Favorite Films (Mid-Lengths Only)

Ryan Swen Lists

Decades: 2020s, 2010s, 2000s, 1990s, 1980s, 1970s, 1960s, 1950s, 1940s, 1930s, 1920s, Pre-1920s

Main list.
A version of this without television episodes, YouTube material, music videos, and other non-film media objects.
A version of this with feature films only.
A version of this with shorts only.

2024

  1. IT’S NOT ME (Leos Carax, France)
  2. DAHOMEY (Mati Diop, France)
  3. CHIME (Kurosawa Kiyoshi, Japan)
  4. BROKEN RAGE (Kitano Takeshi, Japan)
  5. EXPOSÉ DU FILM ANNONCE DU FILM “SCÉNARIO” (Jean-Luc Godard, Switzerland)
  6. YOU BURN ME (Matías Piñeiro, Argentina)
  7. SLEEP #2 (Radu Jude, Romania)

2023

  1. IN WATER (Hong Sang-soo, South Korea)
  2. WE DON’T TALK LIKE WE USED TO (Joshua Gen Solondz, USA)
  3. MAN IN BLACK (Wang Bing, France)
  4. ALLENSWORTH (James Benning, USA)
  5. LAST THINGS (Deborah Stratman, USA)
  6. DEADENDZ (Jon Jost, USA)

2022

  1. SECTION 1 (Jon Bois, USA)
  2. YOU HAVE TO COME AND SEE IT (Jonás Trueba, Spain)
  3. REWIND & PLAY (Alain Gomis, France)
  4. EVENTIDE (Sharon Lockhart, USA)
  5. THE BLUE ROSE OF FORGETFULNESS (Lewis Klahr, USA)
  6. HAPPER’S COMET (Tyler Taormina, USA)
  7. WILL-O’-THE-WISP (João Pedro Rodrigues, Portugal)
  8. A COUPLE (Frederick Wiseman, USA)
  9. DAUGHTER AND SON (Cheng Yu, China)
  10. IT IS NIGHT IN AMERICA (Ana Vaz, Brazil)
  11. IS THERE A PINE ON THE MOUNTAIN (Liu Chongyan, France)

2021

  1. EARTHEARTHEARTH (Saito Daichi, Canada)
  2. INTRODUCTION (Hong Sang-soo, South Korea)
  3. FIRST TIME [THE TIME FOR ALL BUT SUNSET – VIOLET] (Nicolaas Schmidt, Germany)
  4. RAMPART (Marko Grba Singh, Serbia)
  5. COME HERE (Anocha Suwichakornpong, Thailand)
  6. TERRA FEMME (Courtney Stephens, USA)

2020

  1. THERE ARE NOT THIRTY-SIX WAYS OF SHOWING A MAN GETTING ON A HORSE. (Nicolás Zukerfeld, Argentina)
  2. EDUCATION (Steve McQueen, UK)
  3. THE HUMAN VOICE (Pedro Almodóvar, Spain)
  4. ALEX WHEATLE (Steve McQueen, UK)
  5. THE AMERICAN SECTOR (Courtney Stephens & Pacho Velez, USA)

2019

  1. THOSE THAT, AT A DISTANCE, RESEMBLE ANOTHER (Jessica Sarah Rinland, UK)
  2. SUBJECT TO REVIEW (Theo Anthony, USA)

2018

  1. GRASS (Hong Sang-soo, South Korea)
  2. CLASSICAL PERIOD (Ted Fendt, USA)
  3. THIS ACTION LIES (James N. Kienitz Wilkins, USA)
  4. THE GRAND BIZARRE (Jodie Mack, USA)
  5. FILM CATASTROPHE (Paul Grivas, France)
  6. NOTES ON AN APPEARANCE (Ricky D’Ambrose, USA)
  7. LA CARTOGRAPHE (Nathan Douglas, Canada)

2017

  1. CLAIRE’S CAMERA (Hong Sang-soo, South Korea)
  2. WATCHING THE DETECTIVES (Chris Kennedy, Canada)
  3. PROTOTYPE (Blake Williams, Canada)
  4. AMIKO (Yamanaka Yoko, Japan)
  5. MEDIUMS (James N. Kienitz Wilkins, USA)
  6. THE GREEN FOG (Guy Maddin & Evan & Galen Johnson, USA)

2016

  1. HEAVEN IS STILL FAR AWAY (Hamaguchi Ryusuke, Japan)
  2. FOYER (Ismaïl Bahri, Tunisia)
  3. SHORT STAY (Ted Fendt, USA)
  4. THE ILLINOIS PARABLES (Deborah Stratman, USA)

2015

  1. NO NO SLEEP (Tsai Ming-liang, Taiwan)
  2. ARAGANE (Oda Kaori, Japan)
  3. FIELD NIGGAS (Khalik Allah, USA)

2014

  1. GOODBYE TO LANGUAGE (Jean-Luc Godard, Switzerland)
  2. HILL OF FREEDOM (Hong Sang-soo, South Korea)
  3. THE PRINCESS OF FRANCE (Matías Piñeiro, Argentina)
  4. JOURNEY TO THE WEST (Tsai Ming-liang, Taiwan)
  5. JANUARY (Jhon Hernandez, USA)

2013

  1. EL FUTURO (Luis López Carrasco, Spain)
  2. I HATE MYSELF 🙂 (Joanna Arnow, USA)
  3. TOUCHING THE SKIN OF EERINESS (Hamaguchi Ryusuke, Japan)

2012

  1. VIOLA (Matías Piñeiro, Argentina)
  2. IT’S SUCH A BEAUTIFUL DAY (Don Hertzfeldt, USA)

2011

  1. A WORLD WITHOUT WOMEN (Guillaume Brac, France)
  2. THE PETTIFOGGER (Lewis Klahr, USA)
  3. ROSALINDA (Matías Piñeiro, Argentina)

2010

  1. SLOW ACTION (Ben Rivers, UK)

2009

  1. IT FELT LIKE A KISS (Adam Curtis, UK)
  2. DISORDER (Huang Weikai, China)
  3. LOST IN THE MOUNTAINS (Hong Sang-soo, South Korea)
  4. BLONDES IN THE JUNGLE (Lev Kalman & Whitney Horn, USA)

2008

  1. L’IDIOT (Pierre Léon, France)

2007

  1. PROFIT MOTIVE AND THE WHISPERING WIND (John Gianvito, USA)

2006

  1. DONG (Jia Zhangke, China)

2005

  1. THROUGH THE FOREST (Jean Paul Civeyrac, France)

2004

  1. THE HAND (Wong Kar-wai, Hong Kong)
  2. MY STINKING KID (Lee Kang-sheng & Tsai Ming-liang, Taiwan)

2003

  1. LIKE NOTHING HAPPENED (Hamaguchi Ryusuke, Japan)

2002

  1. LOOKING FOR TSAI (Patrik Eriksson & Erik Hemmendorff, Sweden)

2001

  1. THAT OLD DREAM THAT MOVES (Alain Guiraudie, France)
  2. IN PUBLIC (Jia Zhangke, China)

2000

  1. PETITE CONVERSATION FAMILIALE (Hélène Lapiower, France)

1997

  1. SHULIE (Elisabeth Subrin, USA)

1995

  1. XIAO SHAN GOING HOME (Jia Zhangke, China)

1994

  1. U.S. GO HOME (Claire Denis, France)
  2. THE MAMMALS OF VICTORIA (Stan Brakhage, USA)

1992

  1. NITRATE KISSES (Barbara Hammer, USA)
  2. FALLING LESSONS (Amy Halpern, USA)

1991

  1. SURVIVING DESIRE (Hal Hartley, USA)
  2. THE LIFE OF THE DEAD (Arnaud Desplechin, France)

1989

  1. WATER AND POWER (Pat O’Neill, USA)
  2. LES SIÈGES DE L’ALCAZAR (Luc Moullet, France)
  3. TONGUES UNTIED (Marlon Riggs, USA)

1985

  1. CONTACT (Alan Clarke, UK)

1984

  1. STANDARD GAUGE (Morgan Fisher, USA)
  2. AMERICAN DREAMS (LOST AND FOUND) (James Benning, USA)

1983

  1. THE GREAT SADNESS OF ZOHARA (Nina Menkes, USA)

1981

  1. NIGHTSHIFT (Robina Rose, UK)

1978

  1. THE HYPOTHESIS OF THE STOLEN PAINTING (Raúl Ruiz, France)

1977

  1. ONE WAY BOOGIE WOOGIE (James Benning, USA)
  2. LA SOUFRIÈRE (Werner Herzog, West Germany)

1976

  1. BERNICE BOBS HER HAIR (Joan Micklin Silver, USA)

1974

  1. THE BENCH OF DESOLATION (Claude Chabrol, France)
  2. ITALIANAMERICAN (Martin Scorsese, USA)
  3. FROM THESE ROOTS (William Greaves, USA)

1972

  1. POETIC JUSTICE (Hollis Frampton, USA)
  2. LIZA WITH A Z (Bob Fosse, USA)
  3. THE INNER SCAR (Philippe Garrel, France)

1971

  1. (NOSTALGIA) (Hollis Frampton, USA)

1970

  1. ZORNS LEMMA (Hollis Frampton, USA)
  2. THE GRANDMOTHER (David Lynch, USA)

1968

  1. THE IMMORTAL STORY (Orson Welles, France)

1967

  1. WAVELENGTH (Michael Snow, Canada)

1966

  1. BLACK GIRL (Ousmane Sembène, France)
  2. THE WAR GAME (Peter Watkins, UK)
  3. TROUBLEMAKERS (Norman Fruchter & Robert Machover, USA)

1965

  1. NOT RECONCILED (Jean-Marie Straub & Danièle Huillet, West Germany)
  2. SIMON OF THE DESERT (Luis Buñuel, Mexico)
  3. THE KOUMIKO MYSTERY (Chris Marker, France)
  4. BAD GIRLS GO TO HELL (Doris Wishman, USA)

1964

  1. THE BRIG (Jonas Mekas, USA)

1963

  1. PASSENGER (Andrzej Munk, Poland)
  2. SUZANNE’S CAREER (Éric Rohmer, France)
  3. JOSEPH KILIAN (Pavel Juráček & Jan Schmidt, Czechoslovakia)

1962

  1. THE TRIAL OF JOAN OF ARC (Robert Bresson, France)
  2. ANTOINE AND COLETTE (François Truffaut, France)

1959

  1. A SIMPLE STORY (Marcel Hanoun, France)

1956

  1. NIGHT AND FOG (Alain Resnais, France)

1953

  1. STATUES ALSO DIE (Alain Resnais & Chris Marker & Ghislain Cloquet, France)

1946

  1. A DAY IN THE COUNTRY (Jean Renoir, France)

1945

  1. DETOUR (Edgar G. Ulmer, USA)

1943

  1. I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE (Jacques Tourneur, USA)
  2. THE LEOPARD MAN (Jacques Tourneur, USA)

1934

  1. THE BLACK CAT (Edgar G. Ulmer, USA)

1933

  1. DUCK SOUP (Leo McCarey, USA)
  2. ZERO FOR CONDUCT (Jean Vigo, France)

1932

  1. THE MASK OF FU MANCHU (Charles Brabin, USA)

1929

  1. MAN WITH A MOVIE CAMERA (Dziga Vertov, USSR)

1928

  1. THE SEASHELL AND THE CLERGYMAN (Germaine Dulac, France)

1926

  1. MÉNILMONTANT (Dimitri Kirsanoff, France)

1925

  1. SEVEN CHANCES (Buster Keaton, USA)

1924

  1. SHERLOCK JR. (Buster Keaton, USA)