This seminar will examine the cultural phenomenon of the "art film" during the first three decades of the postwar period (1950s, 60s, 70s). The nature and characteristics of, as well as the relationships connecting and distinguishing, modernist cinema, art cinema, and avant-garde film during this vital period in film history will be one of the course's concerns. We will examine the notion of the auteur and consider its usefulness for thinking about this multiform, innovative cinema.