Avant-garde is a word from the French, meaning 'ahead of the crowd'. In contemporary English, we'd say it's on the 'cutting edge'. Avant-garde filmmakers want to experiment with new ideas, forms, techniques, and expressions - and are often said to be 'ahead of their time'. Avant-garde films are characterized by a high degree of experimentation - whether it be in manipulation of narrative materials, highly stylized visual representation, or radical departures from the norms and conventions current at the time, avant-garde film is always a vehicle for the filmmaker's expression. Surrealism, abstract studies of light and form, Dadaism, and impressionistic studies of people and things figure heavily in early works of the genre. Below is a Alice's extensive collection in this genre. Right: The famous eyeball scene from Luis Bunuel & Salvador Dali's 'Un Chien Andalou'.
An outrageous erotic fantasy in which a young suburban couple become fully entangled in a wish-fulfillment world of black leather, punk rock and sexua... Read more
A punk-era apocalyptic drama with Queen Elizabeth 1 being transported to the present day by her astrologer, and witnessing the virtual collapse of civ... Read more
Inspired by his time spent living in Philadelphia, David Lynch's nightmarish cult odyssey follows a high-haired young man living in a run-down apartme... Read more
Werner Herzog each day put the cast into a hypnotic trance in an attempt to achieve an effect of collective hysteria in this tale of a glassblower who... Read more
A homoerotic rendering of the St Sebastiane legend. When Sebastiane, the captain of the Palace Guard during the reign of Roman Emperor Diocletian, obj... Read more
This camp musical sci-fi horror movie spoof has become - thanks to elaborate audience participation on the midnight movie circuit - the definitive cul... Read more
A bizarre apocalyptic Alice in Wonderland from Louis Malle. When Lily has a road accident, she finds she has landed up in some kind of civil war and... Read more
This camp musical sci-fi horror movie spoof has become - thanks to elaborate audience participation on the midnight movie circuit - the definitive cul... Read more
Bourgeois convention is demolished in Luis Buñuel's surrealist gem "The Phantom of Liberty". Featuring an elegant soiree with guests seated at toilet... Read more
An accomplished dreamlike mood piece with reverberations of 'Alice in Wonderland' and 'Orpheus' as two girls change the outcome of a drama played dail... Read more