Film History
This page lists key films by period of film history - these are known as movements.
Join us on a journey through time, illustrated by key films.
The Sight & Sound Top 100 Films list is useful here.
These aren't necessarily the films you'll most enjoy, but they are the most significant ones ever made.
A document outlining the key movements, directors and films is below, as is a video outlining some of the key movements.
| Key Movements.pdf |
Silent Cinema
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French Impressionism (1920s)
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German Expressionism (1920s)
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Soviet Montage (1920s)
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The Golden Age of Hollywood (1930s-50s)
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Mexican Golden Age (1930s-50s)
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Italian Neorealism (1940s)
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Scandinavian Revival (1940s-50s)
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Film Noir (USA, 1940s-57)
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Japanese Golden Age (1950s)
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The French New Wave (1950-60s)
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Cinema Verité (France, USA 1950s-60s)
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New Italian Cinema (1950s-60s)
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The Polish School (1950s-60s)
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Soviet Thaw cinema (1950s-60s)
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Parallel Cinema (India, 1950s-70s)
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Czech New Wave (1960s)
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Third Cinema (Latin America & Africa, 1960s)
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Japanese New Wave (1960s-70s)
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Cinema Novo (Brazil, 1960-72)
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British Social Realism (1960s-present)
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New Hollywood (USA, 1960-70s)
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Iranian New Wave (1970s-present)
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L.A. Rebellion (USA, 1970s-90s)
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New German Cinema (1970s-80s)
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Blaxploitation (1970s)
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Australian New Wave (1975-85)
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Polish Cinema of Moral Anxiety (1976-80s)
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The Madrid Scene (1980s)
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The Chinese 5th Generation (1980s-90s)
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Yellow Earth
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Hong Kong New Wave (1980s-90s)
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Father & Son
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New Queer Cinema (USA, 1980s-90s)
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Cinema du Look (France, 1980-91)
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Taiwan New Wave (1982-90)
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Hong Kong Second Wave (1986-2000s)
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Black American Cinema (1980s-now)
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Taiwanese Second Wave (1990-2010)
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Peach Blossom Land
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Turkish New Wave (1990s-present)
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Dogme 95 (Denmark, 1995-2005)
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New Argentine Cinema (1990s-2000s)
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The Chinese Sixth Generation (2000s-now)
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New French Extremity (2000s)
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South Korean New Wave (2000s)
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Romanian New Wave (2004-today)
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Mumblecore (2000s)
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Nueve Cine Mexicano (2000s)
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Greek Weird Wave (2010s)
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