Kurt Kren was a vital figure in Austrian avant-garde cinema of the postwar period. His structural films—often shot frame-by-frame following elaborately prescored charts and diagrams—have influenced filmmakers for decades, even as Kren himself remained a nomadic and obscure public figure. Kurt Kren, edited by Nicky Hamlyn, Simon Payne, and A. L. Rees, brings together interviews with Kren, film scores, and classic, out-of-print essays, alongside the reflections of contemporary academics and filmmakers, to add much-needed critical discussion of Kren’s legacy. Taken together, the collection challenges the canonical view of Kren that ignores his underground lineage and powerful, lyrical imagery.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
Introduction: Not Reconciled—The Structural Films of Kurt Kren
A.L. Rees
1/57 Versuch mit synthetischem Ton (Test)
Simon Payne
Kurt Kren and Sound
Gabriele Jutz
2/60 48 Köpfe aus dem Szondi-Test
Abbe Fletcher
3/60 Bäume im Herbst
Simon Payne
3/60 Bäume im Herbst
Gareth Polmeer
Time-Splits: 4/61 Mauern pos.-neg. & Weg and 31/75 Asyl
Aline Helmke
Strategies in Black and White: 4/61 Mauern pos.-neg. & Weg and 11/65 Bild Helga Philipp
Nicky Hamlyn
5/62 Fenstergucker, Abfall, etc.
Yvonne Spielmann
15/67 TV
Yvonne Spielmann
17/68 Grün-Rot
Simon Payne
Negation and Contradiction in Kurt Kren’s Films: 32/76 An W+ B, 18/68 Venecia Kaputt and 42/83 No Film
Nicky Hamlyn
20/68 Schatzi
A.L. Rees
31/75 Asyl
Gareth Polmeer
37/78 Tree Again
Gareth Polmeer
Miscellaneous Works and ‘Bad Home Movies’
Nicky Hamlyn
Vernacular Studies: 49/95 tausendjahrekino and 50/96 Snapspots (for Bruce)
Barnaby Dicker
Colour Frame Enlargements and Pages from No Film
Reprints and Facsimiles
Collected Writings on Kurt Kren
Malcolm Le Grice
Reviews of 31/75 Asyl, 15/67 TV and 28/73 Zeitaufnahme(n)
A.L. Rees
Interview with Kurt Kren
Daniel Plunkett
Notes on Kren: Cutting Through Structural Materialism or, ‘Sorry. It had to be done.’
David Levi Strauss
Interview with Kurt Kren
David Levi Strauss and David Gerstein
On Kurt Kren
Peter Gidal
Lord of the Frames: Kurt Kren
Peter Tscherkassky
Interview with Kurt Kren
Peter Tscherkassky
Apperception on Display: Structural Films and Philosophy
Jinhee Choi
Filmography
Notes on Contributors
Introduction: Not Reconciled—The Structural Films of Kurt Kren
A.L. Rees
1/57 Versuch mit synthetischem Ton (Test)
Simon Payne
Kurt Kren and Sound
Gabriele Jutz
2/60 48 Köpfe aus dem Szondi-Test
Abbe Fletcher
3/60 Bäume im Herbst
Simon Payne
3/60 Bäume im Herbst
Gareth Polmeer
Time-Splits: 4/61 Mauern pos.-neg. & Weg and 31/75 Asyl
Aline Helmke
Strategies in Black and White: 4/61 Mauern pos.-neg. & Weg and 11/65 Bild Helga Philipp
Nicky Hamlyn
5/62 Fenstergucker, Abfall, etc.
Yvonne Spielmann
15/67 TV
Yvonne Spielmann
17/68 Grün-Rot
Simon Payne
Negation and Contradiction in Kurt Kren’s Films: 32/76 An W+ B, 18/68 Venecia Kaputt and 42/83 No Film
Nicky Hamlyn
20/68 Schatzi
A.L. Rees
31/75 Asyl
Gareth Polmeer
37/78 Tree Again
Gareth Polmeer
Miscellaneous Works and ‘Bad Home Movies’
Nicky Hamlyn
Vernacular Studies: 49/95 tausendjahrekino and 50/96 Snapspots (for Bruce)
Barnaby Dicker
Colour Frame Enlargements and Pages from No Film
Reprints and Facsimiles
Collected Writings on Kurt Kren
Malcolm Le Grice
Reviews of 31/75 Asyl, 15/67 TV and 28/73 Zeitaufnahme(n)
A.L. Rees
Interview with Kurt Kren
Daniel Plunkett
Notes on Kren: Cutting Through Structural Materialism or, ‘Sorry. It had to be done.’
David Levi Strauss
Interview with Kurt Kren
David Levi Strauss and David Gerstein
On Kurt Kren
Peter Gidal
Lord of the Frames: Kurt Kren
Peter Tscherkassky
Interview with Kurt Kren
Peter Tscherkassky
Apperception on Display: Structural Films and Philosophy
Jinhee Choi
Filmography
Notes on Contributors