Still from *Corpus Callosum What is structural film? Alex Brannan explains the term and its place in the experimental film genre. A wave of films deemed “structural” emerged in the North American avant-garde during the 1960s. This was a brand of minimalist and highly formalist cinema. P. Adams Sitney, who coined the term “structural” to… Read more »
“So, Von Sternberg’s movies had to have plots even though they already had them inherent in the images. What he did was make movies naturally — he lived in a visual world. The explanation plots he made up out of some logic having nothing to do with the visuals of his films. His expression was… Read more »
“Strange things happening, mother,” writes Lillian Gish in Night Hunter (2011). She has found a giant egg in her bassinet, an egg that will multiply and lead to her own transformation (into a bird? a snake?). Perhaps her transformation process has already begun and she gave birth to the egg without knowing it. Strange things… Read more »
Lynne Sachs’ film output is prolific and varied, encompassing documentaries, essay films, non-narrative experiments, and installations. Like many feminist filmmakers, a theme running through her work is the insistence that the personal is important. Whether one’s own body, private moments in a doctor’s office, or one’s sense of family and home, our personal lives are… Read more »
This June, Establishing Shot will feature a miniseries we’re calling Here’s Looking at You, 2002 as we take a look back at films celebrating their 20th anniversary this year. Today, former contributor Jack Miller returns to the blog with his assessment of a visionary historical drama that Roger Ebert once said “spins a daydream made of… Read more »
What does it mean when a film is “handmade”? If we’re talking about experimental film, the term “handmade” usually refers to techniques like direct animation, processing film at home instead of sending it to a lab, or otherwise directly manipulating your negative or film print (bleaching, dying, etc.). Naomi Uman engages in all these techniques…. Read more »