List of feature films described as non-narrative

The distinction between non-narrative film and "narrative films" can be rather vague and is open for interpretation. Few filmmakers would define their works as non-narrative. The following list contains films which have been described as "non-narrative" by independent sources.

List

Feature films need to verify on the list with a running time of 60 minutes.

Title Year Country Director(s) Cinematographer(s) Music Runtime Ref(s)
13 Lakes 2004 James Benning N/a 133 mins [1][2]
23rd Psalm Branch 1967 Stan Brakhage N/a 78 mins [3]
L'Age d'Or 1930 Luis Buñuel Albert Duverger Luis Buñuel, Georges van Parys 63 mins [3]
Ashes and Snow 2005 Gregory Colbert Gregory Colbert 63 mins [4]
Atlantis 1991 / Luc Besson Éric Serra 78 mins [5]
Baraka 1992 Ron Fricke Michael Stearns 97 mins [6]
Bestiaire 2012 / Denis Côté Vincent Biron N/a 72 mins [7]
Blue 1993 / Derek Jarman Simon Fisher-Turner 79 mins [8]
Bodysong 2003 Simon Pummell Jonny Greenwood 78 mins [9]
The Clock 2010 Christian Marclay N/a 24 hours [8]
Decasia 2002 Bill Morrison Michael Gordon 67 mins [3]
Diva Dolorosa 1999 Peter Delpeut Loek Dikker 70 mins [3]
Dogora: Ouvrons les yeux 2004 Patrice Leconte Jean-Marie Dreujou Étienne Perruchon 80 mins [10]
Earth from Above 2004 Renaud Delourme Laurent Fleutot, Daniel Marchetti Armand Amar 67 mins
Empire 1965 Andy Warhol, John Palmer Jonas Mekas N/a 485 mins
The Falls 1980 Peter Greenaway Mike Coles, John Rosenberg Michael Nyman 240 mins [8]
Field Niggas 2015 Khalik Allah N/a 60 mins [11]
Film Socialisme 2010 / Jean-Luc Godard Fabrice Aragno, Paul Grivas N/a 102 mins [8]
Hitler: A Film from Germany 1977 // Hans-Jürgen Syberberg Dietrich Lohmann N/a 442 mins [8]
Koyaanisqatsi 1982 Godfrey Reggio Ron Fricke Philip Glass 86 mins [12][13]
Laya Project 2007 Harold Monfils Yuk Hoy Cheong, Agung Dewantoro Yotam Agam, Patrick Sabag 67 mins [14]
Leviathan 2012 // Lucien Castaing-Taylor, Véréna Paravel N/a 87 mins [15]
Lines 2016 Vassilis Mazomenos George Papandrikopoulos Dna 88 mins [16]
Man with a Movie Camera 1929 Dziga Vertov Mikhail Kaufman, Gleb Troyanski N/a 68 mins [17][18]
Microcosmos 1996 // Claude Nuridsany, Marie Pérennou Thierry Machado Bruno Coulais 80 mins
Mirror 1975 Andrei Tarkovsky Georgi Rerberg Eduard Artemyev 108 mins [8]
Naqoyqatsi 2002 Godfrey Reggio Russell Lee Fine Philip Glass 89 mins [13]
A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence 2011 //// Roy Andersson István Borbás, Gergely Pálos Stock music from various sources 101 mins [19]
Powaqqatsi 1988 Godfrey Reggio Graham Berry, Leonidas Zourdoumis Philip Glass 99 mins [12][13]
Ruhr 2009 James Benning N/a 121 mins [20]
Samsara 2011 Ron Fricke Marcello de Francisci, Lisa Gerrard, Michael Stearns 102 mins [21]
Silence Above the Clouds 2009 Pavol Barabáš Maok Martin Tesak 65 mins
Sixty Spanish Cigarettes 2015 Mark John Ostrowski Gabriel Prada N/a [22]
Sophie's Place 1986 Larry Jordan N/a 90 mins [3]
Sweetgrass 2009 // Lucien Castaing-Taylor N/a 101 mins [23]
El Valley Centro 2000 James Benning N/a 90 mins [24]
Visitors 2013 Godfrey Reggio Graham Berry, Trish Govoni, Tom Lowe Philip Glass 87 mins [25]
¡Vivan las Antipodas! 2011 /// Victor Kossakovsky Alexander Popov 108 mins [26]
Walden 1969 Jonas Mekas N/a 177 mins [8]
Winged Migration 2001 ///// Jacques Perrin, Jacques Cluzaud, Michel Debats Various Bruno Coulais 97 mins [27]
Zorns Lemma 1970 Hollis Frampton N/a 60 mins [8]

See also

References

  1. ^ "13 Lakes | 2005 Tribeca Festival". Tribeca. Retrieved 2024-07-03.
  2. ^ Connerly, Courtney (2024-03-20). "A Novel on Documentary Film". Medium. Retrieved 2024-07-03.
  3. ^ a b c d e Atkinson, Michael. "Be Very Afraid: The Best Experimental (Non-Narrative) Features, Part I". Fandor. Retrieved September 18, 2015.
  4. ^ ""Ashes and Snow" – Gregory Colbert | The Forest". 2014-01-28. Retrieved 2024-07-03.
  5. ^ "Atlantis - Courte-Focale.fr - Grand angle sur le Cinéma ! Courte-Focale.fr – Grand angle sur le Cinéma !". Courte-Focale.fr – Grand angle sur le Cinéma ! (in French). 2017-11-21. Retrieved 2024-07-03.
  6. ^ McIntosh, Cody (February 2, 2020). "Baraka: 10 Most Visually Stunning Moments In The Film". Screen Rant. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  7. ^ "Tënk". Tënk (in French). Retrieved 2024-07-03.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h Atkinson, Michael. "Be Very Afraid: The Best Experimental (Non-Narrative) Features, Part II". Fandor. Retrieved September 11, 2015.
  9. ^ Castelo-Branco, Mafalda (2018-09-28). "Found Footage e a memória humana em Bodysong e Life in a Day". DOC On-line (in Portuguese) (24): 80–90. doi:10.20287/doc.d24.dt05. ISSN 1646-477X.
  10. ^ "Dogora - Ouvrons les yeux de Patrice Leconte (2004) - Unifrance". www.unifrance.org. Retrieved 2024-07-03.
  11. ^ Scherstuhl, Alan (October 13, 2015). "Lexington One Two Five: Experimental Doc 'Field Niggas' Puts You There All Night". The Village Voice. Archived from the original on December 3, 2017. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  12. ^ a b Fulton, Helen; Huisman, Rosemary; Murphet, Julian; Dunn, Anne (2006). Narrative and Media. Cambridge University Press. p. 63. ISBN 978-0521617420. Godfrey Reggio's Koyaanisqatsi (1983) and Powaqqatsi (1988) are non-narrative films, [...]
  13. ^ a b c Hexel, Vasco (2018). The Film and Media Creators' Guide to Music. Routledge. ISBN 978-1138055728. Geoffrey Reggio's groundbreaking series of non-narrative montage films Koyaanisqatsi (1982), Powaqqatsi (1988), and Naqoyqatsi (2002) is accompanied by minimalist music by composer Philip Glass.
  14. ^ "Harvard College Calendar". Harvard College Calendar. Retrieved 2024-07-04.
  15. ^ Pulver, Andrew (2013-06-28). "Edinburgh gives top award to experimental documentary Leviathan". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-07-04.
  16. ^ Castiel, Elie (December 31, 2017). "S.O.S. Grèce" (in French). Séquences. Retrieved December 31, 2017.
  17. ^ Teare, Kendall (2019-08-12). "Yale film scholar on Dziga Vertov, the enigma with a movie camera". YaleNews. Retrieved 2024-07-08.
  18. ^ PH (2015-07-23). "Man With a Movie Camera review: montage spinning out of control". Silent London. Retrieved 2024-07-03.
  19. ^ Hanke, Bob (2019). "Roy Andersson's Living Trilogy and Jean-Luc Nancy's Evidence of Cinema". Film-Philosophy. 23 (1). Edinburgh University Press: 72–92. doi:10.3366/film.2019.0099.
  20. ^ Touati, Yaniv (2023), Deville, Vincent; Le Bihan, Loig (eds.), "Passage au numérique et perception du temps dans Ruhr (2009) de James Benning : un rapport paradoxal à la technique", Penser les formes filmiques contemporaines, Cinéma, émergences-résurgences (in French), Grenoble: UGA Éditions, pp. 77–92, ISBN 978-2-37747-410-3, retrieved 2024-07-04{{citation}}: CS1 maint: work parameter with ISBN (link)
  21. ^ Keefe, Brad (March 17, 2020). "Movies to stream from home amid growing coronavirus shutdowns". Columbus Alive. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  22. ^ O'Falt, Chris (May 24, 2018). "From Lynch to Kiarostami to Ozu: See Where Your Favorite Directors Fall on Paul Schrader's Chart of Non-Narrative Cinema". IndieWire. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
  23. ^ O'Hehir, Andrew (January 5, 2010). ""Sweetgrass": Spectacular elegy for a dying West". Salon. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  24. ^ "Cinema Fulgor". Cinema Fulgor. Retrieved 2024-07-04.
  25. ^ Boone, Steven. "Visitors movie review & film summary (2014) | Roger Ebert". rogerebert.com/. Retrieved 2024-07-04.
  26. ^ "¡Vivan las Antipodas! – Films". Visions du Réel (in French). Retrieved 2024-07-03.
  27. ^ VanDerWerff, Emily (April 19, 2015). "How March of the Penguins ruined the nature documentary". Vox. Retrieved June 6, 2020.