This is a list of avant-garde and experimental films released in the 2020s.
Title | Director | Cast | Country | Notes | Ref. | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2020 | ||||||
KRABI, 2562 | Ben Rivers, Anocha Suwichakornpong | UK | ||||
Look Then Bellow | Ben Rivers | UK | ||||
Friend of the World | Brian Patrick Butler | Nick Young, Alexandra Slade, Michael C. Burgess, Kathryn Schott, Kevin Smith, Luke Pensabene, Neil Raymond Ricco | US | [1] | ||
A Metamorfose dos Pássaros | Catarina Vasconcelos | Portugal | [2] | |||
Movie That Invites Pausing | Ken Jacobs | US | [3] | |||
Red Moon Tide | Lois Patiño | Spain | [4] | |||
The Whole Shebang | Ken Jacobs | US | [5] | |||
The Eyes of Summer | Rajee Samarasinghe | Shalani Dilasha, Malka Malshani, Lanka Rajapaksa | Sri Lanka / USA | [6] | ||
2021 | ||||||
2020 | Friedl vom Grölle | Austria | [7] | |||
An Approximation of their Barbarous Manners | Christian Serritiello | Italy | ||||
Citadel | John Smith | United Kingdom | [8] | |||
Devil's Peak | Simon Lu | Hong Kong | ||||
Double Wow | Ken Jacobs | US | [9] | |||
earthearthearth | Daïchi Saïto | Canada/Japan | [10] | |||
Ember Days | Nathaniel Dorsky | US | [11] | |||
Emergence Collapse | Rainer Kohlberger | Austria | ||||
Er is een geest van mij / Hay un fantasma mío | Mateo Vega | Netherlands/Peru | [12] | |||
Fictions | Manuela de Laborde | Mexico | ||||
Flowers blooming in our throats | Eva Giolo | Italy | [13] | |||
Four Roads | Alice Rohrwacher | Italy | ||||
Hold Me Tight | Mélanie Robert-Tourneur | Belgium/France | ||||
Inner Outer Space | Laida Lertxundi | Spain | [14] | |||
Just Beyond the Trees | Connor Murphy | [15] | ||||
Light Cemetery | Jonah Mills | US | ||||
Light Trap | Pablo Marín | Argentina | ||||
Light Years | Jonah Mills | US | ||||
Mad God | Phil Tippett | US | [16] | |||
Manifestarsi | Gianmarco Donaggio | Italy | [17] | |||
Merapi | Malena Szlam | Chile | ||||
Milano di Carta | Gianmarco Donaggio | Italy | [18] | |||
Parenthesis | Vasilios Papaioannu | Greece/Italy/US | ||||
Petrov's Flu | Kirill Serebrennikov | Ivan Dorn, Chulpan Khamatova | Russia | [19] | ||
Phosphenes | Andre de Nervaux | UK | ||||
Polycephaly in D | Michael Robinson | Trisha Paytas | US | |||
Quarantine | Diana Ringo | Anatoly Bely, Aleksandr Obmanov | Finland, Russia | [20] [21] | ||
R and J | Carey Williams | David Zayas, María Gabriela de Faría | US | [22] | ||
Rock Bottom Riser | Fern Silva | US | [23] | |||
School Radio to Major Tom | Chisaka Takuya | Japan | ||||
SON CHANT | Vivian Ostrovsky | Chantal Akerman, Sonia Wieder-Atherton | US | |||
Spencer | Pablo Larrain | Kirsten Stewart, Timothy Spall, Jack Farthing | US, UK | [24] | ||
Terce | Nathaniel Dorsky | US | ||||
Time Flows in Strange Ways on Sundays | Giselle Lin | Peter Yu, Wendy Toh, Iris Li | Singapore | |||
Titane | Julia Ducournau | Vincent Lindon, Agathe Rousselle | France | [25] | ||
Tonalli | Los Ingrávidos | Mexico | ||||
Train Again | Peter Tscherkassky | Austria | ||||
Transparents, I am. | Yuri Muraoka | Yuri Muraoka, Nonoho Suzuki, Hana Suzuki | Japan | |||
Vortex | Gaspar Noé | Dario Argento, Françoise Lebrun, Alex Lutz | France/Belgium/Morocco | [26] | ||
Water from The Tremulous Stream | Javiera Cisterna | Chile | ||||
What is it that you said? | Shun Ikezoe | Eric Saito | Japan | |||
When Light is Displaced | Zaina Bseiso | Alaa Bseiso | Palestine | |||
Worlds | Isaac Goes | Canada/US | ||||
Show me Other Places | Rajee Samarasinghe | Sri Lanka / USA | [27] | |||
2022 | ||||||
Agnès Varda - Pier Paolo Pasolini - New York - 1967 | Agnès Varda | Agnès Varda, Pier Paolo Pasolini | France | |||
THE HOUSE WAS QUIET | Ben Rivers | UK | ||||
Attic Windows of the Infinite | Sapphire Rachael Goss | United Kingdom/Italy | [28] | |||
Azul no Azul | Gianmarco Donaggio | Portugal | [29] | |||
Buster Keaton Embossed | Ken Jacobs | US | ||||
After Work | Ben Rivers, Céline Condorelli | UK | ||||
Counterfeit Poasts | Jon Rafman | Canada | ||||
Crimes of the Future | David Cronenberg | Viggo Mortensen, Kirsten Stewart | US | |||
The Demands of Ordinary Devotion | Eva Giolo | Italy/Belgium | [30] | |||
Epistolary Kisses | Itamar A.C. | |||||
Fairytale | Alexander Sokurov | Russia | ||||
Fata Morgana | Tacita Dean | US | [31] | |||
Festina Lente | Baya Medhaffar | Tunisia/France | ||||
Herbaria | Leandro Listorti | Germany/Argentina | ||||
Interval | Nathaniel Dorsky | US | ||||
Lake Forest Park | Kersti Jan Werdal | US | ||||
Light Oneiric | Maren Pan, Sy Brand | United Kingdom | ||||
Lights, Like Angels, Flying | Joshua Peinado | Rodny Aquino | US | |||
Morvan | Scott Hammen | US | [32] | |||
A Moth Orchid Flies at Night | Maren Pan, Sy Brand | United Kingdom | ||||
Naos | Nathaniel Dorsky | US | ||||
Pigment-Dispersion Syndrome | Jennifer Reeves | US | ||||
Sea Series 23 | John Price | Canada | [33] | |||
Softly, the current may bend our bodies | Maren Pan, Sy Brand | United Kingdom/Italy | ||||
The song nobody knows | Rainer Kohlberger | Austria | ||||
The Sparrow Dream | Robert Beavers | Ute Aurand | Germany/USA | [34] | ||
Tchaikovsky's Wife | Kirill Serebrennikov | Alyona Mikhaylova, Odin Biron | Russia | |||
The Tomb of Kafka | Jean-Claude Rousseau | Jean-Claude Rousseau | France | [35] | ||
ULTRADREAM | Guillaume Vallée | Canada | ||||
Umbra | Daniela Muñoz Barroso | Cuba | [36] | |||
Welcome | Jean-Claude Rousseau | France | [37] | |||
XCXHXEXRXRXIXEXSX | Ken Jacobs | US | ||||
Xilma-xil | Itamar A.C. | |||||
W | Anna Eriksson | Anna Eriksson, Parco Lee | Finland | |||
Mangosteen | Tulapop Saenjaroen | Thailand | [38] | |||
Visão do Paraíso | Leonardo Pirondi | David OReilly, Douglas Goodwin, Jackson Fletcher, Dan Dixon | Brazil / USA / UK | [39] | ||
Strangers | Rajee Samarasinghe | Sri Lanka / USA | [40] | |||
Bold Eagle | Whammy Alcazaren | Philippines | [41] | |||
2023 | ||||||
1984 | Diana Ringo | Finland, Russia | ||||
Lotus-Eyed Girl | Rajee Samarasinghe | Sri Lanka / United States | [42] | |||
Coral | Sonia Oleniak | USA / Poland | [43] | |||
Dildotectonica | Tomás Paula Marques | Portugal | [43] | |||
and so it came about (A Tale of Consequential Dormancy) | Charlotte Pryce | USA | [43] | |||
Nocturne for a Forest | Catarina Vasconcelos | Portugal | [43] | |||
The Rays of a Storm | Julio Hernández Cordón | Mexico | [43] | |||
Borrowing a Family Album | Tamer El Said | Egypt | [44] | |||
Distortion | Frederick C.G. Borromeo | Philippines | [45] | |||
In Visible Light | Gianmarco Donaggio | Norway/Italy | Performative Film | [46] | ||
In Praise of Slowness | Hicham Gardaf | Khalid Mousmi, Abdellah Ben Messaoud, Fatima Benabbou | United Kingdom / Italy | [47] | ||
Myanmar Anatomy | Prapat Jiwarangsan | United Arab Emirates / Thailand | Installation Film | [48] | ||
yours, | Eva Giolo, Rebecca Jane Arthur, Katja Mater, Sirah Foighel Brutmann, Eitan Efrat, Maaike Neuville | Belgium | [49] | |||
Death Mask | John Greyson | Kong Kie Njo, Spencer Britten, Jera Wolfe | Canada | [50] | ||
Giant's Kettle | Markku Hakala, Mari Käki | Finland | ||||
Ijen, London | Ben Rivers | UK | ||||
When We Encounter The World | Leonardo Pirondi & Zazie Ray-Trapido | Portugal / USA | [51] | |||
Shrooms | Jorge Jácome | Portugal | [52] | |||
Last Things | Deborah Stratman | Valérie Massadian, Marcia Bjørnerud | France / USA / Portugal | [53] | ||
Laika | Deborah Stratman | USA | [54] | |||
The Wool Aliens | Julia Parks | UK | ||||
Holographic Will | Mike Stoltz | USA | ||||
Light, Noise, Smoke, and Light, Noise, Smoke | Nishikawa Tomonari | Japan | ||||
Dau:añcut (Moving Along Image) | Adam Piron | Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma | ||||
Nearest Neighbor | Rebecca Baron, Douglas Goodwin | USA | [55] [56] | |||
The Zone of Interest | Jonathan Glazer | Christian Friedel, Sandra Hüller | UK | [57] [58] | ||
Sermon to the Birds | Hilal Baydarov | Huseyn Nasirov, Rana Asgarova, Orkhan Iskandarli | Azerbaijan | [59] | ||
2024 | ||||||
Potenciais à Deriva | Leonardo Pirondi | Brazil / USA | [60] | |||
Pepe | Nelson Carlo De Los Santos Arias | Jhon Narváez, Sor María Ríos, Fareed Matjila, Harmony Ahalwa, Jorge Puntillón García | Dominican Republic / Namibia / Germany / France | [61] | ||
Direct Action | Guillaume Cailleau, Ben Russell | Germany / France | [62] | |||
Materia vibrante | Pablo Marín | Argentina | ||||
Barrunto | Emilia Beatriz | Shanti Lalita, Harry Josephine Giles, Alicia Matthews, Ángela Ginorio | United Kingdom / Puerto Rico | [63] | ||
Nanacatepec | Elena Pardo, Azucena Losana | Mexico / Spain | Performative Film | [64] | ||
Remote Occlusions | Utkarsh | India / USA | [65] | |||
Quebrante | Janaina Wagner | Brazil | [66] | |||
Sarcophagus of Drunken Loves | Joana Hadjithomas & Khalil Joreige | France / Lebanon | [67] | |||
I Would Rather Be a Stone | Ana Hušman | Croatia | ||||
O Seeker | Gavati Wad | with Varun Sahni | USA / India | [68] | |||
Um tropeço em cinco movimentos | Valentina Rosset | Brazil | ||||
Eno | Gary Hustwit | UK / USA | [69] | |||
Being (the Digital Griot) | Rashaad Newsome | USA | AI - Film | [70] | ||
Detours while speaking of monsters | Deniz Şimşek | Germany / Turkey | [71] | |||
Grandmamauntsistercat | Zuza Banasińska | Netherlands / Poland | [72] | |||
The Instability of Clouds | Zazie Ray-Trapido | USA | [73] | |||
Terminal Island | Sam Drake | USA | [74] | |||
History Is Written at Night | Alejandro Alonso Estrella | Teresita Estrella Careaga | Cuba / France | [75] | ||
Crazy Lotus | Naween Noppakun | Surat Kaewseekram, Phemsinee Sawangkla, Gorrawiya Aphipobthitikorn, Thongchai Pimapunsri | Thailand | [76] | ||
Digital Devil Saga | Cameron Worden | USA | [77] | |||
Break no.1 & Break no.2. | Lei Lei | China | [78] | |||
My Want of You Partakes of Me | Beny Wagner & Sasha Litvintseva | UK/Netherlands | [79] | |||
Single File | Simon Liu | Italy/USA/UK/Hong Kong | [79] | |||
Invisible People | Alisa Berger | France / Germany | [80] | |||
Appearances | Nicolás Onischuk | Argentina | [81] |
Tsai Ming-liang is a Malaysian filmmaker based in Taiwan. Tsai has written and directed 11 feature films, many short films, and television films. He is one of the most celebrated "Second New Wave" film directors of Taiwanese cinema. His films have been acclaimed worldwide and have won numerous awards at festivals. In 1994, Tsai won the Golden Lion at the 51st Venice International Film Festival for the film Vive L'Amour.
Binger Filmlab, formerly the Maurits Binger Film Institute, is an Amsterdam-based international feature-film and documentary development centre where screenwriters, directors, producers and script editors from around the world can be coached and supported by mentors and advisors.
Jim Finn is the writer/director of what have been called "Utopian comedies." His Communist trilogy of short features is the permanent collection of the MoMA. The first Interkosmos is about an East German space colonization mission. The second feature La Trinchera Luminosa del Presidente Gonzalo is about a day in the life of a Shining Path women's prison cellblock. The third film in the trilogy The Juche Idea is about an artist residency in North Korea. He has been making short films and videos since 1999. His work is available through VDB, Ovid TV, and DA Films.
Adastra Films is a film production and distribution company based in Cannes, France. It was founded in March 2008 by Sébastien Aubert and David Guiraud. It produces movies by French and international directors.
The Champs-Élysées Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Paris, France. The festival consists of French and American feature-length films and short films. There are competitive films that may be eligible for several awards, and a group of out-of-competition selections like retrospectives and avant-premieres. Two film industry-targeted events are hosted alongside the Festival: the US in Progress Paris program and the Paris Coproduction Village, the latter co-organized with Les Arcs European Film Festival. Around 25,000 spectators and professionals attend the festival each year, and 60,000 people attended the free-of-charge, digital 2020 screenings.
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Dominga Sotomayor Castillo is a Chilean filmmaker.
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Rajee Samarasinghe is a Sri Lankan filmmaker and visual artist. His work explores a wide array of topics including the Sri Lankan Civil War, his family, and the deconstruction of documentary and narrative film.
Sadaf Asgari is an Iranian actress. She is best known for her acting in Disappearance (2017), Yalda, a Night for Forgiveness (2019) and Squad of Girls (2022). She won the Short Film Special Jury Award for Acting at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival for her performance in Exam (2019).
Carlos M. Quintela is a Cuban filmmaker and screenwriter.
The Project of the Century is a 2015 film directed by Carlos M. Quintela. The director's second feature film, it was screened at a number of international festivals, such as the Havana Film Festival, the Miami International Film Festival, and the International Film Festival Rotterdam, where it won the prestigious Tiger Award.
Warsha is a 2022 French-Lebanese short film directed by Dania Bdeir. The fifteen-minute short stars multidisciplinary performer Khansa, who plays a migrant worker and crane operator in Beirut. After its premiere at Sundance Film Festival, where it won the award for Best Short Film, the film has been presented in numerous international film festivals, including the Clermont-Ferrand Film Festival and the Seminci Valladolid Film Festival, where it won the Rainbow for Best Film. The short advanced to the shortlist for the 95th Academy Awards under the category of Best Live Action Short Film, but did not qualify to the final five. The short also competed in the 48th César Awards.
Beny Wagner is an artist, filmmaker and author. He is known for his films Constant and A Demonstration.
Gianmarco Donaggio is an Italian experimental film director and cinematographer.
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Leonardo Pirondi is a Brazilian film director from São Paulo. Pirondi's work explores the intersection between fiction and non-fiction filmmaking using non-conventional structures of documentary, experimental, and narrative modes. In his films he explores contemporary sociopolitical issues and collective anxieties as a lens to look into history, imagination, myth, and technology.
Emmanuel-Alain Raynal is a French animation producer, author and gallery owner. He is mostly known for producing the Palme d'Or-winning short film 27 (2023), the feature film Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman (2022), winner of the Grand Prix at Anima Brussels, and the feature film Chicken for Linda! (2023), winner of the Cristal Award at the 2023 Annecy International Animation Film Festival.
Bigyna Dahal is a sound designer and location sound recordist from Sikkim, India who has worked on several Indian films. His films have been screened and won awards at several international film festivals including Busan International Film Festival, Pingyao International Film Festival in China,MAMI Mumbai Film Festival. He has also won best sound design awards at many festivals including Filmfare Award for Best Sound – Marathi and Filmfare OTT Awards.