# 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. |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| Tłum (The Crowd) | Walerian Borowczyk | | Poland | |
| 1951 |||||
| Divertissement Rococo | Hy Hirsh | | United States | Abstract animation |
| Ensemble for Somnambulists | Maya Deren | | Canada | |
| Images pour Debussy | Jean Mitry | | France | Visualization of music, semi-abstract water film. |
| Le film est déja commence? | Maurice Lemaître | | France | Lettrist film |
| Le mort du cerf | Dimitri Kirsanoff | | France | |
| A Treatise on Venom and Eternity | Isidore Isou | Isidore Isou | France | Lettrist film |
| 1952 |||||
| L'anti-concept | Gil J. Wolman | | France | Lettrist film |
| Approaches and Leavetakings | Weldon Kees, Jurgen Ruesch | | United States | |
| 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. |
| Form Phases I | Robert Breer | | United States | Color, silent abstract animation. |
| Hand-Mouth Coordination | Weldon Kees, Gregory Bateson | | United States | |
| Hotel Apex | Weldon Kees | | United States | Study of the demolition of an old hotel |
| Hurlements en faveur de Sade | Guy Debord | | France | Lettrist film |
| Interim | Stan Brakhage | | United States | Brakhage's first film, scored by James Tenney |
| 1953 |||||
| The Boy and the Sea | Stan Brakhage | | United States | Silent, listed by Camper as "not available" |
| Color Cry | Len Lye | | United States | Color, Drawn-on-film animation, music by Sonny Terry |
| Come Closer | Hy Hirsh | | United States | Color, abstract animation in 3-D |
| Eaux d'Artifice | Kenneth Anger | Carmilla Salvatorelli | Italy | Color, added to the National Film Registry in 1993 |
| The End | Christopher Maclaine | | United States | Early Beat generation film |
| Eneri | Hy Hirsh | | United States | Abstract animation, color. |
| Form Phases II | Robert Breer | | United States | Color, silent abstract animation. |
| Mandala | Jordan Belson | | United States | Abstract animation, color |
| 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" |
| 1954 |||||
| Desistfilm | Stan Brakhage | | United States | |
| The Extraordinary Child | Stan Brakhage | | United States | Listed by Camper as "not available" |
| Form Phases IV | Robert Breer | | United States | Color, silent abstract animation. |
| Gyromorphosis | Hy Hirsh | | Netherlands | Abstract animation |
| Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome | Kenneth Anger | Samson de Brier, Anaïs Nin | United States | Color, edited into at least three distinct versions |
| Un Miracle | Robert Breer, Pontus Hultén | | United States | Color, collage animation. |
| The Way to Shadow Garden | Stan Brakhage | | United States | |
| 1955 |||||
| Atelier de Fernand Léger | Walerian Borowczyk | | Poland | Filmed at Fernand Léger's studio in Paris |
| Aviary | Joseph Cornell | | United States | Silent |
| The Bridge | William Heick | Weldon Kees | United States | Poetic study, based on Hart Crane |
| Closed Vision | Marc'O. | | France | Lettrist film |
| Dementia, aka Daughter of Horror | John Parker | Adrienne Barrett, Bruno VeSota | United States | Essentially silent psychological horror film, music by George Antheil |
| 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 |
| In Between | Stan Brakhage | | United States | Color, music by John Cage |
| Jesień (Autumn) | Walerian Borowczyk | | Poland | Animation |
| Joanne, Union Square | Joseph Cornell | | United States | Silent |
| Joanne, Xmas | Joseph Cornell | | United States | Silent |
| Mosaik im Vertrauen (Mosaic in Confidence) | Peter Kubelka | | Austria | Written by Ferry Radax |
| A Portrait of Ga | Margaret Tait | | United Kingdom | |
| Orchard Street | Ken Jacobs | | United States | Color, silent |
| Reflections | Madeline Tourtelot | | United States | Color, two distinct versions |
| Reflections on Black | Stan Brakhage | | United States | |
| Sunday in Peking | Chris Marker | | France | |
| Untitled film of Geoffrey Holder’s Wedding | Stan Brakhage, Larry Jordan | | United States | |
| The Very Eye of Night | Maya Deren | | United States | Dance film, choreographed by Antony Tudor |
| The Wonder Ring | Stan Brakhage | | United States | Color, silent |
| Żywe fotografie (Photographies Vivantes) | Walerian Borowczyk | | Poland | Animation |
| 1956 |||||
| Centuries of June | Stan Brakhage, Joseph Cornell | | United States | Color, silent |
| Flesh of Morning | Stan Brakhage | | United States | Revised in 1986 |
| Little Cobra Dance | Ken Jacobs | Jack Smith | United States | |
| Nightcats | Stan Brakhage | | United States | Color, silent |
| Recreation | Robert Breer | Noël Burch | United States | Color, semi-abstract animation with narration. |
| Saturday Afternoon Blood Sacrifice | Ken Jacobs | Jack Smith | United States | |
| Together | Lorenza Mazzetti, Denis Horne | Eduardo Paolozzi, Michael Andrews | United Kingdom | Experimental semi-documentary |
| Zone Moment | Stan Brakhage | | United States | Color, silent |
| 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 |
| Adebar | Peter Kubelka | | Austria | Early structural — or in Kubelka's terms, "metric" — film |
| Adventures of * | John Hubley, Faith Hubley | | United States | Color, music score by Benny Carter. Semi-abstract animation. |
| Angel | Joseph Cornell | | United States | Color |
| Był sobie raz (Once Upon a Time) | Jan Lenica, Walerian Borowczyk | | Poland | Cut-out animation |
| Boy's Games | Joseph Cornell | | United States | Silent |
| Cappuccino | Joseph Cornell | | United States | |
| Children | Joseph Cornell | | United States | Silent |
| Cloche a Travers les Feuilles/Claude Debussy | Joseph Cornell | | United States | Revised version of Nymphlight |
| Daybreak and Whiteye | Stan Brakhage | | United States | |
| Dni Oświaty (Education Days) | Jan Lenica, Walerian Borowczyk | | Poland | Animation |
| A Fable for Fountains | Joseph Cornell, Rudolph Buckhardt | | United States | Begun in 1955; revised as "A Legend for Fountains" in 1965 |
| Glimpse of the Garden | Marie Menken | | United States | Selected for addition to the National Film Registry in 2007 |
| Nagrodzone uczucia (Requited Sentiments) | Jan Lenica, Walerian Borowczyk | | Poland | Animation |
| Jamestown Baloos | Robert Breer | | United States | Color, semi-abstract combination of animation and live action. |
| Loving | Stan Brakhage | Carolee Schneemann, James Tenney | United States | Color, silent |
| Strep-tease (Striptease) | Jan Lenica, Walerian Borowczyk | | Poland | Animation |
| 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. |
| The Man Who Invented Gold | Christopher Maclaine | | United States | Partly filmed by Jordan Belson |
| Nymphlight | Joseph Cornell | | United States | Color |
| 1958 |||||
| Anticipation of the Night | Stan Brakhage | | United States | |
| Beat | Christopher Maclaine | | United States | |
| Broadway by Light | William Klein | | France, United States | |
| Défense d'afficher | Hy Hirsh | | France | Color |
| Dom (House) | Jan Lenica, Walerian Borowczyk | | Poland | Animation; Winner of 1958 Belgium International Experimental Film Competition |
| 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 |
| A Movie | Bruce Conner | | United States | Iconic collage film. |
| Schwechater | Peter Kubelka | | Austria | "Metric" beer commercial |
| Szkoła (School) | Jan Lenica, Walerian Borowczyk | | Poland | Animated photographs |
| Spatiodynamisme | Tinto Brass, Nicolas Schöffer | | France | Color, silent. A visual document of Schöffer's CYSP-1, the first cybernetic sculpture. |
| Sztandar młodych (Banner of Youth) | Jan Lenica, Walerian Borowczyk | | Poland | Animation |
| The Very Eye of Night | Maya Deren | | United States | |
| 1959 |||||
| Les astronautes | Walerian Borowczyk, Chris Marker | | France | Animated |
| Chasse des Touches | Hy Hirsh | | France | Abstract animation |
| Cat's Cradle | Stan Brakhage | | United States | Color, silent |
| 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. |
| Hiroshima mon amour | Alain Resnais | Eiji Okada, Emmanuelle Riva | France | Written by Marguerite Duras |
| Monsieur Tête | Jan Lenica | | France | Animation |
| 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 |
| The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film | Richard Lester | | United Kingdom | |
| Scotch Hop | Christopher Maclaine | | United States | |
| Season of Strangers | Maya Deren | | United States | Unfinished; made as part of Haiku Film Project at Woodstock |
| Shadows | John Cassavetes | Ben Carruthers, Lelia Goldoni, Hugh Hurd | United States | |
| Sirius Remembered | Stan Brakhage | | United States | Color, silent |
| Wedlock House: An Intercourse | Stan Brakhage | | United States | Silent |
| Window Water Baby Moving | Stan Brakhage | | United States | Color, silent |