



Masterworks of American Avant-Garde Experimental Film 1920-1970 Blu-ray Posted May 21, 2015 03:00 PM by



Flicker Alley and the Blackhawk Films Collection, in collaboration with Filmmakers Showcase, have announced that they will present 30 films, restored to pristine high-definition, from some of the foremost experimental filmmakers of the 20th century.



Commencing in 1920 with Charles Sheeler and Paul Strand's creative collaboration on Manhatta, successive generations of experimental filmmakers and artists have worked in collaboration or alone to create a cinema capable of expressing dynamic unspoken concepts in totally abstract visual terms.



Included on this premiere collection of 30 films are the most acclaimed names of American avant-garde experimental filmmaking, including Charles Sheeler, Paul Strand, Fernand Léger, Dudley Murphy, Rrose Sélavy (Marcel Duchamp), Robert Florey, Slavko Vorkapich, Ralph Steiner, Jay Leyda, James Sibley Watson, Jr., Melville Webber, Emlen Etting, Joseph Cornell, Mary Ellen Bute, Ted Nemeth, Rudy Burckhardt, Francis Lee, Maya Deren, Alexander Hackenschmied, Oskar Fischinger, Helen Levitt, Janice Loeb, James Agee, Marie Menken, Francis Thompson, Bruce Conner, Jordan Belson, Bruce Baillie, Lawrence Jordan, Jonas Mekas, Tom Palazzolo, Lawrence Janiak, Amy Greenfield, Phil Solomon, and Stan Brakhage.



To watch these films is to see the world anew through cinematic interventions: fast cutting, expressive camerawork, abstract animation, surrealistic collage, distorted and superimposed imagery, and many more extraordinary techniques. Essentially the filmmakers ask us to open our eyes and see, to permit the reception of pure sensations uninhibited by any complex web of predetermined associations dominant in mainstream Hollywood cinema.



Collected from archives around the world, and beautifully restored in high definition, the majority of vintage silent films in Masterworks of American Avant-garde Experimental Film 1920-1970 feature new musical scores from innovative composers Donald Sosin, George Antheil, Eric Beheim, Rodney Sauer, Gustavo Matamoros, Henry Wolfe and Phil Carluzzo.



Bonus Materials Include: Seasons... (2002, dir. Phil Solomon, Stan Brakhage)

Alternate version of Manhatta (1920-21, dir. Charles Sheeler, Paul Strand) with a 2013 music score by Henry Wolfe and Phil Carluzzo. Honored in 2010 with a "Film Heritage Award" by the National Society of Film Critics.

Booklet featuring an essay and extensive notes on restorations by curator, filmmaker, and film historian Bruce Posner.





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Koroshiya Ichi May 21, 2015 After buying the wonderful sets of Stan Brakhage, Hollis Frampton, Kenneth Anger and Bill Morrison on Blu-ray, I can't wait to get my hands on this set.

If you order this from Flicker Alley's site you can also get it as a combo with Unseen Cinema - Ealy American Avant-Garde Film DVD for $80,-, which is a bargain for the amount of content you'll get. billyearle May 21, 2015 Cool! Been wanting more of this stuff. Though it may be a mixed bad, there's sure to be enough essential stuff in here. I tend to be less a fan of the dry stuff, hoping for some George Kuchar (and brother), though the later 80s Kuchar stuff is probably SD video, and some Warhol, as well as new discoveries. (Is Synapse really doing a THUNDERCRACK BD??)

DukeOfPrunes May 22, 2015 Most exicting news of the year! stynn May 22, 2015 Excited for this!

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Top contributor mrjohnnyb May 22, 2015 This set includes (Maya Deren's) Meshes of the Afternoon and (Bruce Connor's) A Movie.



I am stoked !!!

jlk5844 May 23, 2015 I'm guessing the only one I've seen from the set is Meshes of the Afternoon, which is fantastic, not sure it's worth the whole set though it could be fun exploring all these experimental films.

sminister May 23, 2015 Happy to see Meshes on there as well as Marie Menken... some of her work that I've seen is playful and colorful. Wish they'd do a combo deal with this and the Vertov Man with the Movie Camera set.

santasangria May 26, 2015 flicker alley is the sh**

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