Since the earliest days of avant-garde cinema, experimental filmmakers have interrogated vision. They have defied or ignored norms of cinematography to create images that appear distorted, abstract, fantastical, or visually confusing. Historically, the reasons why individual filmmakers distort the image have been diverse. Some seek a “pure” cinema akin to classical music. Others feel… Read more »
Cinematic detritus: bits of unused film from projects years ago, with scratches and dust, out of focus, overexposed. Found footage with faded color. The mic catching wind. A man singing to us as these disparate images flitter past. In 2006, experimental filmmaker Jonas Mekas made forty films for his newly launched website in order to… Read more »
Daisies (Sedmikrásky; Věra Chytilová, 1966) celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, somewhat older and wiser now than its unruly protagonists. And although the sociopolitical context of Daisies‘ audience has changed over the years, its themes continually resonate, and the film’s inventive style retains its vigor. In this video essay, I examine collage as an organizing… Read more »