Experimental film - Definition and Overview

This article is on the variety of film. For information on the They Might Be Giants song, see "Experimental Film".

An experimental film is a film nominally but not necessarily made to test an audience's reaction to certain performances or types of presentation not normally found in mainstream cinema. Such films are usually avant garde and may shock or surprise their viewers, intentionally or otherwise. Among the european pioneers of experimental film are Hans Richter and Victor Eggeling. The most famous piece of the art form is generally considered Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí's Un Chien Andalou.

Meshes of the Afternoon by Maya Deren is considered to be the first important american experimental film. Important north american experimental film makers include Kenneth Anger,Stan Brakhage,Ernie Gehr, Michael Snow,Joyce Wieland.

Distribution

Finding an audience for experimental films can be just as difficult as making them. From 1947 to 1963, the New York-based Cinema 16 functioned as the primary exhibitor and distributor of experimental film in the United States. Under the leadership of Amos Vogel and Marcia Vogel, Cinema 16 flourished as a nonprofit membership society committed to the exhibition of documentary, avant-garde, scientific, educational, and performance films to ever-increasing audiences.

Vogel's selection did not please everybody. In 1962 Jonas Mekas and about 20 other film makers founded The Film-Maker's Cooperative in New York City.

References

• Cinovid (http://cinovid.org/), database for experimental film and video art
• Flicker (http://www.hi-beam.net)
• cineastes.net (http://www.cineastes.net) (in French)