# List of avant-garde films of the 1930s

A list of avant-garde and experimental films made in the 1930s. Unless where noted, all films had sound and were in black and white.
| Title | Director | Cast | Nation | Notes |
| 1930 |||||
| L'Âge d'Or | Luis Buñuel | Gaston Modot, Lya Lys, Max Ernst | France | Surrealist feature, produced by Charles de Noailles |
| Autour de la fin du monde | Eugène Deslaw | Abel Gance | France | Extraordinary, semi-experimental "making of" documentary shot on set of Abel Gance's "La fin du monde;" silent |
| Apteka (Pharmacy) | Stefan Themerson, Franciszka Themerson | | Poland | Rayographic animation, lost |
| Aimless Walk | Alexandr Hackenschmied (Alexander Hammid) | | Czechoslovakia | City film |
| Borderline | Kenneth Macpherson | Paul Robeson, H.D. | United Kingdom | Pool film; silent |
| A City Symphony | Herman G. Weinberg | | United States | City film, never shown, disassembled and partly used in Autumn Fire |
| Crying for the Carolines | Leon Schlesinger, Neil McGuire | Milton Charles | United States | A "Spooney Melodie;" Semi-abstract music short |
| Earth | Oleksandr Dovzhenko | | Soviet Union | Silent feature; part of the director's Ukraine Trilogy. |
| It's a Bird | Harold Mueller | Charles Bowers, Lowell Thomas | United States | Semi-animated short where an egg transforms into an automobile |
| Ein Lichtspiel: Schwarz/Weiss/Grau | László Moholy-Nagy | | Weimar Republic | |
| Light Rhythms | Francis Brugière, Oswell Blakeston | | United Kingdom | Light-oriented, non-animated abstract film |
| Mechanical Principles | Ralph Steiner | | United States | Abstract film based on machinery; sometimes dated to 1933 |
| Mennschen am Sonntag (People on Sunday) | Curt Siodmak, Robert Siodmak, Edgar G. Ulmer, Fred Zinnemann, Rochus Gliese | Erwin Splettstößer, Brigitte Borchert | Weimar Republic | City film, partly written by Billy Wilder; silent |
| The Power of Suggestion | M.G. MacPherson (director), Jean D. Michelson (editor) | | United States | Artkino production; Lost film |
| À propos de Nice | Jean Vigo | | France | City film |
| Romance Sentimentale | Grigory Alexandrov, Sergei Eisenstein | Mara Griy | France | "Étude cinematographique" |
| The Story of a Nobody | Jo Gerson, Louis Hirshman | | United States | Experiment in subjective camerawork, Lost film |
| Studie(s) Nr. 2-4 | Oskar Fischinger | | Weimar Republic | Abstract animations; Nr. 4 Lost |
| R.5, Ein Spiel in Linien (Studie Nr. 5) | Oskar Fischinger | | Weimar Republic | Abstract animation |
| Studie Nr. 6 | Oskar Fischinger | | Weimar Republic | Abstract animation |
| Such Is Life | Carl Junghans [de] | Vera Baranovskaya, Theodor Pištěk | Czechoslovakia | Czech avant-garde social realist feature; silent |
| Tomatos Another Day | James Sibley Watson Jr. | | United States | Absurdist comedy written by Alec Wilder |
| The Trap | M.G. MacPherson (director), Jean D. Michelson (editor) | | United States | Artkino production, Lost film |
| Wochenende (Weekend) | Walter Ruttmann | | Weimar Republic | Audio-only film collage; no image |
| Yamekraw | Murray Roth | Hugo Marianni & His Mediterraneans | United States | Vitaphone "opera film" visualization of tone poem by James Price Johnson, heavily indebted to German expressionism. |
| 1931 |||||
| Autumn Fire | Herman G. Weinberg | Erna Bergman, Willy Hildebrand | United States | Cinematic poem; mixed nature and city film |
| A Bronx Morning | Jay Leyda | | United States | City film; silent |
| City of Contrasts | Irving Browning | | United States | City film |
| Dance Film | Ralph Steiner | | United States | Dance film |
| A Day in Santa Fe | Lynn Riggs, James Hughes | | United States | City film |
| Douro, Faina Flouval | Manoel de Oliveira | | Portugal | City film |
| Enthusiasm: Symphony of the Donbass | Dziga Vertov | | Soviet Union | Documentary film with montage of both visuals and sound |
| Hearts of the West | Theodore Huff | | United States | Genre parody |
| Imperial Valley | Seymour Stern | | United States | Experimental documentary, sometimes dated to 1932 or 1933; Stern taken off production which was finished by others, Lost film |
| Limite | Mário Peixoto | Olga Breno, Raul Schnoor | Brazil | Advertised as 'pure cinema;' first Brazilian avant-garde film |
| At the Prague Castle | Alexandr Hackenschmied | | Czechoslovakia | Semi-documentary |
| Panther Woman of the Needle Trades, or The Lovely Life of Little Lisa | Ralph Steiner | Elizabeth Hawes, Morris Carnovsky | United States | Satire, print extant at MOMA |
| Portrait of a Young Man in Three Movements | Henwar Rodakiewicz | | United States | Feature length experimental film, begun in 1925 |
| Studie(s) Nr. 7-9 | Oskar Fischinger | | Weimar Republic | Abstract animation |
| Surf and Seaweed | Ralph Steiner | | United States | Photographic abstract film, sometimes dated to 1930. |
| The Light Penetrates the Darkness | Otakar Vávra, František Pilát | | Czechoslovakia | Photographic abstract film |
| Taris, roi de l'eau | Jean Vigo | | France | Documentary about a swimming champion |
| 1932 |||||
| Blood of a Poet | Jean Cocteau | Lee Miller, Pauline Carton, Odette Talazacuez | France | Surrealist feature, produced by Charles de Noailles; often misdated to 1930–31 |
| Burleska | Jan Kučera | | Czechoslovakia | Experimental short; Kučera's only film |
| Destiny | Josef Berne | | United States | Dated "ca. 1932" |
| Europa | Stefan Themerson, Franciszka Themerson | | Poland | Abstract animation, based on the poem by Anatol Stern; lost, but partially reconstructed in 1984 |
| The Fortune Teller | Jerome Hill | | United States | Tinting and hand-coloring added in the 1960s |
| Granite, a.k.a. The Quarry | Ralph Steiner | | United States | |
| Harbor Scenes | Ralph Steiner | | United States | |
| Histoire du soldat inconnu | Henri Storck | | Belgium | |
| L'idée | Berthold Bartosch | | France | Surreal animation; music by Arthur Honegger |
| Koloraturen (Coloratura) | Oskar Fischinger | | Weimar Republic | Abstract animation |
| Kuhle Wampe | Bertolt Brecht, Slatan Dudow | | Weimar Republic | Agitprop film, written by Bertolt Brecht with music by Hanns Eisler. |
| Land of the Sun | Seymour Stern | | United States | Experimental documentary |
| Little Geezer | Theodore Huff | | United States | Genre parody |
| Ornament Sound Experiments | Oskar Fischinger | | Weimar Republic | Synthetic sound experiments |
| Poem 8 | Emlen Etting | Mary Binney Montgomery, Caresse Crosby | United States | Dance film, shot in 8mm, silent |
| Před maturitou (Before Matriculation) | Svatopluk Innemann, Vladislav Vančura | Jindřich Plachta, František Smolík | Czechoslovakia | Semi-experimental feature film |
| Qué vivá México! | Sergei Eisenstein, Grigori Alexandrov | Félix Balderas, Martín Hernández | Mexico | Begun in 1931, never completed by Eisenstein; edited into numerous other films |
| Studie(s) Nr. 10-11 | Oskar Fischinger | | Weimar Republic | Abstract animation |
| Studie Nr. 12 | Oskar Fischinger, Hans Fischinger | | Weimar Republic | Abstract animation |
| Sur les bords de la caméra (Pictures on the Sideline) | Henri Storck | | Belgium | |
| Visions of Lourdes | Charles Dekeukeleire | | Belgium | |
| 1933 |||||
| 7 till 5 | Norman McLaren | | United Kingdom | Amateur city film |
| Dawn to Dawn | Josef Berne, Seymour Stern | Julie Haydon, Ole M. Ness, Frank Eklof | United States | a.k.a. "Black Dawn," short, Naturalist melodrama |
| Deserter | Vsevolod Pudovkin | Boris Livanov, Vasili Kovrigin | Soviet Union | Asynchronous use of sound and image |
| Drobiazg Melodyjny (Moment Musical) | Stefan Themerson, Franciszka Themerson | | Poland | Rayographic animation, Lost |
| Footnote to Fact | Lewis Jacobs | | United States | City film |
| G-3 | Ralph Steiner | | United States | Also dated to 1932 |
| Las Hurdes: Tierra Sin Pan | Luis Buñuel | Abel Jacquin, Alexandre O'Neill | Spain | Documentary, co-written by Buñuel and Surrealist poet Pierre Unik, with music by Darius Milhaud |
| In the Icy Wastes of Dialectical Materialism | Luis Buñuel, Charles de Noailles | | France | Re-edited section of L'age d'or, rendered as comedy and shown in leftist theaters in Eastern Europe; lost. |
| Lot in Sodom | James Sibley Watson Jr., Melville Webber | Friedrich Haak, Hildegarde Watson | United States | Experimental short based on Biblical story |
| Mr. Motorboat's Last Stand | John Flory, Theodore Huff | Leonard Stirrup | United States | Satire |
| On the Sunny Side | Vladislav Vančura | Filip Balek-Brodský, Hana Bečková | Czechoslovakia | Didactic feature film |
| Une nuit sur le mont chauve | Alexandre Alexieff, Claire Parker | | France | First pinscreen animation, also dated to 1934, 1931 |
| Oil—A Symphony in Motion | M.G. MacPherson (director), Jean D. Michelson (editor) | | United States | Only extant Artkino production |
| Oramunde | Emlen Etting | Caresse Crosby, Mary Binney Montgomery | United States | Dance film |
| Poslovi konzula Dorgena (Consul Dorgen's Business) | Oktavijan Miletić | Šime Marov, Ivan Alpi-Rauch | Yugoslavia | Experimental dramatic short; won a prize awarded by Louis Lumière |
| Prostoy sluchay (A Simple Case) | Vsevolod Pudovkin | Aleksandr Baturin, Mariya Belousova | Soviet Union | Naturalist drama, begun in 1931; silent |
| Pueblo | Seymour Stern | | United States | Experimental documentary; never finished, Lost film |
| Synchromy | Mary Ellen Bute, Lewis Jacobs, Joseph Schillinger | | United States | Abstract animation, never completed |
| Tilly Losch in the Dance of Her Hands | Norman Bel Geddes | Tilly Losch | United States | Dance film, dated 1930–33 |
| The Earth Sings | Karel Plicka, Alexandr Hackenschmied | | Czechoslovakia | Experimentally edited ethnographic semi-documentary, with music score |
| Zéro de conduite | Jean Vigo | | France | |
| 1934 |||||
| Atoms of Eternity | Čeněk Zahradníček | | Czechoslovakia | |
| Beyond This Open Road | B. Vivian Braun | | United Kingdom | |
| Café Universal | Ralph Steiner | | United States | Satire featuring members of The Group Theatre |
| Camera Makes Whoopee | Norman McLaren | | United Kingdom | Amateur film; montage experiments |
| La Joie de vivre | Anthony Gross, Hector Hoppin | | France | Stylized, surreal animated film |
| The Furies | Slavko Vorkapich | | United States | Surreal special effects insert for feature, "Crime without Passion" |
| Hands | Ralph Steiner, Willard Van Dyke | | United States | Sponsored by the Works Project Administration; also dated 1936-7 and edited into later films |
| Happiness | Aleksandr Medvedkin | Petr Zinoviev, Elena Egorova | Soviet Union | Soviet satire; stylized, silent |
| The Hearts of Age | William Vance, Orson Welles | Virginia Nicolson, Orson Welles | United States | Amateur experimental film, made at the Todd School, Chicago |
| Kreise (Circles) | Oskar Fischinger | | Weimar Republic | Abstract animation, exists in two versions, color |
| Liebesspiel | Oskar Fischinger | | Nazi Germany | Abstract animation, first exhibited posthumously; silent |
| Man of Aran | Robert J. Flaherty | | Ireland | Fictionalised documentary |
| Marijka nevěrnice (Faithless Maritza) | Vladislav Vančura | Hana Maria Pravda | Czechoslovakia | Semi-experimental feature |
| Muratti Greift Ein (Muratti Gets in the Act) | Oskar Fischinger | | Nazi Germany | Dancing cigarette animation, Gasparcolor |
| Prisoner | Roman Freulich | George Sari, Jack Rockwell | United States | Expressionistic short, made in Hollywood, lost film |
| Quadrate (Squares) | Oskar Fischinger | | Nazi Germany | Abstract animation, silent, Gasparcolor |
| Rhythm in Light | Mary Ellen Bute | | United States | Abstract animation |
| Ein Spiel in Farben (A Play in Colors) | Oskar Fischinger | | Nazi Germany | Abstract animation, a.k.a. Studie No. 11a, color |
| Studie Nr. 13 (Coriolan Fragment) | Oskar Fischinger | | Nazi Germany | Abstract animation, unfinished |
| Sweet Land of Liberty | Leo Hurwitz | | United States | Satirical documentary; Lost film |
| Žijeme v Praze (We Live in Prague) | Otakar Vávra | | Czechoslovakia | City film |
| 1935 |||||
| A Colour Box | Len Lye | | United Kingdom | |
| Colour Cocktail | Norman McLaren | | United Kingdom | Abstract animation; lost film |
| Ghost Town: The Story of Fort Lee | Theodore Huff, Mark Borgatte | | United States | Semi-documentary |
| Gypsy Night | Josef Berne, Harold Hecht | | United States | Musical short, set in a Gypsy camp, color |
| The Hands on Tuesday | Čeněk Zahradníček | | Czechoslovakia | |
| Hollywood | Vic Kandel, Robert Del Duca | | United States | Satire, Lost film |
| Kinetic Molpai | Ted Shawn | Ted Shawn and his Men Dancers | United States | Modern dance film |
| Komposition in Blau (Composition in Blue) | Oskar Fischinger | | Nazi Germany | Abstract animation in Gasparcolour |
| November | Otakar Vávra, Alexandr Hackenschmied | | Czechoslovakia | |
| Muratti Privat | Oskar Fischinger | | Nazi Germany | Dancing cigarette animation, black and white |
| Pie in the Sky | Ralph Steiner, Elia Kazan, Molly Day Thatcher, Irving Lerner | Elia Kazan, Russell Collins | United States | Satire |
| Pink Guards On Parade | Oskar Fischinger | | Nazi Germany | Abstract advertisement, Gasparcolor, unfinished; recreation on video made in 2000 by William Moritz |
| Poison | Man Ray | Man Ray, Meret Oppenheim | France | Double "portrait" film of Ray and Oppenheim |
| Polychrome Phantasy | Norman McLaren | | Canada | Abstract animation, color |
| Synchromy No. 2 | Mary Ellen Bute, Ted Nemeth | | United States | Abstract animation |
| Zwarcie (Short Circuit) | Stefan Themerson, Franciszka Themerson | | Poland | Abstract animation, music by Witold Lutoslawski, Lost |
| 1936 |||||
| 145 W 21 | Rudy Burckhardt | Paul Bowles, Aaron Copland | United States | |
| The Birth of the Robot | Len Lye | | United Kingdom | |
| Black and White Rhapsody | Martin Frič | | Czechoslovakia | City film |
| Dada | Mary Ellen Bute, produced by Ted Nemeth | | United States | Abstract animation, black and white |
| Hell Unlimited | Helen Biggar, Norman McLaren | | United Kingdom | Anti-war political short |
| The New Architecture and the London Zoo | László Moholy-Nagy | | United Kingdom | |
| Redes | Emilio Gómez Muriel, Fred Zinnemann | Silvio Hernández, Rafael Hinojosa | Mexico | Cinematography by Paul Strand, music by Silvestre Revueltas; Eisenstein-influenced revolutionary film |
| Rose Hobart | Joseph Cornell | Rose Hobart | United States | Collage film |
| 1937 |||||
| Even—As You and I | LeRoy Robbins, Harry Hay | Hy Hirsh | United States | |
| Escape | Mary Ellen Bute, produced by Ted Nemeth | | United States | Abstract animation, color |
| Monsieur Fantômas | Ernst Moerman | | Belgium | |
| An Optical Poem | Oskar Fischinger | | United States | Abstract animation, distributed by MGM, color |
| Parabola | Mary Ellen Bute, Ted Nemeth, Bill Nemeth, Rutherford Boyd | | United States | Abstract animation |
| Przygoda Czlowieka Poczciwego (The Adventure of a Good Citizen) | Stefan Themerson, Franciszka Themerson | | Poland | Satire |
| Seeing the World No. 1: A Trip to New York CIty | Rudy Burckhardt | | United States | City film |
| Silnice spívá (The Highway Sings) | Elmar Klos, Alexandr Hackenschmied | | Czechoslovakia | Experimental advertising film |
| 1938 |||||
| Bookstalls | Joseph Cornell | | United States | Collage film, title added posthumously; Silent |
| Carousel: Animal Opera | Joseph Cornell | | United States | Collage film |
| The Children's Jury | Joseph Cornell | | United States | Collage film, Silent |
| The Children's Trilogy: Cotillion, The Midnight Party, The Children's Party | Joseph Cornell | | United States | Collage film, put into a final form by Larry Jordan ca. 1967–70, Silent |
| Family Film | José Val del Omar | | Spain | |
| Fragment from Caroland's Mansion | Frank Stauffacher | | United States | |
| Jack's Dream | Joseph Cornell | | United States | Collage film, put into a final form by Larry Jordan ca. 1970 |
| N or NW | Len Lye | | United Kingdom | |
| Thimble Theater | Joseph Cornell | | United States | Collage film, title added posthumously; Silent |
| Tree Trunk to Head | Lewis Jacobs | Chaim Gross | United States | Semi-documentary, silent |
| 1939 |||||
| The City | Ralph Steiner, Willard Van Dyke | | United States | City film for New York World's Fair, written by Pare Lorentz |
| Dance of the Colors | Hans Fischinger | | Germany | Abstract animation, color |
| Haiti | Rudy Burckhardt | | United States | |
| Love on the Wing | Norman McLaren | | United Kingdom | Abstract animation, color |
| Scherzo | Norman McLaren | | United Kingdom | Abstract animation, color |
| Spare Time | Humphrey Jennings | | United Kingdom | Short documentary about British people at leisure, inspired by Mass Observation |
| Spook Sport | Mary Ellen Bute, Ted Nemeth, Norman McLaren | | United States | Abstract animation, color, animation by McLaren |
| Stars and Stripes | Norman McLaren | | United Kingdom | Abstract animation, color |
| Time in the Sun | Marie Seton | | United Kingdom | Composite film, made of footage shot by Sergei Eisenstein for Qué vivá México! |