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.

2023

  1. IN WATER (Hong Sang-soo, South Korea)
  2. THE WONDERFUL STORY OF HENRY SUGAR (Wes Anderson, USA)
  3. WE DON’T TALK LIKE WE USED TO (Joshua Gen Solondz, USA)
  4. MAN IN BLACK (Wang Bing, France)
  5. ALLENSWORTH (James Benning, USA)
  6. LAST THINGS (Deborah Stratman, USA)

2022

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

2021

  1. EARTHEARTHEARTH (Saïto Daïchi, 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. 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. PROTOTYPE (Blake Williams, Canada)
  3. WATCHING THE DETECTIVES (Chris Kennedy, Canada)
  4. THE GREEN FOG (Guy Maddin & Evan Johnson & Galen Johnson, USA)

2016

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

2015

  1. NO NO SLEEP (Tsai Ming-liang, Japan)
  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, France)
  5. JANUARY (Jhon Hernandez, USA)

2013

  1. EL FUTURO (Luis López Carrasco, Spain)
  2. I HATE MYSELF 🙂 (Joanna Arnow, USA)

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. 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)

2002

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

2001

  1. THAT OLD DREAM THAT MOVES (Alain Guiraudie, France)

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)

1991

  1. SURVIVING DESIRE (Hal Hartley, USA)
  2. LA VIE DES MORTS (Arnaud Desplechin, France)

1989

  1. LES SIÈGES DE L’ALCAZAR (Luc Moullet, France)

1985

  1. CONTACT (Alan Clarke, UK)

1984

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

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. TROUBLEMAKERS (Norman Fruchter & Robert Machover, USA)

1965

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

1964

  1. THE BRIG (Jonas Mekas, USA)

1963

  1. PASAZERKA (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. UNE SIMPLE HISTOIRE (Marcel Hanoun, France)

1956

  1. NIGHT AND FOG (Alain Resnais, France)

1953

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

1936

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

1933

  1. 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)

1927

  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)