Buzz
The avant-garde is simply the norm that hasn’t fully materialized yet. This certainly applies to many of the influential 'avant-garde' films that have been inducted into the Library of Congress’s National Film Registry.
Each year, the National Film Registry honors American films considered ‘culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant,’ ensuring their preservation by the nation’s foremost library. The Librarian of Congress, in collaboration with the National Film Preservation Board—a 44-member panel of film industry professionals—decides the inductees. Public input is also welcomed and factored into the final decisions.
Since its establishment in 1989, at least 25 films have been added to the Registry annually. Now, more than 500 films are included, such as 'Gone With the Wind,' 'E.T.,' 'Snow White,' the Zapruder film, 'Citizen Kane,' and 'The Wizard of Oz,' along with historical footage, documentaries, and silent film classics.
From the start, the Librarian and the Board have made a point of including avant-garde works in the Registry, acknowledging the vital contribution of experimental filmmakers in pushing the boundaries of filmmaking. While many of these works still appear cutting-edge today, they also display storytelling and filmmaking techniques now widely embraced by mainstream directors.
3. Motion Painting No. 1 1947
Oskar Fischinger, a German-born painter, filmmaker, and animator, was renowned for his vivid use of color and abstract forms, along with his innovative film techniques to capture them. His 'Motion Painting No. 1' consists of a series of oil paintings on acrylic glass layered on top of one another, and through stop-motion photography, these layers appear to shift, multiply, and fade. These 'moving' paintings are synchronized with Bach's Third Brandenburg Concerto. Fischinger's groundbreaking work would inspire generations of filmmakers and animators, including Norman McLaren, Jordan Belson, and Harry Smith. You can view the film here.
2. Rose Hobart 1936
Robert Cornell, an American artist and sculptor famous for his unique assemblages, later applied his artistic vision to experimental filmmaking. His first completed film, 'Rose Hobart,' is crafted from 'found' footage, much of it outtakes from the 1931 film 'East of Borneo,' featuring actress Rose Hobart. Designed as a 'tribute' to Hobart’s radiance, the film intersperses slowed-down, fragmented images of the actress with scenes of an eclipse and a volcano, among other disjointed visuals. Like his assemblages, Cornell explores combinations, contradictions, and perceptions, infusing surrealism into cinematic form.
1. The Fall of the House of Usher 1928
Edgar Allan Poe’s haunting story lays the foundation for this 13-minute avant-garde film directed by James Sibley Watson and Melville Webber. The film's striking visual style, including unique costumes and set designs, focuses as much on the psychological depth of the tale as it does on the eerie narrative. Featuring innovative editing, lighting, and cinematography, 'Usher' feels just as modern today as it did during its premiere at the Film Arts Guild in 1929.
4. Meshes of the Afternoon 1943
This 14-minute experimental film by husband-and-wife filmmakers Maya Deren and Alexander Hammid is now regarded as one of the most important works of avant-garde cinema. Dark and noir-like in tone, the film's layers of narrative and complex symbolism demand multiple viewings for proper interpretation. Its bold visual approach challenges traditional filmmaking methods and redefines perceptions of 'reality.'
5. Powers of Ten 1978
In many ways, 'Powers of Ten' is a film that combines mathematics and visual storytelling. Created by visionary designers Charles and Ray Eames, this short film skillfully uses the medium to explore the concepts of scale, time, and distance. It begins with an overhead shot of a couple enjoying a picnic, the camera placed one meter above them. The camera then gradually pulls back in intervals of 10 meters every 10 seconds, shrinking the couple into tiny specks in the distance. As it continues, the view expands from their neighborhood to their city, continent, and finally the entire planet. The film then reverses, zooming in to reveal the molecular level. Titled ‘a film about the relative size of things in the universe,’ by its conclusion, 'Powers of Ten' offers a profound reflection on the vastness and minuteness of the world.
6. Salome 1922
‘Salome’ is a surreal and impressionistic adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s provocative classic, brought to life by actress and producer Alla Nazimova. Born in Yalta in 1879, Nazimova made her way from the Russian stage to America in 1906, where she debuted in film in 1916. She quickly became known for her distinctive and stylized performances, which perfectly align with the extravagant, often bizarre costumes and theatrical sets in this film. Despite being a commercial and critical failure upon its release, ‘Salome’ is now considered one of the defining ‘art films’ of early cinema, notable for its progressive style and bold visual choices.
7. Glimpse of the Garden 1957
Marie Menken was a painter, filmmaker, and a true bohemian spirit. In her tumultuous marriage to filmmaker Willard Mass, she is thought to have inspired the character of Martha in Edward Albee’s ‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?’ In her film ‘Glimpse of the Garden,’ Menken captures the beauty of a garden, focusing her camera on the flowers and plant life, sometimes in extreme close-up. The visuals, edited to the songs of nearby birds, provide the film’s only soundtrack. Her sharp artistic eye and editing transform what could be seen as mundane garden footage into a beautiful and evocative tone poem.
10. Eaux d’Artifice 1953
Before becoming the notorious author of ‘Hollywood Babylon,’ Kenneth Anger was a child actor during Hollywood’s ‘Golden Age,’ and later an experimental filmmaker. His controversial 1963 film ‘Scorpio Rising’ intertwined themes such as Catholicism, Nazism, homoeroticism, and the occult. However, his 1953 work ‘Eaux D’Artifice’ presents a more serene and equally compelling experience. In this film, a woman dressed in 18th-century clothing walks through the fountains of an Italian village, her face concealed. With a heavy blue tint, Anger’s film challenges concepts of time, narrative, and scale, all set to the stirring strains of Vivaldi’s ‘Winter.’
9. Empire 1964
Andy Warhol, having revolutionized the traditional art world with his radical depictions of everyday objects like soup cans and Coke bottles, later ventured into photography and filmmaking. Some of his films contain hints of plot, but many, like his ‘Screen Tests’ series, focus more on the radical deconstruction of the filmmaking process itself. These works present extreme close-ups of celebrities, devoid of sound or clear intention, exploring only the subject’s charisma. Warhol applied this experimental approach to his 1964 work ‘Empire,’ a six-hour long film consisting of a single, static shot of the Empire State Building from a nearby building. Though initially dismissed as a novelty, ‘Empire’ has proven prescient, anticipating modern digital screensavers and webcams.
8. Princess Nicotine 1909
‘Princess Nicotine,’ a silent film lasting roughly five minutes, might be considered one of cinema’s earliest pro-smoking messages. The film blends live-action, animation, and innovative early special effects to tell a simple, almost fairy-tale-like story of a cigar smoker’s encounter with a small sprite, who appears to be the mystical patron fairy of cigarettes. Perhaps more interestingly, ‘Princess Nicotine’ stands as one of the first instances of successful product placement, as Sweet Corporal cigarettes and cigars are prominently featured throughout. The film was directed by J. Stuart Blackton.
