Curated by Jan-Christoph Horak "The American film avant-garde established itself in the 1920s and 1930s, contrary to the standard histories which date its beginnings to 1943 with Maya Deren. A crucial difference to understanding the dynamics of the 1920s and 1930s avant-garde in relation to its post-World War II American experimental film successors involves the self-images and material conditions of the two generations. Both defined themselves in opposition to commercial, narrative cinema, privileging the personal over the pecuniary. However, while the 1950s avant-gardists proclaimed themselves to be artists of cinema, actively engaged in the production of 'art,' those of the earlier generation viewed themselves as cineastes, as lovers of cinema, as amateurs willing to work in any arena furthering the cause of film art, even if it involved commercial productions (as exemplified by James Sibley Watson, highlighted in the next program)."-Jan-Christoph Horak, "Avant-Garde Film," in Grand Design... by Tino Balio Jan-Christoph Horak, former Senior Curator, Film Collections, George Eastman House, will become Curator of the Munich Filmmuseum in November. Manhatta (Paul Strand, Charles Sheeler, 1920, 6 mins, 16mm). Little Geezer (Theodore Huff, 1930, 10 mins, 16mm). Mr. Motorboat's Last Stand (John Florey, 1933, 10 mins, 16mm). Poem 8 (Emlen Etting, 1935, 15 mins, 16mm). Lullaby (Boris Deutsch, 1935, 9 mins, 16mm). Tarantella (Mary Ellen Bute, 1940, 4 mins, 16mm). Danse Macabre. (Dudley Murphy, 1921, 5 mins, 35mm). Love of Zero (Robert Florey, 1928, 20 mins, 35mm). Tell-Tale Heart (Charles Klein, 1928, 10 mins, 35mm). Fall of the House of Usher (James Sibley Watson, 1928, 15 mins, 35mm).