Luxonline Histories:1900-1949

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As the new medium of film started to attract the interest of artists such as Hans Richter and Ferdinand Leger, the first part of the 20th Century saw the beginnings of a vibrant film culture in which British film clubs like the London Film Society played a part, and in which wider art movements such as Surrealism made an impact. By the advent of the war the appearance of a new personal filmmaking style from American artists such as Kenneth Anger and Maya Deren was becoming apparent.

History details are written and researched by Lara Thompson. Lara Thompson is currently working on a phd about the intersection between film and photography in contemporary cinema. She works for the British Artists' Film and Video Study Collection and lectures in film studies. 1950-1960

Still from Battleship Potemkin by Sergei Eisenstein, 1928

KEY EVENTS: 1900-1949

	1921	Hans Richter makes Rhythmus 21, one of the first abstract films, in Berlin

	1921-1924	Diagonal Symphony by Viking Eggeling

	1923	Man Ray makes Return to Reason, Paris

	1924	Fernand Leger and Dudley Murphy make the 'cubist' film Ballet Mecanique, Paris

	1925	The Film Society is formed, London

	1927	The first publication of 'Close-Up' magazine, London/Zurich

	1927	Luis Bunuel and Salvador Dali make Un Chien andalou

	1928	Sergei Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin is first shown in London by the Film Society

	1928	John Grierson makes his documentary The Drifters

	1929	Dziga Vertov makes Man With a Movie Camera, USSR

	1929	The Film Society funds Tusalava by Len Lye, London

	1929	National Avant-Garde Conference, La Sarraz, Switzerland

	1930	Borderline by Kenneth Macpherson, starring the poet HD and Paul Robeson

	1930	John Grierson sets up a Film Unit for the Empire Marketing Board

	1936	Night Mail by Henry Watt, with dialogue by WH Auden. Made by Grierson's film unit at the GPO

	1936	The Surrealist Exhibition, London

	1937	Trade Tattoo by Len Lye for the GPO film unit

	1940	London Can Take It Humphrey Jennings/Henry Watts

	1943	Maya Deren makes Meshes of the Afternoon, California

	1943	Stefan & Franciszka Themerson make Calling Mr Smith, London

	1945	Diary for Timothy by Humphrey Jennings

	1947	Kenneth Anger makes Fireworks, Hollywood

	1947	Sequence magazine founded by Lindsay Anderson, Gavin Lambert, Karel Reisz and Tony Richardson

	1947	First 'Cinema 16' screenings at Provincetown Playhouse, New York