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In looking at the numerous threads around for individual directors, I realized that a similar effort could be undertaken for avant-garde cinema. Because, unfortunately, the amount of avant-garde film on DVD is extremely limited, I'm aiming to make a (fairly) comprehensive listing of what's out there. Much of this is stuff I've found (and in many cases bought) because of posts on this forum, but this will hopefully gather everything into one place. I hope that everyone will post with additions and corrections as well.

Although this is posted in the R1 DVD section, I'm going to be including DVDs from any region or country, with the caveat that all the DVDs must be English-subtitled if appropriate (ie: obviously doesn't apply to silent or entirely dialogue-less films). The amount of experimental film on DVD is already limited enough that I don't think it really makes sense for fans of these films to limit themselves further by region. However, in the rare cases where things are available in multiple regions I'm opting for listing the R1 unless there's a compelling reason not to. Hopefully others will be able to add both directors I don't have listed and DVDs I missed by the directors who are already there. I'll keep updating the list for as long as it seems like there's interest. I hope this will prove helpful.

I've purposefully left off any "experimental" directors who work primarily in narrative film (Lynch, Jodorowsky, Arrabal, Bunuel, etc.) Most of them are well-documented (or will be soon) on DVD, and have their own threads elsewhere. This thread is for directors whose primary mode of expression is in non-narrative film. Also, although the big Kino and Image sets are counted in here, not everything from those sets has been transferred into the list yet; it would become too cluttered and unhelpful to simply tally up all those directors here. In fact, in general I have not parsed out all the titles available on multi-artist compilations, since it would lead to a list filled with 1-film directors. The focus of the list is definitely more on single-artist DVDs, selectively supplemented by multi-artist comps.



Anger, Kenneth
5 films on The Films of Kenneth Anger vol. 1 DVD (Fantoma, R1)

Animal Charm
Stuffing on Peripheral Produce's Greatest Hits DVD (Peripheral Produce, R1)
22 films (including the above) on Golden Digest DVD (Other Cinema, R0 US)

Arnold, Martin
7 films on The Cineseizure DVD (Index, R2 Austria)

Balch, Antony
Towers Open Fire and The Cut-Ups on Bizarre DVD (Synapse, R1)
5 films (including the above 2) on WS Burroughs: The Cut-Up Films 2xDVD (Raro, R2 Italy)

Baldwin, Craig
Sonic Outlaws DVD (Other Cinema, R1)
Spectres of the Spectrum DVD (Other Cinema, R1)
Tribulation 99 DVD (Other Cinema, R1)

Bene, Carmelo
Nostra Signora dei Turchi 2xDVD (Raro, R2 Italy)

Brakhage, Stan
26 films on By Brakhage 2xDVD (Criterion, R1)
Waiting For Maya on In the Mirror of Maya Deren DVD (Zeitgeist, R1)
Thot-fal'n on WS Burroughs: The Cut-Up Films 2xDVD (Raro, R2 Italy)
Centuries of June on The Magical Films of Joseph Cornell DVD+DVD-ROM (Voyager Foundation, R1)

Brehm, Dietmar
6 films on Black Garden DVD (Index, R2 Austria)

Broughton, James
17 films on The Film of James Broughton 3xDVD (Facets, R1)

Brown, Bill
4 films on The Next Best Place DVD (Peripheral Produce, R1)

Bunuel, Luis
Un Chien Andalou and L'Age d'or 2xDVD (BFI, R2 UK)

Cage, John
One^11 and 103' DVD (Mode, R0)

Christianell, Linda
9 films on The Nature of Expression DVD (Index, R2 Austria)

Clarke, Shirley
Portrait Of Jason DVD (Second Run, R0 UK)
The Connection DVD (Efor Films, R1)

Clementi, Pierre
5 films on Pierre Clementi: Cineaste l'Integrale 2xDVD (Choses Vues, R2 France)

Cohen, Ira
Invasion of Thunderbolt Pagoda DVD (Bastet, R0)

Conner, Bruce
Looking for Mushrooms and Crossroads DVD (Kohn Gallery, R1)

Cornell, Joseph
Rose Hobart and Gnir Rednow on Le mouvement des images DVD (Pompidou, R2 France)
10 films on The Magical Films of Joseph Cornell DVD+DVD-ROM (Voyager Foundation, R1)
7 films (including 3 of the above) on Unseen Cinema 7xDVD (Image, R1)

Cunningham, Chris
multiple videos on The Work of director Chris Cunningham DVD (Palm Pictures, R1)
Rubber Johnny DVD (Warp Records, R1)

Danino, Nina
Temenos DVD (BFI, R2 UK)

Deren, Maya
6 films on Maya Deren: Experimental Films DVD (Mystic Fire, R1)
Divine Horsemen: The Living Gods of Haiti DVD (MYstic Fire, R1)
2 film fragments on In the Mirror of Maya Deren DVD (Zeitgeist, R1)

Deutsch, Gustav
Film Ist... (1-12) DVD (Index, R2 Austria)

Duchamp, Marcel
Anemic Cinema on Avant-Garde: Experimental Cinema of the 20s & 30s 2xDVD (Kino, R1)
" " on Unseen Cinema 7xDVD (Image, R1)
" " on Le mouvement des images DVD (Pompidou, R2 France)

Dulac, Germaine
La Coquille et le Clergyman on Avant-Garde: Experimental Cinema of the 20s & 30s 2xDVD (Kino, R1)

Dwoskin, Stephen
Dirty on Shoot Shoot Shoot DVD (Lux/Re:Voir, R0 UK/France)
14 films (including the above) on Stephen Dwoskin Box 1/3 5xDVD (Renard Films, R2 France)
Dyn Amo FORTHCOMING DVD (Re:Voir, R2 France)

Eames, Ray & Charles
34 films on 6 volumes of The Films of Charles & Ray Eames 6xDVD (Image, R1)

Eggeling, Viking
Symphonie Diagonale on Avant-Garde: Experimental Cinema of the 20s & 30s 2xDVD (Kino, R1)

Epstein, Jean
2 films on Avant-Garde: Experimental Cinema of the 20s & 30s 2xDVD (Kino, R1)
La chute de la maison Usher DVD (Image, R1)

Fischinger, Oskar
10 films on Oskar Fischinger: Ten Films DVD (Center for Visual Music, R1)

Fotopoulos, James
3 films on James Fotopoulos x 3 3xDVD (Facets, R1)

Friedrich, Su
13 films on The Films of Su Friedrich Vol. 1-5 5xDVD (Outcast Films, R1)
Seeing Red DVD (Outcast Films, R1)

Fromanger, Gerard
Film-tract no. 1968 (with Jean-Luc Godard) on Le mouvement des images DVD (Pompidou, R2 France)

Frye, Brian L.
7 films on Waste-Book #1 DVD (Peripheral Produce, R1)

Garrel, Philippe
Le Revelateur DVD (Re:Voir, R2 France)
Le Lit de la Vierge FORTHCOMING DVD (Re:Voir, R2 France)

Genet, Jean
Un chant d'amour DVD (BFI, R2 UK) (also forthcoming as 2xDVD from Cult Epics, R1)

Gioli, Paolo
14 films on Paolo Gioli Film Shorts 2xDVD (Raro, R2 Italy)

Hammid, Alexander
The Private Life of a Cat on Maya Deren: Experimental Films (Mystic Fire, R1)

Harris, Hilary
4 films on The Films of Hilary Harris DVD (Mystic Fire, R1)

Hockenhull, Oliver
Building Heaven, Remembering Earth DVD (Customflix, R0)

Iimura, Takahiko
various DVDs available from takaiimura.com
I'm (Not) Seen on Different Cinema Vol. 1 DVD (Lowave, R0 France)

Isou, Isidore
Traite de Bave et d'Eternite DVD (Re:Voir, R2 France)

Ivens, Joris
Regen on Avant-Garde: Experimental Cinema of the 20s & 30s 2xDVD (Kino, R1)

Jacobs, Ken
Star Spangled To Death 4xDVD (Ken Jacobs, R1)
Celestial Subway Lines/Salvaging Noise DVD (Tzadik, R0 US)
New York Ghetto Fishmarket 1903 DVD (Tzadik, R0 US)

Jarman, Derek
Garden of Luxor on Le mouvement des images DVD (Pompidou, R2 France)
8 films on The Super8 Programme Vols. 1 & 2 2 DVDs (Raro, R2 Italy)
Sebastiane DVD (Raro, R2 Italy)
Jubilee DVD (Criterion, R1)
The Tempest (+ 3 short films) DVD (Kino, R1)
Caravaggio DVD (BFI, R2 UK)
The Angelic Conversation DVD (BFI, R2 UK)
Wittgenstein DVD (BFI, R2 UK)
Blue DVD (Dolmen, R2 Italy)
The Garden DVD (Artificial Eye, R2 UK)
The Last of England DVD (Image, R1)

Jones, Geoffrey
9 films on Geoffrey Jones: The Rhythm of Film DVD (BFI, R2 UK)

July, Miranda
Nest Of Tens DVD (Peripheral Produce, R1)
Getting Stronger Every Day on Peripheral Produce's Greatest Hits DVD (Peripheral Produce, R1)

Kirsanoff, Dimitri
2 films on Avant-Garde: Experimental Cinema of the 20s & 30s 2xDVD (Kino, R1)

Kren, Kurt
10 films on Action Films DVD (Index, R2 Austria)
16 films on Structural Films DVD (Index, R2 Austria)
18 films on Which Way to CA? DVD (Index, R2 Austria)

Kuchar, Mike
Sins of the Fleshapoids DVD (Other Cinema, R1)

Leger, Fernand
Ballet Mecanique on Avant-Garde: Experimental Cinema of the 20s & 30s 2xDVD (Kino, R1)

Le Grice, Malcolm
Little Dog for Roger on Shoot Shoot Shoot DVD (Lux/Re:Voir, R0 UK/France)

Lemaitre, Maurice
Nos Stars and Petit Dieu DVD (Lowave, R0 France)
Ganeden on Different Cinema Vol. 1 DVD (Lowave, R0 France)

Levine, Saul
15 films on Saul Levine Super8 Films Vol. 1 DVD (TVEye, R1)

Lye, Len
Rhythm on Le mouvement des images DVD (Pompidou, R2 France)

Marker, Chris
La Jetee and Sans Soleil DVD (Nouveaux Pictures, R2 UK)
A.K. on Ran 2xDVD (Criterion, R1)

Matsumoto, Toshio
Funeral Parade of Roses DVD (Masters of Cinema, R2 UK)

Mattuschka, Mara
12 films on Iris Scan DVD (Index, R2 Austria)

McCormick, Matt
8 films on From Tugboats to Polar Bears DVD (Peripheral Produce, R1)

McLaren, Norman
4 films on Unseen Cinema 7xDVD (Image, R1)
58 films (including the above) on Norman McLaren: The Master's Edition 7xDVD (Home Vision, R1)

Morrison, Bill
Decasia: A State of Decay DVD (Plexifilm, R1)

Moser-Wagner, Gertrude
5 films on Concept & Coincidence DVD (Index, R2 Austria)

Munro, Grant
12 films on Cut-Up: The Films of Grant Munro DVD (Image, R1)

Neuwirth, Manfred
4 films on (ma) Trilogy DVD (Index, R2 Austria)

Niblock, Phill
The Magic Sun DVD (Atavistic, R0)
The Movement Of People DVD (Extreme Records, R0 Australia)

Painleve, Jean
Le Vampire on Avant-Garde: Experimental Cinema of the 20s & 30s 2xDVD (Kino, R1)

Parker, John J.
Dementia DVD (Kino, R1)

Peters, Jan
21 films on But I Still Haven't Figured Out the Meaning of Life DVD (Index, R2 Austria)

Pilz, Michael
2 films on Facts For Fiction/Parco Delle Rimembranze DVD (Index, R2 Austria)

Ponger, Lisl
3 films on Travelling Light DVD (Index, R2 Austria)

Purrer, Ursula & Hans Scheirl
9 films on Super8 Girl Games DVD (Index, R2 Austria)

Quay, Stephen & Timothy
13 films on The Short Films 1979-2003 2xDVD (BFI, R2 UK)

Raban, William
5 films on William Raban Artists' Series DVD (BFI, R2 UK)

Ray, Man
Le retour a la raison on Unseen Cinema 7xDVD (Image, R1)
4 films (including the above) on Avant-Garde: Experimental Cinema of the 20s & 30s 2xDVD (Kino, R1)

Raynal, Jackie
DeuxFois DVD (Re:Voir, R2 France)

Renwick, Vanessa
Crowdog on Peripheral Produce's Greatest Hits DVD (Peripheral Produce, R1)
6 films (including the above) on Renwick & Snider: Nomads and No-zones DVD (Other Cinema, R0 US)

Richter, Hans
2 films on Avant-Garde: Experimental Cinema of the 20s & 30s 2xDVD (Kino, R1)
Dreams That Money Can Buy DVD (+ 3 short films) (BFI, R2 UK)

Robakowski, Jozef
15 films on The Energy Manifesto! DVD (Index, R2 Austria)

Roisz, Billy
AVVA - gdansk_queen DVD (w/ sound by Toshimaru Nakamura) (Erstwhile Records, R0 US)
Blinq on Sonic Fiction: Synaesthetic Videos from Austria DVD (Index, R2 Austria)

Ruhm, Constanze
5 films on Video Works From 1999-2004 DVD (Index, R2 Austria)

Rybczynski, Zbigniew
10 films on Zbig Rybczynski: Film & Video 2xDVD (Raro, R2 Italy)

Sachs, Lynne
4 films on Lynne Sachs: A Collection of Films Exploring Women, Culture, Science & Myth DVD (Microcinema, R0 US)

Schatzl, Leo
12 films on Farrago DVD (Index, R2 Austria)

Serra, Richard
Hand Catching Lead on Le mouvement des images DVD (Pompidou, R2 France)

Siodmak, Robert & Edgar Ulmer
People On Sunday DVD (BFI, R2 UK)

Simonet, Jorge & Francisco Lopez
Untitled #91 DVD (Edition Ellipsis, R0)

Singer, Leah
(with Lee Ranaldo) Drift DVD (Plexifilm, R1)

Snider, Greta
4 films on Renwick & Snider: Nomads and No-zones DVD (Other Cinema, R0 US)

Steiner, Ralph
H2O on Avant-Garde: Experimental Cinema of the 20s & 30s 2xDVD (Kino, R1)
2 films (including the above) on Unseen Cinema 7xDVD (Image, R1)

Stratman, Deborah
3 films on Something Like Flying DVD (Peripheral Produce, R1)

Tait, Margaret
8 films on Margaret Tait: Selected Films 1952-1976 DVD (Lux, R0 UK)

Terayama, Shuji
15 films on Shuji Terayama Jikken Eizo World Complete Box 4xDVD (Image Forum, R2 Japan)

Todd, Robert
27 films on 6 volumes of DVD-R from roberttodd.com
Our Former Glory on Different Cinema Vol. 1 DVD (Lowave, R0 France)

Tscherkassky, Peter
Outer Space on Experiments in Terror DVD (Other Cinema, R1)
7 films (including the above) on Films From a Dark Room DVD (Index, R2 Austria)

Uman, Naomi
5 films on Milking & Scratching: Handmade Films DVD (Peripheral Produce, R1)

Valie Export
3 films on 3 Experimental Short Films DVD (Index, R2 Austria)
Invisible Adversaries FORTHCOMING DVD (Index, R2 Austria)

van der Keuken, Johan
9 films on Johan van der Keuken: Complete Collection Vol. 1 3xDVD (Facets, R1)

Vertov, Dziga
Kino-Eye and Three Songs of Lenin DVD (Image, R1)
Man with a Movie Camera DVD (Arte Video, R2 France)
Enthusiasm DVD (Edition Filmmuseum, R2 Austria)

Viola, Bill
Hatsu Yume (First Dream DVD (Editions a Voir, R2 France)
I Do Not Know What It Is I Am Like DVD (Editions a Voir, R2 France)
The Passing DVD (Editions a Voir, R2 France)

Warhol, Andy
11 films on Andy Warhol Anthology 8xDVD (also available separately) (Raro, R2 Italy)

Weibel, Peter
17 films on Depiction is a Crime: Video Works 1969-1975 DVD (Index, R2 Austria)

Wegman, William
150 films on William Wegman: Video Works 1970-1999 2xDVD (Artpix, R0)

Welsby, Chris
Fforest Bay II on Shoot Shoot Shoot DVD (Lux/Re:Voir, R0 UK/France)
7 films on Chris Welsby Artists' Series DVD (BFI, R2 UK)

Widrich, Virgil
4 films on 4 Films by Virgil Widrich DVD (Lowave, R0 France)

Great idea, sevenarts, although this could potentially become pretty broad (i.e. what exactly qualifies as an "experimental film").

To add to your list:

Jacobs, Ken

Celestial Subway Lines / Salvaging Noise (Tzadik, R0)
New York Ghetto Fishmarket 1903 (Tzadik, R0) (releases on March 13)

Also, I don't know if you want to include any of the Peripheral Produce releases, or the recent BFI R2 release of Dreams That Money Can Buy.

Thank you for compiling this list Sevenarts.

You list some of the titles of the Austrian Index label. Although I do not personally own any of their releases, I think that all of their 27 releases would more or less qualify as experimental film/video.

There is also a series of six DVDs available separately and as part of a set, compiling many of Ray and Charles Eames' films. They are published by the Hermann Miller Foundation (I believe) and distributed by Image Entertainment.

Thanks for the additions so far, I've added all those in. I'm going to add the rest of the Index catalog as soon as I get a chance, so far I've only added the ones I ordered myself.

Also, I hadn't been aware of Peripheral Produce before -- anyone want to recommend any of those releases? The Naomi Uman and Bill Brown sound potentially interesting.

Excellent work, thanks for doing this.
Edition Ellipsis (Edition ...) has released a region-free NTSC DVD of Untitled #91 by Jorge Simonet and Francisco Lopez. (Blind-buyers be advised: this is as minimal as it gets.) See www.editionellipsis.com

Phill Niblock has a couple of DVDs available. The Magic Sun is out from Atavistic (www.atavistic.com). His film The Movement of People Working is also available from www.xtr.com

The upcoming series of Screening Room DVDs, from the television series by filmmaker Robert Gardner, should definitely be of interest.

I think a good case could be made for including Godfrey Reggio's -qatsi films, (but it doesn't matter a great deal to me because most people reading this list are probably aware that they're on DVD).
The not-already-well-documented-on-DVD and primarily-non-narrative criteria seem problematic to me, both because of different senses of 'narrative' and because it means leaving out works that are generally accepted to have come straight out of the avant-garde tradition, such as Un Chien Andalou and Blood of a Poet. But I'm not trying to start an argument over this.

I think Shirley Clarke belongs on the list, as well. Portrait of Jason has been released by Second Run, and it is still possible to find the DVD of The Connection that was released by Efor Films and is now out-of-print unless I'm mistaken.

Mode's new DVD of One^11 by John Cage and Henning Lohner is another one that could be added.

EDIT: I forgot to comment on Peripheral Produce.
Naomi Uman's and Bill Brown's work is indeed very interesting (and I see you've already added them). Other PP classics include Matt McCormick's "The Subconscious Art of Graffiti Removal" and work by Vanessa Renwick. The latter also has a DVD (with Greta Snider from Other Cinema titled Nomads and No-zones, which I recommend as a collection of experimental essay films. Renwick's work seems consistently stronger to me, but Snider's films are by all means worthy of attention. "Urine Man" on the Other Cinema DVD is hilarious.
Animal Charm, who have also been associated with Peripheral Produce, have a DVD from Other Cinema, as well: Golden Digest. This kind of stuff exemplifies the culture jamming tendencies of some of the Peripheral Produce filmmakers.

More to add:

Terayama, Shuji

15 films on Shuji Terayama Jikken Eizo World Complete Box 4xDVD (Image Forum, R2 Japan)

Wegman, William

150 films on William Wegman: Video Works 1970-1999 2xDVD (Artpix, R0)

Danino, Nina

Temenos (BFI, R2 UK)

Genet, Jean

Un chant d'amour (BFI, R2 UK) (also coming in a R1 2xDVD set from Cult Epics)

Raban, William

5 films on William Raban Artists' Series DVD (BFI, R2 UK)

Cohen, Ira

Invasion of Thunderbolt Pagoda DVD (Bastet, R0)

Munro, Grant

12 films on Cut-Up: The Films of Grant Munro DVD (Image, R1)

Hockenhull, Oliver

Building Heaven, Remembering Earth DVD (Customflix, R0)

Sachs, Lynne

4 films on Lynne Sachs: A Collection of Films Exploring Women, Culture, Science & Myth DVD (Microcinema, R0)

Jones, Geoffrey

9 films on Geoffrey Jones: The Rhythm of Film DVD (BFI, R2 UK)

Widrich, Virgil

4 films on 4 Films by Virgil Widrich (Lowave, R0 France)



Zeitgeist Films appear to be offering several works by Yvonne Rainer, but since I'm not willing to shell out the institutional prices for them, I'm not sure how "official" these releases are.

Also, do we include the Warhol films released by Raro Video...the shorts on the NY Film Annex releases...or Dziga Vertov?


****

I'm slowing making my way through the Peripheral Produce releases; as of right now, I only have the Deborah Stratman and Naomi Uman releases, but plan on checking them all out. Of the two, I've only seen the Stratman, but I was floored by the films included on the disc - in particular In Order Not to Be Here. The latter was something of a minimalist essay film on paranoia, surveillance, privacy, and the police, in the vein of Chris Marker (with a psychic intensity recalling Kubrick). It features some excellent night photography, and features a score by Kevin Drumm. Apparently, she also sites Barbara Loden and Jon Jost as her primary influences. Forget the name-dropping, though; they're great films.

Don't forget to cross reference with this thread. And of course, just off the top of my head, since he's on the list, Jean Epstein's LA CHUTE DE LA MAISON USHER is available in Region One from Image/All Day Ent. in a decent enough transfer.

Obviously problemmatic is the inclusion of, for example UBERFALL (which would scarce be considered genuinely part of the avante/impressionist school of the period were it not for the inclusion in the Kino set) but nothing by, say, Man Ray on the list. Certainly Herman G Weinberg should be there, no? I'd say 1953's DEMENTIA by JJ Parker is one of the most beautifully avant garde cinematic experiments ever to flop (despite the strained championing of Herman G Weinberg) in the mainstream due to a confounded audience/distributorship.

Another notable in my view is the absence of the Soviets, who-- Dovzhenko, for example-- went far farther out in their refusal to adhere to the narrative form (view ZVENIGORA or ARSENAL, for example, for the height of obscurantism in it's most extreme, poetic form) than the vast bulk of his or our contemporaries. Would we say a later soviet example like Parajanov adhered to the narrative form as well? THE COLOUR OF POMEGRANITES is without doubt one of the most avante garde films ever made (hell, all of his post-Tsvetok na kamne (1962) ... aka A Little Flower on a Stone work were, let's be honest). Tziga Vertov? Early Khalatozov? Victor Turin?

Pre-L'ATALANTE Vigo? Surely L'APRAPOS DE NICE and TARIS, SWIMMER. The shorts of WALTER RUTTMAN (certainly if the visual work of Fischinger--incidentally included on the UNSEEN set which is not listed above) and Brahkage are going to be included)? VAMPYR? I know that Dreyer worked elsewhere within the straight narrative form, but more on that in a moment.

Surely the appellation "avant garde", as was much discussed (and needs no going over here) regarding the UNSEEN CINEMA program when at the Anthology and subsequently on the disc set (which I happen to believe the absolute greatest usage so far of the dvd medium so far, bar none, including ARKADIN which gets many misguided votes in my view) can be subject to the inclusionary/exclusionary whims of programmers and producers. Beyond the formal movement in the 1920's, it is difficult to categorize within firm terms. Many folks find simple, weird films to be avant garde-- clearly that's not enough or half of the Something Weird catalog would be included here.

Regarding some of the mentions above, as well as my mention of VAMPYR: we should decide what our goal is here... is it to create a list of cut and dried, scholarship/disc-producer approved avant garde releases, as well as ignore avant garde experiments by directors who elsewhere made feature films (causing, therefore, BLOOD OF A POET and L'AGE D'OR? VAMPYR and ERASERHEAD to be ignored?)? Or are we going to attempt to create a guidebook of our own, a sort of non pre-prejudiced road map cleansed of the strangenesses one often finds in scholarship and disc production (get a look at the AMATEUR AS AUTEUR disc lately??)?

And there's the UK FREE CIINEMA set.

Warhol.

A few more absolutely essential additions.

Buñuel, Luis
Un chien andalou and L'Âge d'or DVD (BFI, R2 UK)

Vertov, Dziga
Kino-Eye and Three Songs of Lenin DVD (Image, R1)
Man with a Movie Camera DVD (Arte Video, R2 France)
Enthusiasm DVD (Edition Filmmuseum, R2 Austria)

Warhol, Andy
Kiss, Empire (excerpt), Blow Job and Mario Banana DVD (Raro Video, R2 Italy)
Vinyl and The Velvet Underground and Nico DVD (Raro Video, R0 Italy)
Chelsea Girls DVD (Raro Video, R0 Italy)
My Hustler and I, a Man DVD (Raro Video, R0 Italy)
The Nude Restaurant DVD (Raro Video, R0 Italy)
Lonesome Cowboys DVD (Raro Video, R0 Italy)

It should be noted that more Warhol, Brakhage, Snow and a lot of other avant-garde filmmakers can be found on subcin.com.

Some of the works by Snow are available in this DVD-Rom. Unfortunately, it's no longer in print.

This article at DVD Beaver carries a lot of references and links to sites about experimental/avant-garde film and video.

HerrSchreck wrote:Surely the appellation "avant garde", as was much discussed (and needs no going over here) regarding the UNSEEN CINEMA program when at the Anthology and subsequently on the disc set (which I happen to believe the absolute greatest usage so far of the dvd medium so far, bar none, including ARKADIN which gets many misguided votes in my view) can be subject to the inclusionary/exclusionary whims of programmers and producers. Beyond the formal movement in the 1920's, it is difficult to categorize within firm terms. Many folks find simple, weird films to be avant garde-- clearly that's not enough or half of the Something Weird catalog would be included here.

Regarding some of the mentions above, as well as my mention of VAMPYR: we should decide what our goal is here... is it to create a list of cut and dried, scholarship/disc-producer approved avant garde releases, as well as ignore avant garde experiments by directors who elsewhere made feature films (causing, therefore, BLOOD OF A POET and L'AGE D'OR? VAMPYR and ERASERHEAD to be ignored?)? Or are we going to attempt to create a guidebook of our own, a sort of non pre-prejudiced road map cleansed of the strangenesses one often finds in scholarship and disc production (get a look at the AMATEUR AS AUTEUR disc lately??)?

You've got some good points here. And everyone is free to use this thread for a discussion of what constitutes avant-garde, although it's not a topic that much interests me -- I'd much rather watch films than classify them. The purpose of this list is not to come up with a definition of what's avant-garde, but rather to provide a guide for largely obscure and non-narrative films that are out there on DVD. The idea came up because I was using the other thread as a way to check out experimental filmmakers, and I wanted a more comprehensive list to browse through. So the reason for the exclusion of people like Lynch and Bunuel (both among my favorite directors) is not because I wouldn't necessarily consider them avant-garde, but because their publication on DVD is obviously well-known by everyone and their addition would simply open the door to cluttering the list with a ton of more known directors who made films with elements of weirdness. Likewise, I'm not sure the list needs any entry for Dreyer, no matter how avant-garde Vampyr may be. I'd much rather this list be used to enumerate less-known DVDs and directors truly working outside the normal system. Anyway, I'm currently adding a lot of the suggestions brought up so far. Schreck, since you brought them up, could you point me to the DVDs for William Ruttman and the Soviet filmmakers you named?

updated the list.

Gregory wrote:Excellent work, thanks for doing this.
Edition Ellipsis (Edition ...) has released a region-free NTSC DVD of Untitled #91 by Jorge Simonet and Francisco Lopez. (Blind-buyers be advised: this is as minimal as it gets.) See www.editionellipsis.com

Phill Niblock has a couple of DVDs available. The Magic Sun is out from Atavistic (www.atavistic.com). His film The Movement of People Working is also available from www.xtr.com

Cool, thanks for bringing up some of these experimental music films. Edition Ellipsis is a great label, and I have a lot of their music releases -- although considering the extreme minimalism of much of Lopez's music I can't imagine how minimal that DVD must be. Good call on Niblock, too, although I've never seen any of his film work either. What are those discs like?

The Magic Sun only runs 15:30 in length, and it would have been more generous of Atavistic to have combined it with Cry of Jazz on a single disc. Still, it's worth the money to me, mostly because I love Sun Ra's music and there isn't all that much really interesting footage of the Arkestra (all of it is worth having, to me, but the best for the money are Space is the Place and A Joyful Noise). For The Magic Sun, Niblock filmed the group in its prime, mid-60s "out" mode, and he printed the film in negative. It's very dark with parts of musicians and instruments highlighted in white. He also used very close shorts to further obscure the images of the performances. The Movement of People Working is a pretty new DVD and I have not gotten around to ordering it yet. There is a description on the site.

Sorry, but why didn't you add UN CHIEN ANDALOU? The film may be the most widely known and popular avant-garde film, but that doesn't make it any less avant-garde.

Does anyone out there have any of the films available on Robert Todd's website? If so, what are they like, and how are they packaged?

Also, does anyone know where I can find some reasonable prices for Index DVD's (or am I forced to pay €36 + shipping)?

Can anyone attest to the existence of this one?

Bruce Conner, Terry Riley, and underwater explosions must be one of the greatest triads out there.

There's also the "Le mouvement des images" dvd released by the Pompidou in Paris in relation to a recent exhibition.

It contains:

Marcel Duchamp: Anémic Cinéma
Lásló Moholy-Nagy: Ein Lichtspiel schwarz-weiss-grau
Joseph Cornell: Rose Hobart
Joseph Cornell: Gnir Rednow
Len Lye: Rythm
Richard Serra: Hand Catching Lead
Gérard Fromanger: Film-tract: no 1968
Robert Breer: 70
Derek Jarman: Garden of Luxor
Chuck Close: Bob

And I would also argue that the marvelous ECM dvd of godard and Mievilles "Four Short Fims" belongs on the list (Gérard Fromanger's film on the Mouvements dvd is actually co-directed by Godard)

neuro wrote:Also, does anyone know where I can find some reasonable prices for Index DVD's (or am I forced to pay €36 + shipping)?

may not be much cheaper, but...

How would the work of James Fotopoulos fit on this list?

I'm partial to Migrating Forms myself...

Christmas Cyclops wrote:Can anyone attest to the existence of this one?

I have it. I live just a few blocks from the Michael Kohn Gallery, which regularly sells Conner's stuff.

MKG also put out another disc of Conner shorts - Vivian, Breakaway, Marilyn x 5, Report, Take the 5:10, Valse triste, and Mea Culpa - which I have.

I heard Conner has subsequently suppressed both "releases".

For those not in walking distance of the Kohn Gallery, here's a response I recently received from them:

Two Films by Bruce Conner: Crossroads and Looking For Mushrooms, is available for $35.00 plus $2.48 tax if you reside in California. Please make check or international money order payable to Michael Kohn Gallery at 8071 Beverly Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90048 and include postage & handling fees.

Postage and handling is $3.00 in the U.S and $7.00 to Europe.

I am sorry, but we cannot accept credit card payments.

The DVDs are for private home viewing only. Including educational purposes.

Let me know if you have any further questions.

Kind Regards,

Karl Puchlik
MICHAEL KOHN GALLERY
8071 Beverly Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90048
323 658 8088
[email protected]

By the way, how's the quality of these releases, yoshimori?

I have the multi-film DVD that yoshimori mentioned (2002 B.C.) and the quality is excellent. The films are a joy, and I didn't bring it up earlier in the thread only because I figured it wouldn't help to include things in the list that are difficult to obtain. By the way, I'm exactly not sure why this was only available for such a short time but I'd be a little surprised if Conner "suppressed" it because he didn't want it out there at all. I think it was only supposed to be offered for a limited time anyway, but I had a hunch that legal issues with Marilyn Times Five might have had something to do with it.

neuro wrote:Does anyone out there have any of the films available on Robert Todd's website? If so, what are they like, and how are they packaged?

I picked up everything but his last two releases (which came out just after I ordered) based on seeing his Our Former Glory on the Different Cinema Vol. 1 compilation. His style varies, some are flicker films, some are more along the lines of ecological compositions, and some are diaristic (but without voiceover narration). That said, I think his films always aesthetically beautiful. He has an amazing eye for capturing Americana the way Jon Jost does, and he also seems to have a penchant for framing structures and architecture. A secondary theme in his work seems to be time, its ravages, its fragility. In that sense, I'd associate his films most closely with Rose Lowder too as well as Jost.

I really like In Loving Memory, though it's essentially an essay film. This one reminds me of a little of Yvonne Rainer's work (though nowhere near as disjunctive) in the way Todd plays with the question of "who is the speaker?" to reinforce the inhumanity of capital punishment.

I'm also very fond to Our Former Glory, which is a series of architectural shots that eventually cut to images of a memorial across the site in Brooklyn immediately after 9/11. It connects to his other films, particularly Watch (another one of my favorites) in the way Todd illustrates this dichotomy of durability and disposability.

As for the DVDs, they're DVD-Rs with a regular slim jewel case, and there are navigable menus on the discs.

Gregory wrote:I'd be a little surprised if Conner "suppressed" it because he didn't want it out there at all.

Perhaps "suppressed" was too strong. What I heard - directly from an aging Conner - was that he made nothing off the MKG DVDs and was worried the availability of relatively high quality discs would dampen his print rental income.

It is, in the end, all about money.