This anthology is both a history of the avant-garde film genre and a compendium of theories of cinema articulated by major filmmakers. The 33 selections include several previously unpublished theoretical and critical articles and many articles that were especially translated into English for this collection. Other selections were drawn from interviews and from lectures contained in the Anthology Film Archives. Previously published essays that are currently not available in print elsewhere and are often requested by students of film are also included. Among the authors/filmmakers represented in this collection are Dziga Vertov, Sergei Eisenstein, Germaine Dulac, Maya Deren, Antonin Artaud, Peter Kubelka, Jonas Mekas, and Hollis Frampton. (FL)