenda, that color quality just made the video so much better (to me). I like the quietness of the film, too.

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