Free Radicals: A History of Experimental Film

Watch Movie

Free Radicals: A History of Experimental Film

2011

1h 22m

6.8(12 votes)

Documentary

Overview

Experimental filmmaker Pip Chodorov traces the course of experimental film in America, taking the very personal point of view of someone who grew up as part of the experimental film community.

Links & Resources

IMDbView

Social & External

IMDb

The people behind it

Cast & crew

10 featured cast members

Starring

Pip Chodorov

Himself / Narrator (voice)

Stan Brakhage

Himself

Robert Breer

Himself

Stephan Chodorov

Himself

Ken Jacobs

Himself

Peter Kubelka

Himself

Maurice Lemaître

Himself

Jonas Mekas

Himself

John Mhiripiri

Himself

Hans Richter

Himself (archive footage)

Creative team

Directed by: Pip Chodorov
Written by: Pip Chodorov
Produced by: Aurélia Prévieu
Ron Dyens

Similar Movies

5.0

2003

The Movement of People Working

A compilation of non-narrative films shot in the 1970s and 1980s by Phill Niblock concerned with the movement people make when they do menial tasks.

Movie

7.2

1971

Quick Billy

A psychedelic montage of home movie footage gives way to a silent western story.

Movie

1972

Coal Confession

Addressing the camera, Segalove confesses to plagarizing her 5th grade report, The Story of Coal.

Movie

5.5

1971

Running Shadow I

Rapidly changing images of natural objects, scenery, animals, plants, and people flicker, flash, tumble, and cascade across the screen.

Movie

5.2

2006

Todo Todo Teros

Basically an artist is also a terrorist, the protagonist thinks in an unguarded moment. And if he is a terrorist after all, then he might just as well be one. Not an instant product, but an experimental feature in which diary material is brought together to form an intriguing puzzle.

Movie

Refrains Happen Like Revolutions in a Song

6.5

2010

Refrains Happen Like Revolutions in a Song

Sarah is a debt collector who lives among the inhabitants of the village of Guimbal on the island of Panay. She wants to find the young man who appeared to her in a dream and goes to the island of Negros. Here, as she interacts with the inhabitants, Sarah continues her search, gathering memories of life and war, dreams, myths, legends, songs and stories that she takes part in and at times revolve around her. She is the daughter of an ancient mermaid, a revolutionary, a primordial element, a virgin who was kidnapped and hidden away from the sunlight. “The film is a retelling of fragments of the American occupation. Dialogue, shot in the Hiligaynon language, is not translated but used as a tonal guide and a tool for narration. Using unscripted scenes shot where the main character was asked to merely interact with the villagers, I discard dialogue and draw meaning from peoples’ faces, voices, and actions, weaving an entirely different story through the use of subtitles and inter-titles.”

Movie

2017

State of Rest and Motion

This cine-portrait of New York City uses digital effects to turn the countless riders of the subway system into living, breathing paintings.

Movie

2016

Irradiant Field

In the Mojave Desert, fields of solar panels follow the sun’s daily journey in perfect synchronicity.

Movie

2013

The Red Bank. James Joyce: His Greek Notebooks

This documentary aims to register this unknown side of James Joyce: His Greek Notebooks. Trieste. Bloomsday, 2013. Dance in slow motion, accompanied by text. By deconstructing the body, we turn it into a memory: of the body, of life, of texts. The biographical references to Joyce and Mando Aravantinou, combined with the diagonal slicing of the image, cancel the realism of the landscape, including that of the Narrator’s space/study. As a culmination, Joyce’s letter “A request for a loan in Greek” functions as a timely denunciation. Various routes through cities, such as Trieste, London, New York, and Athens; languages such as Greek and English. In addition to the primal myth of Ulysses, there is another issue: Greek is “the language of the subject of Ulysses”

Movie

5.8

1972

Congo

An experimental ethnographic documentary that criticizes the colonizer view of anthropology.

Movie

2015

Carta a Boris

Writing late becomes usual, we are always too late. Boris was my alter ego and I was his alter ego. Now that he is no longer here, I can be honest.

Movie

2015

Anotaciones Sobre Claudia y Sergio I

Chilean experimental film.

Movie

7.8

1929

Man with a Movie Camera

A cameraman wanders around with a camera slung over his shoulder, documenting urban life with dazzling inventiveness.

Movie

2013

Colibrí

Performance with live audio equalization.

Movie

2016

Develar

Film loops with overlapping chromatic density and textures achieved with photochemical development experiments.

Movie

2016

Gardel

Letraset typeset intervention and editing on the projection copy of the film Cuesta Abajo, by Louis J. Gasnier, 1934.

Movie

1967

Old Courtyard

Experimental 8mm film.

Movie

2017

PLEH

An experimental journey through a year in the life of the director, using his always playing playlist to cross the boundaries of fiction and documentary. Through scenes of both comedy and tragedy, realistic documentary footage and experimental sequences of the director's environment and daily life we get a sometimes estranging image of a young man and also an intriguing insight in his mindset and how this translates to the imagery on screen.

Movie

2017

The Nature of Language

A creative documentary about personal experiences of abuse and of selfhood, of colors and words within the context of our lives.

Movie

2021

Light by Chance

Experimental short film playing with light and how it appears through reflections, lenses, and distortions

Movie

Recommended Movies

7.0

1971

Directed by John Ford

A documentary about the life and films of director John Ford.

Movie

7.4

2018

McQueen

Alexander McQueen's rags-to-riches story is a modern-day fairy tale, laced with the gothic. Mirroring the savage beauty, boldness and vivacity of his design, this documentary is an intimate revelation of McQueen's own world, both tortured and inspired, which celebrates a radical and mesmerizing genius of profound influence.

Movie

7.3

2025

Come See Me in the Good Light

In an intimate and joyful story of love in the face of loss, celebrated poets Andrea Gibson and Megan Falley find strength—and unexpected hilarity—in what might be their final year together.

Movie

6.4

2026

A Toxic Love Story

A string of threatening emails escalates into a revenge plot involving a newly married US marshal and his ex-girlfriend.

Movie

8.3

2026

S4: The Bob Lazar Story

Over 35 years after Bob Lazar's revelations, this documentary exposes secrets of a facility the government still denies. Featuring Lazar's testimony, recreations, and new evidence, it reopens a case that continues to spark global curiosity

Movie

6.2

2013

Seduced and Abandoned

SEDUCED AND ABANDONED combines acting legend Alec Baldwin with director James Toback as they lead us on a troublesome and often hilarious journey of raising financing for their next feature film. Moving from director to financier to star actor, the two players provide us with a unique look behind the curtain at the world's biggest and most glamourous film festival, shining a light on the bitter-sweet relationship filmmakers have with Cannes and the film business. Featuring insights from directors Martin Scorsese, 'Bernando Bertolucci' and Roman Polanski; actors Ryan Gosling and Jessica Chastain and a host of film distribution luminaries.

Movie

8.0

2025

My Mom Jayne

Through deeply personal interviews with her siblings and an examination of the photographs, letters, and belongings left behind, Mariska assembles a new portrait of her mother Jayne Mansfield, an extraordinary and complex woman.

Movie

7.0

2009

The Curious Birth of Benjamin Button

A documentary about the making of David Fincher's 2008 film THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON. Virtually every element in the evolution of the Fincher's film is documented here, from the project's attachment to numerous other directors during the 1990s, to its shoot in 2006 and 2007 in New Orleans, to its complex, CGI-intensive postproduction process.

Movie

As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty

7.8

2000

As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty

A compilation of over 30 years of private home movie footage shot by Lithuanian-American avant-garde director Jonas Mekas, assembled by Mekas "purely by chance", without concern for chronological order.

Movie

6.2

2002

Naqoyqatsi

A visual montage portrait of our contemporary world dominated by globalized technology and violence.

Movie

6.0

2023

Anna Nicole Smith: You Don't Know Me

From the heights of her modeling fame to her tragic death, this documentary reveals Anna Nicole Smith through the eyes of the people closest to her.

Movie

7.2

2022

Avatar: The Deep Dive - A Special Edition of 20/20

An inside look at one of the most anticipated movie sequels ever with James Cameron and cast.

Movie

7.8

2025

John Candy: I Like Me

Those who knew iconic funnyman John Candy best share his story, in their own words, through never-before-seen archival footage, imagery, and interviews.

Movie

8.4

2022

Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me

After years in the limelight, Selena Gomez achieves unimaginable stardom. But just as she reaches a new peak, an unexpected turn pulls her into darkness. This uniquely raw and intimate documentary spans her six-year journey into a new light.

Movie

7.6

2023

To Kill a Tiger

Ranjit, a farmer in India, takes on the fight of his life when he demands justice for his 13-year-old daughter, the victim of a brutal gang rape. His decision to support his daughter is virtually unheard of, and his journey unprecedented.

Movie

7.3

2017

Maria by Callas

Told through performances, TV interviews, home movies, family photographs, private letters and unpublished memoirs, the film reveals the essence of an extraordinary woman who rose from humble beginnings in New York City to become a glamorous international superstar and one of the greatest artists of all time.

Movie

7.3

2018

Above Majestic

A look at the origins, history and conspiracies behind the "Majestic 12", a clandestine group of military and corporate figureheads charged with reverse-engineering extraterrestrial technology.

Movie

7.8

2021

Being James Bond

Daniel Craig candidly reflects on his 15 year adventure as James Bond. Including never-before-seen archival footage from Casino Royale to the upcoming 25th film No Time To Die, Craig shares his personal memories in conversation with 007 producers, Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli.

Movie

7.4

2017

I Am Heath Ledger

The life and career of an actor, artist, and icon. His own journey through his own camera.

Movie

Charlie: The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin

6.9

2003

Charlie: The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin

Brilliant, long in-the-works story of the life and art of the world's greatest comedian and the cinema's first genius, Charlie Chaplin. Produced, written and directed by renowned film critic Richard Schickel.

Movie