A theoretical and historical account of the main preoccupations of makers of abstract films is presented in this book. The book's scope includes discussion of nonrepresentational forms as well as examination of experiments in the manipulation of time in films. The ten chapters discuss the following topics: art and cinematography, the first abstract films, the direction of formal cinema in France in 1920, the premature decline of international avant-garde film, cinema produced by the Russian filmmaker Dziga Vertov, the link between European and United States experimental film provided by Oskar Fischinger, United States abstract film after World War II, the beginnings of the new formal film, avant-garde film in 1966, and current developments. A selected bibliography is included. (CC)