With the advent of 16mm equipment came the birth of film as personal artistic expression, and Maya Deren led the revolution. The woman who was "her own avant-garde movement," had what can only be described as an eclectic set of interests. She immersed herself in political science, journalism, English

Avant-garde film, Death, Feminine, Feminist, Primal, Spare, Surreal

"Felliniesque" -- even if you have never watched a scrap of his film, this adjective summons up a world of oddity, magnificence, and pathos that testifies to Federico Fellini's creative genius. Initially part of the Italian Neorealist wave, he soon veered towards an idiosyncratic style all his own. F

Dark, Epic, Perverse, Polychromatic, Post-war italian film, Surreal

As a filmmaker, Peter Greenaway funnels influences from many art forms onto the screen. Primary among these influences is painting -- his cinematic eye is informed by a training in art history and a painterly sense of color, composition, and frame. Greenaway learned to work in the medium of film thro

Avant-garde film, Erotic, Ethereal, Implosive, Layered, Surreal

His artistic avocations were many -- poet, novelist, painter, playwright, set designer, actor -- but Jean Cocteau's work as a filmmaker distilled his creative vision with a special lucidity. In film he could bring his Surrealist language and imagery together, making the dreamlike palpable and present

Existentialist literature, Horror, Surreal, Surrealist film, Surrealist literature, Surrealist photography, Trippy