The 21st Century Avant-Garde

A 25 year, 75 film canon

The end of 2024 was the end of the first quarter of the 21st century, so a fine time for a “century so far” list. This is meant only to take stock of my thoughts at a moment in time, and not to be definitive; I think we should make and remake these sorts of lists and think of them as part of a conversation about the body of work we collectively value, rather than ever seeking anything authoritative. I’m currently (re)watching a bunch of mid to late period Godard, so if I made this a month from now more of those may be on here, or Goodbye to Language could be #1. I’ve still never seen Jacobs’s Star Spangled to Death, or Kubelka’s Poetry and Truth, or thousands of other films I may fall in love with in the future. Who knows? It’s fine.

Obviously I didn’t limit myself to one film per artist, or impose any other firm rules. I did try to limit artist repeats to films that are either very different from the artist’s other entries or so exceptional I felt they needed to be on here. There are half a dozen films each by Dorksy, Hutton, Mack, Everson, Benning that I could’ve included, but I wanted the choices to say something more than “this is a great film.”

No blurbs for now, because I don’t have time to write that many, but I’ve written about several of these previously: on Oxhide II for OVID.tv, on Ernie Gehr’s digital works and on Nour Ouayda for Ultra Dogme, on the two Ewelina Rosinska films for Tone Glow’s First Look coverage, on Condor in a piece on Kevin Jerome Everson’s Celestial films, on the Joost Rekveld for my coverage on this substack of Light Matter 2023, on ALLENSWORTH for Berlinale 2023 coverage, and on several others for a feature on avant-garde horror.

In the hope that it will encourage more people to watch some of these, I’ve uploaded the films that I’m able to share in digital form to a Google Drive folder. (At the time of posting the uploads aren’t all finished so check back later.)

1. At Sea (Peter Hutton, 2007)

2. These Encounters of Theirs (Straub-Huillet, 2006)

3. Oxhide II (Jiayin Liu, 2009)

4. What the Water Said Nos 4-6 (David Gatten, 2007)

5. Goodbye to Language (Jean-Luc Godard, 2014)

6. The Grand Bizarre (Jodie Mack, 2018)

7. Erie (Kevin Jerome Everson, 2010)

8. The Woolworth’s Choir of 1979 (Elizabeth Price, 2012)

9. Stemple Pass (James Benning, 2012)

10. Apricity (Nathaniel Dorsky, 2019)

11. The Decay of Fiction (Pat O’Neill, 2002)

12. The God of Day Had Gone Down Upon Him (Stan Brakhage, 2000)

13. The Great Art of Knowing (David Gatten, 2004)

14. Artemide’s Knee (Straub-Huillet, 2008)

15. Glistening Thrills (Jodie Mack, 2013)

16. 10 Skies (James Benning, 2004)

17. Onward Lossless Follows (Michael Robinson, 2017)

18. As I Was Moving Ahead, Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty (Jonas Mekas, 2000)

19. Earth in the Mouth (Ewelina Rosinska, 2020)

20. The Periphery of the Base (Zhou Tao, 2024)

21. Condor (Kevin Jerome Everson, 2019)

22. Laberint Sequences (Blake Williams, 2023)

23. Squeeze (Mika Rottenberg, 2010)

24. Instructions for a Light and Sound Machine (Peter Tscherkassky, 2005)

25. Glimpses from a Visit to Orkney in Summer 1995 (Ute Aurand, 2020)

26. One Sea, 10 Seas (Nour Ouayda, 2019)

27. A Century of Energy (Manoel de Oliveira, 2015)

28. Trees of Syntax, Leaves of Axis (Daïchi Saïto, 2009)

29. still/here (Christopher Harris, 2001)

30. Time and Tide (Peter Hutton, 2000)

31. The Dragon Is the Frame (Mary Helena Clark, 2014)

32. The Extravagant Shadows (David Gatten, 2012)

33. When It Was Blue (Jennifer Reeves, 2008)

34. *Corpus Callosum (Michael Snow, 2002)

35. In Comparison (Harun Farocki, 2009)

36. In Order Not To Be Here (Deborah Stratman, 2002)

37. The Lanthanide Series (Erin Espelie, 2014)

38. St Ignatius Church Exposure: Lenten Light Conversions (Lynn Marie Kirby, 2004)

39. Polycephaly in D (Michael Robinson, 2021)

40. Listening to the Space in My Room (Robert Beavers, 2013)

41. Ears, Nose and Throat (Kevin Jerome Everson, 2016)

42. We Began By Measuring Distance (Basma Alsharif, 2009)

43. As Without So Within (Manuela de Laborde, 2016)

44. Turbulent Blue (Luther Price, 2006)

45. Carroll Gardens (Ernie Gehr, 2024)

46. EVENTIDE (Sharon Lockhart, 2022)

47. The Two Sights (Joshua Bonnetta, 2020)

48. Burning (Barbara Sternberg, 2002)

49. Mechanisms Common to Disparate Phenomena #59 (Joost Rekveld, 2023)

50. PROTOTYPE (Blake Williams, 2017)

51. My Tears Are Dry (Laida Lertxundi, 2009)

52. Observando El Cielo (Jeanne Liotta, 2007)

53. A Study in Natural Magic (Charlotte Pryce, 2013)

54. Camera (David Cronenberg, 2000)

55. Bouquets 11-20 (Rose Lowder, 2009)

56. Light Is Waiting (Michael Robinson, 2007)

57. Seasons… (Phil Solomon and Stan Brakhage, 2002)

58. Streetscapes [Dialogue] (Heinz Emigholz, 2017)

59. Train Again (Peter Tscherkassky, 2021)

60. Words of Mercury (Jerome Hiler, 2011)

61. The Scenic Route (Ken Jacobs, 2008)

62. Luna e Santur (Joshua Gen Solondz, 2016)

63. Rehearsals for Retirement (Phil Solomon, 2007)

64. Orpheus (Outtakes) (Mary Helena Clark, 2012)

65. Glider (Ernie Gehr, 2001)

66. ALLENSWORTH (James Benning, 2022)

67. Ashes by Name is Man (Ewelina Rosinska, 2023)

68. Saudade (Jean-Claude Rousseau)

69. Toccata (Hannes Schüpbach, 2002)

70. Adrift Potentials (Leonardo Pirondi, 2024)

71. Threnody (Nathaniel Dorsky, 2004)

72. The Taking of Jordan (All American Boy) (Kalil Haddad, 2022)

73. Poem of E.L. (Maya Gurantz, 2022)

74. Maat Means Land (Fox Maxy, 2020)

75. () (Morgan Fisher, 2003)