List of avant-garde films of the 1970s explained

This is a list of avant-garde and experimental films released in the 1970s.

Title	Director	Cast	Nation	Notes
1970
The American Soldier	Rainer Werner Fassbinder	Karl Scheydt, Elga Sorbas, Jan George	West Germany	^[1]
The Animals of Eden and After	Stan Brakhage		United States
Berlin Horse	Malcolm Le Grice			Soundtrack by Brian Eno
L'Eden et après	Alain Robbe-Grillet	Catherine Jourdan, Richard Leduc, Lorraine Rainer, Pierre Zimmer	France Czechoslovakia
Even Dwarfs Started Small	Werner Herzog	Helmut Döring	West Germany
Fog Line	Larry Gottheim		United States
Gods of the Plague	Rainer Werner Fassbinder	Hanna Schygulla, Margarethe von Trotta, Harry Baer	West Germany	^[2]
I Don't Know	Penelope Spheeris		United States
It is Not the Homosexual Who is Perverse, But the Society in Which He Lives	Rosa von Praunheim		West Germany
The Machine of Eden	Stan Brakhage		United States
Out 1	Jacques Rivette	Hermine Karagheuz, Michèle Moretti, Karen Puig	France	TV series
Performance	Donald Cammell, Nicolas Roeg	James Fox, Mick Jagger, Anita Pallenberg	United Kingdom	^[3]
Remedial Reading Comprehension	Owen Land		United States
Scenes from Under Childhood, Section Four	Stan Brakhage		United States	Part of Scenes from Under Childhood cycle
Serene Velocity	Ernie Gehr		United States
Sexual Meditation No. 1: Motel	Stan Brakhage		United States	Part of Sexual Meditations cycle
	Ferry Radax	Thomas Bernhard	Austria
El Topo	Alejandro Jodorowsky	Alejandro Jodorowsky, Brontis Jodorowsky, Maria Lorenzio, David Silva	Mexico	^[4]
Trash	Paul Morrissey	Joe Dallesandro, Jane Forth, Holly Woodlawn	United States	^[5]
Unfolding	Coni Beeson		United States
Valerie and Her Week of Wonders	Jaromil Jireš	Helena Anýžová, Karel Engel, Jaroslava Schallerová,	Czechoslovakia
Vladimir et Rosa	Jean-Luc Godard, Jean-Pierre Gorin	Jean-Luc Godard, Jean-Pierre Gorin, Anne Wiazemsky	France	^[6]
The Weir-Falcon Saga	Stan Brakhage		United States
Zorns Lemma	Hollis Frampton		United States
1971
The Act of Seeing with One's Own Eyes	Stan Brakhage		United States	Part of the "Pittsburgh Trilogy"
Angels	Stan Brakhage		United States
Beware of a Holy Whore	Rainer Werner Fassbinder	Lou Castel, Eddie Constantine, Hanna Schygulla	West Germany	^[7]
Carriage Trade	Warren Sonbert		United States
Critical Mass	Hollis Frampton	Barbara DiBenedetto, Frank Albetta	United States	Part of Hapax Legomena cycle
Deus Ex	Stan Brakhage		United States	Part of the "Pittsburgh Trilogy"
DIrty	Stephen Dwoskin		United Kingdom
Door	Stan Brakhage		United States
Dresden Dynamo	Lis Rhodes		United Kingdom
Eyes	Stan Brakhage		United States	Part of the "Pittsburgh Trilogy"
Football as Never Before	Helmuth Costand	George Best	United Kingdom West Germany
Fox Fire Child Watch	Stan Brakhage		United States
Hand Grenade	Gill Eatherley		United Kingdom	Soundtrack by Neu!
I'm Too Sad to Tell You	Bas Jan Ader		United States
A Journey to Avebury	Derek Jarman		United Kingdom
Meditation	Jordan Belson		United States	Abstract, color^[8]
N. a pris les dés (N. Took the Dice)	Alain Robbe-Grillet	Catherine Jourdan, Richard Leduc, Pierre Zimmer	France
(nostalgia)	Hollis Frampton	Michael Snow	United States	Part of Hapax Legomena cycle
The Peaceable Kingdom	Stan Brakhage		United States
Poem	B. S. Johnson	William Hoyland	United Kingdom
Punishment Park	Peter Watkins	Paul Alelyanes, Carmen Argenziano, Stan Armsted, Harold Beaulieu, Jim Bohan	United States
La Région Centrale	Michael Snow		Canada
	Stan Brakhage		United States	Part of Sexual Meditations cycle
Travelling Matte	Hollis Frampton		United States	Part of Hapax Legomena cycle
The Trip to Door	Stan Brakhage		United States
Viva la Muerte	Fernando Arrabal	Mahdi Chaouch, Núria Espert, Anouk Ferjac	France Tunisia
Western History	Stan Brakhage		United States
	Dušan Makavejev	Milena Dravić, Jagoda Kaloper, Ivica Vidović	Yugoslavia	^[9]
1972
Chakra	Jordan Belson		United States	Abstract, color^[10]
La Cicatrice Interieure	Philippe Garrel		France	^[11]
Clocktime Trailer	Stuart Pound		United Kingdom
The Death of Maria Malibran	Werner Schroeter	Ingrid Caven, Candy Darling, Christine Kaufman, Magdalena Montezuma	West Germany
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie	Luis Buñuel	Fernando Rey, Delphine Seyrig, Stéphane Audran	France Italy Spain	^[12]
Dreamwood	James Broughton		United States	^[13]
Dyn Amo	Stephen Dwoskin		United Kingdom
Ecstasy of the Angels	Kōji Wakamatsu	Michio Akiyama, Masao Adachi, Rie Yokoyama	Japan	^[14]
Eye Myth Educational	Stan Brakhage		United States
Garden of Luxor	Derek Jarman		United Kingdom
Hats Off to Hollywood	Penelope Spheeris		United States
Hotel Monterrey	Chantal Akerman		Belgium
Letter to Jane	Jean-Luc Godard, Jean-Pierre Gorin		France	^[15]
Ordinary Matter	Hollis Frampton		United States	Part of Hapax Legomena cycle
Poetic Justice	Hollis Frampton		United States	Part of Hapax Legomena cycle
Portraits	Barbara Meter		Netherlands
The Presence	Stan Brakhage		United States
The Process	Stan Brakhage		United States
Red Psalm	Miklós Jancsó	Lajos Balázsovits, Bertalan Solti, Janos Koltai	Hungary	^[16]
Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania	Jonas Mekas		Soviet Union United States
Remote Control	Hollis Frampton		United States	Part of Hapax Legomena cycle
Requiem für einen Jungraulichen Koenig	Hans-Jürgen Syberberg	Peter Kern	West Germany	^[17]
The Riddle of Lumen	Stan Brakhage		United States
Sexual Meditation: Faun's Room, Yale	Stan Brakhage		United States	Part of Sexual Meditations cycle
Sexual Meditation: Hotel	Stan Brakhage		United States	Part of Sexual Meditations cycle
Sexual Meditation: Office Suite	Stan Brakhage		United States	Part of Sexual Meditations cycle
Sexual Meditation: Open Field	Stan Brakhage		United States	Part of Sexual Meditations cycle
The Shores of Phos: A Fable	Stan Brakhage		United States
Special Effects	Hollis Frampton		United States	Part of Hapax Legomena cycle
Threshold	Malcolm Le Grice		United Kingdom
The Wold Shadow	Stan Brakhage		United States
1973
Can Dialectics Break Bricks?	René Viénet		France
The Embassy	Chris Marker		France
F for Fake	Orson Welles	Orson Welles, Oja Kodar, Joseph Cotten	France Iran	^[18]
Fat Man on a Beach	Michael Bakewell	B. S. Johnson	United Kingdom	TV film
Ganja & Hess	Bill Gunn	Duane Jones, Marlene Clark, Leonard Jackson	United States	^[19]
Gift	Stan Brakhage		United States
H is for House	Peter Greenaway		United Kingdom
The Holy Mountain	Alejandro Jodorowsky	Alejandro Jodorowsky, Richard Rutowski, Jose Flores	Mexico United States	^[20]
I Will Walk Like a Crazy Horse	Fernando Arrabal	Emmanuelle Riva, George Shannon	France
Iluminacja	Krzysztof Zanussi	Edward Zebrowski, Marcin Latallo, Włodzimierz Zonn	Poland	^[21]
Immoral Tales	Walerian Borowczyk	Lise Danvers, Paloma Picasso, Charlotte Alexandra	France Hungary Italy	^[22]
Mann & Frau & Animal	Valie Export		Austria
Occasional Work of a Female Slave	Alexander Kluge	Alexandra Kluge	West Germany
Reel Time	Annabel Nicolson		United Kingdom	Expanded cinema
... Remote ... Remote	Valie Export		Austria
The Second Coming of Suzanne	Michael Barry	Sondra Locke, Jared Martin, Paul Sand, Gene Barry	United States
Sincerity I	Stan Brakhage		United States	Part of Sincerity cycle
The Society of the Spectacle	Guy Debord		France
Stolen Apples for Karen Blixen	Derek Jarman		United Kingdom
Television Delivers People	Richard Serra		United States
Themroc	Claude Faraldo	Michel Piccoli, Béatrice Romand, Jeanne Herviale	France Italy	^[23]
World on a Wire	Rainer Werner Fassbinder	Klaus Löwitsch, Barbara Valentin	West Germany
Year of the Woman	Sandra Hochman		United States
1974
Aquarien	Stan Brakhage		United States
Céline and Julie Go Boating	Jacques Rivette	Juliet Berto, Dominique Labourier, Bulle Ogier	France	^[24]
Clancy	Stan Brakhage		United States
Dominion	Stan Brakhage		United States
Dyketactics	Barbara Hammer		United States
Edvard Munch	Peter Watkins	Gro Frås, Geir Westby	Norway Sweden
Les Filles de Kamare	René Viénet		France
Flight	Stan Brakhage		United States
He Was Born, He Suffered, He Died	Stan Brakhage		United States
Hymn to Her	Stan Brakhage		United States
The Phantom of Liberty	Luis Buñuel	Jean-Claude Brialy, Monica Vitti, Paul Frankeur	France Italy	^[25]
Skein	Stan Brakhage		United States
Sol	Stan Brakhage		United States
Space Is the Place	John Coney	Sun Ra, Erika Leder, Barbara Deloney	United States	^[26]
Star Garden	Stan Brakhage		United States
The Stars Are Beautiful	Stan Brakhage	Jane Brakhage, Stan Brakhage, Myrrena Brakhage	United States
Suite (212)	Nam June Paik		United States
Sweet Movie	Dušan Makavejev	Carole Laure, John Vernon, Anna Prucnal	France	^[27]
The Text of Light	Stan Brakhage		United States
They Do Not Exist	Mustafa Abu Ali		Palestine	^[28]
Vase de Noces	Thierry Zéno	Dominique Garny	Belgium
The Wait	Uzi Peres		Israel
1975
Bataille de Waterloo	Marcel Broodthaers		Belgium
Black Moon	Louis Malle	Cathryn Harrison, Therese Giehse, Alexandra Stewart	France	^[29]
Circling	Peter Donebauer		United Kingdom
Condition of Illusion	Peter Gidal		United Kingdom
Evrydiki BA 2O37	Nikos Nikolaidis	Vera Tschechowa, John Moore, Niki Triantafillidi	Greece West Germany
India Song	Marguerite Duras		France
Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles	Chantal Akerman	Delphine Seyrig, Jan Decorte, Jacques Doniol-Valcroze	Belgium France	^[30]
Light Music	Lis Rhodes		United Kingdom
The Mirror	Andrei Tarkovsky	Margarita Terekhova, Anatoly Solonitsyn, Nikolai Grinko	Soviet Union	^[31]
Nightcleaners, Part 1	Berwick Street Collective		United Kingdom
Number Two	Jean-Luc Godard	Sandrine Battistella, Pierre Oudrey	France	^[32]
Refutation of All the Judgements on Guy Debord's Film 'The Society of the Spectacle	Guy Debord		France	Situationist film
Semiotics of the Kitchen	Martha Rosler		United States
Short Films 1975	Stan Brakhage		United States
Sincerity II	Stan Brakhage		United States	Part of Sincerity cycle
The Tree of Guernica	Fernando Arrabal	Cosimo Cinieri, Ron Faber, Mariangela Melato	France Italy
Untitled No. 9	Stan Brakhage		United States
Untitled No. 10	Stan Brakhage		United States
1976
A Malgam A	Iván Zulueta		Spain
Absence	Stan Brakhage		United States	Silent.^[33] ^[34] ^[35]
Airs	Stan Brakhage		United States
Comment ça va?	Jean-Luc Godard, Anne-Marie Miéville	Anne-Marie Miéville	France	^[36]
Crossroads	Bruce Conner		United States
Desert	Stan Brakhage		United States
The Dream, NYC, The Return, The Flower	Stan Brakhage		United States
The Girl Chewing Gum	John Smith		United Kingdom
Heart of Glass	Werner Herzog	Clemens Scheitz, Sonja Skiba, Volker Prechtel	West Germany	^[37]
Highs	Stan Brakhage		United States
Jonah Who Will Be 25 in the Year 2000	Alain Tanner	Jean-Luc Bideau, Myriam Boyer,	France Switzerland	^[38]
Leo es pardo	Iván Zulueta		Spain
Migration, for Jack Nelson	Bill Viola		United States
Rembrandt, Etc., and Jane	Stan Brakhage		United States
Short Films 1976	Stan Brakhage		United States
Tragoedia	Stan Brakhage		United States
Trio	Stan Brakhage		United States
Wienfilm 1896-1976	Ernst Schmidt Jr.		Austria
Window	Stan Brakhage		United States
1977
Le Camion (The Lorry)	Marguerite Duras	Gérard Depardieu, Marguerite Duras	France
The Domain of the Moment	Stan Brakhage		United States
Eraserhead	David Lynch	Jack Nance, Charlotte Stewart, Jeanne Bates	United States	^[39]
The Governor	Stan Brakhage		United States
A Grin Without a Cat	Chris Marker		France
	Hans-Jürgen Syberberg	Heinz Schubert	West Germany	^[40]
House	Nobuhiko Obayashi	Kimiko Ikegami	Japan
I, an Actress	George Kuchar	George Kuchar, Barbara Lapsley	United States
Music of the Spheres	Jordan Belson		United States	Abstract, color. A revised version was edited in 2002.^[41]
Reflecting Pool	Bill Viola		United States
Riddles of the Sphinx	Laura Mulvey, Peter Wollen	Merdelle Jordine, Dinah Stabb, Riannon Tise	United Kingdom
Sentimental Journey	Anne Rees-Mogg		United Kingdom
Soldiers and Other Cosmic Objects	Stan Brakhage		United States
Thames Barrier	William Raban		United Kingdom
That Obscure Object of Desire	Luis Buñuel	Carole Bouquet, Ángela Molina, Fernando Rey	France Spain
Unsichtbare Gegner (Invisible Adversaries)	Valie Export	Susanne Widl, Peter Weibel, Josef Plavec	Austria	^[42]
1978
Bird	Stan Brakhage		United States
Burial Path	Stan Brakhage		United States
Centre	Stan Brakhage		United States
Césarée	Marguerite Duras		France
Duplicity	Stan Brakhage		United States	Part of Duplicity cycle
Duplicity II	Stan Brakhage		United States	Part of Duplicity cycle
Forza Bastia!	Jacques Tati, Sophie Tatischeff		France
Hand Exercises	Uzi Peres		Israel
Jubilee	Derek Jarman	Jenny Runacre, Jordan, Nell Campbell	United Kingdom	^[43]
Light Reading	Lis Rhodes		United Kingdom
Nightmare Series	Stan Brakhage		United States
Often During the Day	Joanna Davis		United Kingdom
Purity, and After	Stan Brakhage		United States
Sincerity III	Stan Brakhage		United States	Part of Sincerity cycle
Sluice	Stan Brakhage		United States
Thot-Fal'N	Stan Brakhage		United States
Visions of a City	Lawrence P. Jordan		United States
A Walk Through H: Reincarnation of an Ornithologist	Peter Greenaway		United Kingdom
1979
@	Stan Brakhage		United States
Allegoria	Stéphane Marti		France
Cartoon Le Mousse	Chick Strand		United States
The Cartoon Theatre of Dr. Gaz	Jeff Keen		United Kingdom
Creation	Stan Brakhage		United States
Ear to the Ground	David Van Tieghem		United States
Fever Dream	Chick Strand		United States
Orchestra Rehearsal	Federico Fellini	Balduin Baas, Elisabeth Labi, Ronaldo Bonacchi	France Italy West Germany	^[44]
Race d'Ep (The Homosexual Century)	Guy Hocquenghem, Lionel Soukaz		France	TV film
Radio/On	Chris Petit	David Beames	United Kingdom
Roman Numeral: I	Stan Brakhage		United States	Part of Roman Numeral Series (also called the "Romans")
Roman Numeral: II	Stan Brakhage		United States	Part of Roman Numeral Series (also called the "Romans")
Roman Numeral: III	Stan Brakhage		United States	Part of Roman Numeral Series (also called the "Romans")
Sincerity IV	Stan Brakhage		United States	Part of Sincerity cycle
Stalker	Andrei Tarkovsky	Alexander Kaidanovsky, Anatoli Solonitsyn, Nikolai Grinko	Soviet Union
Tale of Tales	Yuri Norstein		Soviet Union	^[45]
Tally Brown, New York	Rosa von Praunheim	Tally Brown	West Germany United States
Thriller	Sally Potter		United Kingdom
The Wretches Are Still Singing	Nikos Nikolaidis	Alkis Panagiotidis, Konstantinos Tzoumas, Rita Bensousan	Greece

Notes and References

1. Web site: Eclipse Series 39: Early Fassbinder. Koresky. Michael. 26 August 2013. The Criterion Collection. 30 July 2014.
2. Web site: Eclipse Series 39: Early Fassbinder. Koresky. Michael. 26 August 2013. The Criterion Collection. 30 July 2014.
3. Web site: Performance. Allmovie. Wiener, Tom. June 30, 2011.
4. Web site: El Topo. Blaise, Judd. Allrovi. June 30, 2011.
5. Web site: Trash. Allrovi. Pavlides, Dan. June 30, 2011.
6. Web site: Vladimir et Rosa. Allrovi. Fountain, Clarke. July 3, 2011.
7. Web site: Eclipse Series 39: Early Fassbinder. Koresky. Michael. 26 August 2013. The Criterion Collection. 30 July 2014.
8. http://www.centerforvisualmusic.org/Belsonfilmo.htm CVM Belson Filmography
9. Web site: WR: Mysteries of the Organism. Allrovi. Erickson, Hal. June 30, 2011.
10. http://www.centerforvisualmusic.org/Belsonfilmo.htm CVM Belson Filmography
11. Web site: La Cicatrice Interieure. Allrovi. Fountain, Clarke. June 30, 2011.
12. Web site: The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie. Allrovi. Voorhees, John. June 30, 2011.
13. Web site: Dreamwood. Allrovi. Erickson, Hal. June 30, 2011.
14. Web site: Ecstasy of the Angels. Allrovi. Crow, Jonathan. June 30, 2011.
15. Web site: Letter to Jane. Allrovi. Schwartz, Louis. July 3, 2011.
16. Web site: Red Psalm. Allrovi. Fountain, Clarke. July 4, 2011.
17. Web site: Requiem fur einen Jungraulichen Koenig. Allrovi. Fountain, Clarke. January 29, 2012.
18. Web site: F for Fake. Allrovi. Blaise, Judd. June 30, 2011.
19. Web site: Ganja & Hess. Brooklyn Academy of Music.
20. Web site: The Holy Mountain. Allrovi. Deming, Mark. June 30, 2011.
21. Web site: Iluminacja. Allrovi. Fountain, Clarke. June 30, 2011.
22. Web site: Immoral Tales. Allrovi. Fountain, Clarke. June 30, 2011.
23. Web site: Themroc. Allrovi. Fountain, Clarke. July 1, 2011.
24. Web site: Celine and Julie Go Boating. Allrovi. Charney, Leo. June 30, 2011.
25. Web site: The Phantom of Liberty. Allrovi. Voorhees, John. June 30, 2011.
26. Web site: Sun Ra: Space Is the Place. Allmovie. November 2, 2013.
27. Web site: Sweet Movie. Allrovi. Southern, Nathan. 2 January 2014.
28. Web site: They Do Not Exist: Remembering Palestinian Filmmaker Mustafa Abu Ali. Muftah.org. LeVasseur, Andrea. June 30, 2011.
29. Web site: Black Moon. Allrovi. Erickson, Hal. June 30, 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110617023604/http://www.allrovi.com/movies/movie/black-moon-v85224. June 17, 2011. dead.
30. Web site: Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles. Allrovi. Charney, Leo. June 30, 2011.
31. Web site: The Mirror. Allrovi. Fountain, Clarke. June 30, 2011.
32. Web site: Number Two. Allrovi. Schwartz, Louis. July 3, 2011.
33. http://www.cfmdc.org/node/110 CFMDC entry
34. http://www.fredcamper.com/Brakhage/Filmography.html Fred Camper: Stan Brakhage filmography
35. http://canyoncinema.com/catalog/film/?i=276 Canyon Cinema entry
36. Web site: Comment ça va?. Allrovi. Schwartz, Louis. July 3, 2011.
37. Web site: Heart of Glass. Allrovi. Erickson, Hal. June 30, 2011.
38. Web site: Jonah, Who Will Be 25 in the Year 2000. Allrovi. Fountain, Clarke. June 30, 2011.
39. Web site: Eraserhead. Allrovi. Ankeny, Jason. June 30, 2011.
40. Web site: Hitler: A Film from Germany. Allrovi. Fountain, Clarke. 2 January 2014.
41. http://www.centerforvisualmusic.org/Belsonfilmo.htm CVM Belson Filmography
42. Web site: Invisible Adversaries. Chicago Reader. Kehr, Dave. 2 January 2014.
43. Web site: Jubilee. Allrovi. Blaise, Judd. June 30, 2011.
44. Web site: Orchestra Rehearsal. Allrovi. Erickson, Hal. June 30, 2011.
45. Web site: Tale of Tales. Allrovi. LeVasseur, Andrea. June 30, 2011.