List of avant-garde films of the 1950s

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][failed verification]
Tłum (The Crowd)	Walerian Borowczyk		Poland	[4][failed verification]
1951
Divertissement Rococo	Hy Hirsh		United States	Abstract animation[5]
Ensemble for Somnambulists	Maya Deren		Canada	[6]
Images pour Debussy	Jean Mitry		France	Visualization of music, semi-abstract water film.[7]
Le film est déja commence?	Maurice Lemaître		France	Lettrist film[8]
Le mort du cerf	Dimitri Kirsanoff		France
A Treatise on Venom and Eternity	Isidore Isou	Isidore Isou	France	Lettrist film[8]
1952
L'anti-concept	Gil J. Wolman		France	Lettrist film[8]
Approaches and Leavetakings	Weldon Kees, Jurgen Ruesch		United States	[1]
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.[9]
Form Phases I	Robert Breer		United States	Color, silent abstract animation.[10]
Hand-Mouth Coordination	Weldon Kees, Gregory Bateson		United States	[1]
Hotel Apex	Weldon Kees		United States	Study of the demolition of an old hotel[1]
Hurlements en faveur de Sade	Guy Debord		France	Lettrist film
Interim	Stan Brakhage		United States	Brakhage's first film, scored by James Tenney[11]
1953
The Boy and the Sea	Stan Brakhage		United States	Silent, listed by Camper as "not available"[11]
Color Cry	Len Lye		United States	Color, Drawn-on-film animation, music by Sonny Terry[12]
Come Closer	Hy Hirsh		United States	Color, abstract animation in 3-D[5]
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.[5]
Form Phases II	Robert Breer		United States	Color, silent abstract animation.[10]
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"[11]
1954
Desistfilm	Stan Brakhage		United States	[11]
The Extraordinary Child	Stan Brakhage		United States	Listed by Camper as "not available"[11]
Form Phases IV	Robert Breer		United States	Color, silent abstract animation.[10]
Gyromorphosis	Hy Hirsh		Netherlands	Abstract animation[5]
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.[10]
The Way to Shadow Garden	Stan Brakhage		United States	[11]
1955
Atelier de Fernand Léger	Walerian Borowczyk		Poland	Filmed at Fernand Léger's studio in Paris[4]
Aviary	Joseph Cornell		United States	Silent[17]
The Bridge	William Heick	Weldon Kees	United States	Poetic study, based on Hart Crane[1]
Closed Vision	Marc'O.		France	Lettrist film[8]
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[11]
Jesień (Autumn)	Walerian Borowczyk		Poland	Animation[4]
Joanne, Union Square	Joseph Cornell		United States	Silent[17]
Joanne, Xmas	Joseph Cornell		United States	Silent[17]
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	[11]
Sunday in Peking	Chris Marker		France
Untitled film of Geoffrey Holder’s Wedding	Stan Brakhage, Larry Jordan		United States	[11]
The Very Eye of Night	Maya Deren		United States	Dance film, choreographed by Antony Tudor[19]
The Wonder Ring	Stan Brakhage		United States	Color, silent[11]
Żywe fotografie (Photographies Vivantes)	Walerian Borowczyk		Poland	Animation[4]
1956
Centuries of June	Stan Brakhage, Joseph Cornell		United States	Color, silent[11]
Flesh of Morning	Stan Brakhage		United States	Revised in 1986[11]
Little Cobra Dance	Ken Jacobs	Jack Smith	United States
Nightcats	Stan Brakhage		United States	Color, silent[11]
Recreation	Robert Breer	Noël Burch	United States	Color, semi-abstract animation with narration.[10]
Saturday Afternoon Blood Sacrifice	Ken Jacobs	Jack Smith	United States
Together	Lorenza Mazzetti, Denis Horne	Eduardo Paolozzi, Michael Andrews	United Kingdom	Experimental semi-documentary[23]
Zone Moment	Stan Brakhage		United States	Color, silent[11]
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[17]
Był sobie raz (Once Upon a Time)	Jan Lenica, Walerian Borowczyk		Poland	Cut-out animation[30]
Boy's Games	Joseph Cornell		United States	Silent[17]
Cappuccino	Joseph Cornell		United States	[17]
Children	Joseph Cornell		United States	Silent[17]
Cloche a Travers les Feuilles/Claude Debussy	Joseph Cornell		United States	Revised version of Nymphlight[17]
Daybreak and Whiteye	Stan Brakhage		United States	[11]
Dni Oświaty (Education Days)	Jan Lenica, Walerian Borowczyk		Poland	Animation[4]
A Fable for Fountains	Joseph Cornell, Rudolph Buckhardt		United States	Begun in 1955; revised as "A Legend for Fountains" in 1965[17]
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[30]
Jamestown Baloos	Robert Breer		United States	Color, semi-abstract combination of animation and live action.[10]
Loving	Stan Brakhage	Carolee Schneemann, James Tenney	United States	Color, silent[11]
Strep-tease (Striptease)	Jan Lenica, Walerian Borowczyk		Poland	Animation[30]
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.[10]
The Man Who Invented Gold	Christopher Maclaine		United States	Partly filmed by Jordan Belson[32]
Nymphlight	Joseph Cornell		United States	Color[17]
1958
Anticipation of the Night	Stan Brakhage		United States	[33]
Beat	Christopher Maclaine		United States	[32]
Broadway by Light	William Klein		France, United States
Défense d'afficher	Hy Hirsh		France	Color[5]
Dom (House)	Jan Lenica, Walerian Borowczyk		Poland	Animation; Winner of 1958 Belgium International Experimental Film Competition[30]
Free Radicals	Len Lye		United Kingdom
Une histoire d'eau	Jean-Luc Godard, François Truffaut	Caroline Dim, Jean-Claude Brialy	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[4]
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[30]
The Very Eye of Night	Maya Deren		United States
1959
Les astronautes	Walerian Borowczyk, Chris Marker		France	Animated[4]
Chasse des Touches	Hy Hirsh		France	Abstract animation[5]
Cat's Cradle	Stan Brakhage		United States	Color, silent[11]
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.[10]
Hiroshima mon amour	Alain Resnais	Eiji Okada, Emmanuelle Riva	France	Written by Marguerite Duras
Monsieur Tête	Jan Lenica		France	Animation[30]
Odds and Ends	Jane Conger Shimane Belson		United States
Pull My Daisy	Robert Frank, Alfred Leslie	Allen Ginsberg, Gregory Corso	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	[32]
Season of Strangers	Maya Deren		United States	Unfinished; made as part of Haiku Film Project at Woodstock[19]
Shadows	John Cassavetes	Ben Carruthers, Lelia Goldoni, Hugh Hurd	United States
Sirius Remembered	Stan Brakhage		United States	Color, silent[11]
Wedlock House: An Intercourse	Stan Brakhage		United States	Silent[11]
Window Water Baby Moving	Stan Brakhage		United States	Color, silent[11]