CINEMA

To be perfectly honest, experimental film can feel boring and pretentious if you’re not in the EXACT right mood for it. But the art form is cinema at its most uninhibited and it does not exist in a vacuum. Intentionally pushing the boundaries of mainstream film, experimentalism might have had more of an impact on […]

In the decade 2000 to 2010, the making and showing of experimental film worldwide has gone from strength to strength, so much so that it can be categorically said that avant-garde cinema is as vital now as it has ever been. This addendum to Jan/Feb 2010 end-of-decade wrap-up issue of the magazine Film Comment serves […]

What is Soviet Montage Theory? Soviet Montage Theory is a film movement that took place in Soviet Russia during the 1910’s, 20’s and into the early 30’s. It was founded by Lev Kuleshov while he was teaching at the Moscow Film School. According to prominent Soviet director Sergei Eisenstein, there are five different types within […]

Dziga Vertov was one of the greatest innovators of Soviet cinema. The radical complexity of his work―in both sound and silent forms―has given it a central place within contemporary theoretical inquiry. Vertov’s writings, collected here, range from calculated manifestos setting forth his heroic vision of film’s potential to dark ruminations on the inactivity forced upon […]