Experimental Cinema is a very loose term; it can mean any work which has dared to experiment with the art form!
Experimenting in the medium might mean many different things depending on what the precise experiment is referring to. In some regards even the medium itself is kind of an experiment which birthed an art form which became a multidisciplinary art form, that combines many different mediums like theatre, fine arts, painting and photography. Yet it is difficult to be an independent medium after having too many disciplines intertwined with it yet cinema through its century long history has done exactly that. It is imperative first to define what experimental cinema means in the realms of the medium, experimental cinema means a work that aims to break the chain of what is accepted as the norm or is the standard operating procedure in terms of the art form or what is popular among the masses. Experimental would mean those works that have been daring enough to use the cinematic language to elicit a meaning that is new or a perspective that doesn’t generally depend on how the audience is going to perceive their work.
Generally experiments have been happening in the art form right from the Silent era, sound brought in a whole new dimension and possibilities to the medium. After which experimentation in the medium has become more innovative the boundaries and limitations aren’t only Visual. This list contains works from all era of cinema, right from the inception of it being silent cinema and right upto the 21st century, artists from across the globe have made some huge advancement in the medium by experimenting with content and form. Many works on this list can be found easily and should be treated as texts that will help you understand the depth and complexity of experimental cinema.
A work of extreme sensitivity and emotion, is a monumental work of art by one the most well-known names associated with experimental cinema Stan Brakhage. This is an intimate look into childbirth and the process of mortality itself.
Made by a great French artist and provocateur Alain Resnais, this work challenges the very notion of time, narrative space and progression, the work was so exemplary that it was awarded the Golden Lion at the Venice International Film Festival.
