Hans Richter (1888-1976) was an early Dadaist, and along with Futurists Bruno Corra and Arnaldo Ginna and fellow German Walter Ruttmann, was among the earliest makers of abstract film. Filmstudie (1926) was his third film, following on Rhytmus 21 and Rhytmus 23. Richter moved to the U.S. in 1941 and in the 1950s was Professor of Film at the Institute of Film Technique at the City College of New York, one of my almae matres, twenty years too early for me to study with him. One can easily see in the film, a transitional work using both geometric abstraction and naturalistic images, the  influence Richter might have had on filmmakers like Fritz Lang and Luis Bunuel.  The music is by Darius Milhaud.

Related articles

• CineFile: The Birth of Cool Hand (sadredearth.com)
• CineFile: The Crowd (sadredearth.com)
• CineFile – Paths of Glory (sadredearth.com)
• The role of the director in early french cinema (ask.metafilter.com)