This is a list of avant-garde and experimental films released in the 1950s. Unless noted, all films had sound and were in black and white.
| Title | Director | Cast | Nation | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 | ||||
| The Adventures of Jimmy | James Broughton | James Broughton | United States | Music by Weldon Kees.[1] |
| Un chant d'amour | Jean Genet | Java, André Reybaz | France | Genet's only film as a director |
| Eaten Horizons | Wilhelm Freddie, Jørgen Roos | France | Surrealist film | |
| Orphée | Jean Cocteau | Jean Marais | France | |
| Rabbit's Moon | Kenneth Anger | André Soubeyron, Claude Revenant | France | Color[2] |
| Swain | Gregory Markopoulos, Robert C. Freeman, Jr. | Gregory Markopoulos, Mary Zelles | United States | Based on Hawthorne's novel Fanshawe. Only a drastically shortened version exists; 24 minutes of 50[3] |
| Tłum (The Crowd) | Walerian Borowczyk | Poland | [4] | |
| 1951 | ||||
| Divertissement Rococo | Hy Hirsh | United States | Abstract animation | |
| Ensemble for Somnambulists | Maya Deren | Canada | [5] | |
| Images pour Debussy | Jean Mitry | France | Visualization of music, semi-abstract water film.[6] | |
| Le film est déja commence? | Maurice Lemaître | France | Lettrist film[7] | |
| Le mort du cerf | Dimitri Kirsanoff | France | ||
| A Treatise on Venom and Eternity | Isidore Isou | Isidore Isou | France | Lettrist film |
| 1952 | ||||
| L'anti-concept | Gil J. Wolman | France | Lettrist film | |
| Approaches and Leavetakings | Weldon Kees, Jurgen Ruesch | United States | ||
| Bells of Atlantis | Ian Hugo | Anaïs Nin | United States | Color. Semi-abstract images and electronic music by Bebe and Louis Barron accompany a reading by Nin from her 1936 novella House of Incest.[8] |
| Form Phases I | Robert Breer | United States | Color, silent abstract animation.[9] | |
| Hand-Mouth Coordination | Weldon Kees, Gregory Bateson | United States | ||
| Hotel Apex | Weldon Kees | United States | Study of the demolition of an old hotel | |
| Hurlements en faveur de Sade | Guy Debord | France | Lettrist film | |
| Interim | Stan Brakhage | United States | Brakhage's first film, scored by James Tenney[10] | |
| 1953 | ||||
| The Boy and the Sea | Stan Brakhage | United States | Silent, listed by Camper as "not available" | |
| Color Cry | Len Lye | United States | Color, Drawn-on-film animation, music by Sonny Terry[11] | |
| Come Closer | Hy Hirsh | United States | Color, abstract animation in 3-D[12] | |
| Eaux d'Artifice | Kenneth Anger | Carmilla Salvatorelli | Italy | Color, added to the National Film Registry in 1993[13] |
| The End | Christopher Maclaine | United States | Early Beat generation film[14] | |
| Eneri | Hy Hirsh | United States | Abstract animation, color. | |
| Form Phases II | Robert Breer | United States | Color, silent abstract animation. | |
| Mandala | Jordan Belson | United States | Abstract animation, color[15] | |
| The Pleasure Garden | James Broughton | Lindsay Anderson, Hattie Jacques, John Le Mesurier | United Kingdom | |
| Statues Also Die | Chris Marker, Alain Resnais | France | ||
| Unglassed Windows Cast a Terrible Reflection | Stan Brakhage | United States | Silent, listed by Camper as "not available" | |
| 1954 | ||||
| Desistfilm | Stan Brakhage | United States | ||
| The Extraordinary Child | Stan Brakhage | United States | Listed by Camper as "not available" | |
| Form Phases IV | Robert Breer | United States | Color, silent abstract animation. | |
| Gyromorphosis | Hy Hirsh | Netherlands | Abstract animation | |
| Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome | Kenneth Anger | Samson de Brier, Anaïs Nin | United States | Color, edited into at least three distinct versions[16] |
| Un Miracle | Robert Breer, Pontus Hultén | United States | Color, collage animation. | |
| The Way to Shadow Garden | Stan Brakhage | United States | ||
| 1955 | ||||
| Atelier de Fernand Léger | Walerian Borowczyk | Poland | Filmed at Fernand Léger's studio in Paris | |
| Aviary | Joseph Cornell | United States | Silent[17] | |
| The Bridge | William Heick | Weldon Kees | United States | Poetic study, based on Hart Crane |
| Closed Vision | Marc'O. | France | Lettrist film | |
| Dementia, aka Daughter of Horror | John Parker | Adrienne Barrett, Bruno VeSota | United States | Essentially silent psychological horror film, music by George Antheil[18] |
| Une femme coquette | Jean-Luc Godard | Maria Lysandre, Roland Tolma | France | |
| Haitian Film Footage | Maya Deren | Haiti | Begun in 1947; later posthumously edited into The Divine Horsemen[19] | |
| In Between | Stan Brakhage | United States | Color, music by John Cage | |
| Jesień (Autumn) | Walerian Borowczyk | Poland | Animation | |
| Joanne, Union Square | Joseph Cornell | United States | Silent | |
| Joanne, Xmas | Joseph Cornell | United States | Silent | |
| Mosaik im Vertrauen (Mosaic in Confidence) | Peter Kubelka | Austria | Written by Ferry Radax[20] | |
| A Portrait of Ga | Margaret Tait | United Kingdom | ||
| Orchard Street | Ken Jacobs | United States | Color, silent[21] | |
| Reflections | Madeline Tourtelot | United States | Color, two distinct versions[22] | |
| Reflections on Black | Stan Brakhage | United States | ||
| Sunday in Peking | Chris Marker | France | ||
| Untitled film of Geoffrey Holder’s Wedding | Stan Brakhage, Larry Jordan | United States | ||
| The Very Eye of Night | Maya Deren | United States | Dance film, choreographed by Antony Tudor | |
| The Wonder Ring | Stan Brakhage | United States | Color, silent | |
| Żywe fotografie (Photographies Vivantes) | Walerian Borowczyk | Poland | Animation | |
| 1956 | ||||
| Centuries of June | Stan Brakhage, Joseph Cornell | United States | Color, silent | |
| Flesh of Morning | Stan Brakhage | United States | Revised in 1986 | |
| Little Cobra Dance | Ken Jacobs | United States | ||
| Nightcats | Stan Brakhage | United States | Color, silent | |
| Recreation | Robert Breer | United States | Color, semi-abstract animation with narration. | |
| Saturday Afternoon Blood Sacrifice | Ken Jacobs | United States | ||
| Together | Lorenza Mazzetti, Denis Horne | Eduardo Paolozzi, Michael Andrews | Experimental semi-documentary[23] | |
| Zone Moment | Stan Brakhage | United States | Color, silent | |
| 1957 | ||||
| 8 x 8: A Chess Sonata in 8 Movements | Jean Cocteau, Marcel Duchamp, Hans Richter | United States | ||
| A to Z | Michael Snow | Canada | "Blue and white" color, silent[24] [25] [26] | |
| Adebar | Peter Kubelka | Austria | Early structural — or in Kubelka's terms, "metric" — film[27] | |
| Adventures of * | John Hubley, Faith Hubley | United States | Color, music score by Benny Carter. Semi-abstract animation.[28] [29] | |
| Angel | Joseph Cornell | United States | Color | |
| Był sobie raz (Once Upon a Time) | Jan Lenica, Walerian Borowczyk | Poland | Cut-out animation[30] | |
| Boy's Games | Joseph Cornell | United States | Silent | |
| Cappuccino | Joseph Cornell | United States | ||
| Children | Joseph Cornell | United States | Silent | |
| Cloche a Travers les Feuilles/Claude Debussy | Joseph Cornell | United States | Revised version of Nymphlight | |
| Daybreak and Whiteye | Stan Brakhage | United States | ||
| Dni Oświaty (Education Days) | Jan Lenica, Walerian Borowczyk | Poland | Animation | |
| A Fable for Fountains | Joseph Cornell, Rudolph Buckhardt | United States | Begun in 1955; revised as "A Legend for Fountains" in 1965 | |
| Glimpse of the Garden | Marie Menken | United States | Selected for addition to the National Film Registry in 2007[31] | |
| Nagrodzone uczucia (Requited Sentiments) | Jan Lenica, Walerian Borowczyk | Poland | Animation | |
| Jamestown Baloos | Robert Breer | United States | Color, semi-abstract combination of animation and live action. | |
| Loving | Stan Brakhage | Carolee Schneemann, James Tenney | United States | Color, silent |
| Strep-tease (Striptease) | Jan Lenica, Walerian Borowczyk | Poland | Animation | |
| A Man and His Dog Out for Air | Robert Breer | United States | Abstract animation, shown with Last Year at Marienbad in its first New York run. | |
| The Man Who Invented Gold | Christopher Maclaine | United States | Partly filmed by Jordan Belson[32] | |
| Nymphlight | Joseph Cornell | United States | Color | |
| 1958 | ||||
| Anticipation of the Night | Stan Brakhage | United States | [33] | |
| Beat | Christopher Maclaine | United States | ||
| Broadway by Light | William Klein | France, United States | ||
| Défense d'afficher | Hy Hirsh | France | Color | |
| Dom (House) | Jan Lenica, Walerian Borowczyk | Poland | Animation; Winner of 1958 Belgium International Experimental Film Competition | |
| Free Radicals | Len Lye | United Kingdom | ||
| Une histoire d'eau | Jean-Luc Godard, François Truffaut | France | Semi-improvised, proto-Nouvelle vague short[34] | |
| A Movie | Bruce Conner | United States | Iconic collage film.[35] | |
| Schwechater | Peter Kubelka | Austria | "Metric" beer commercial | |
| Szkoła (School) | Jan Lenica, Walerian Borowczyk | Poland | Animated photographs | |
| Spatiodynamisme | Tinto Brass, Nicolas Schöffer | France | Color, silent. A visual document of Schöffer's CYSP-1, the first cybernetic sculpture.[36] | |
| Sztandar młodych (Banner of Youth) | Jan Lenica, Walerian Borowczyk | Poland | Animation | |
| The Very Eye of Night | Maya Deren | United States | ||
| 1959 | ||||
| Les astronautes | Walerian Borowczyk, Chris Marker | France | Animated | |
| Chasse des Touches | Hy Hirsh | France | Abstract animation | |
| Cat's Cradle | Stan Brakhage | United States | Color, silent | |
| The Diary of an Unknown Soldier | Peter Watkins | United Kingdom | ||
| Eyewash | Robert Breer | United States | Color, silent mixture of abstract animation and live action; exists in two versions. | |
| Hiroshima mon amour | Alain Resnais | Eiji Okada, Emmanuelle Riva | France | Written by Marguerite Duras |
| Monsieur Tête | Jan Lenica | France | Animation | |
| Odds and Ends | Jane Conger Shimane Belson | United States | ||
| Pull My Daisy | Robert Frank, Alfred Leslie | United States | Beat Generation film, written by Jack Kerouac[37] | |
| The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film | Richard Lester | United Kingdom | ||
| Scotch Hop | Christopher Maclaine | United States | ||
| Season of Strangers | Maya Deren | United States | Unfinished; made as part of Haiku Film Project at Woodstock | |
| Shadows | John Cassavetes | Ben Carruthers, Lelia Goldoni, Hugh Hurd | United States | |
| Sirius Remembered | Stan Brakhage | United States | Color, silent | |
| Wedlock House: An Intercourse | Stan Brakhage | United States | Silent | |
| Window Water Baby Moving | Stan Brakhage | United States | Color, silent | |
