This is how writer Susan Sontag aptly described Avant-Garde composer and experimental Dutch filmmaker, Frans Zwartjes. Like the beautiful paradoxes of his work, Zwartjes is a fascinating lost relic of the past of experimental cinema, while also providing the blueprints for experimental filmmakers of the future, from Warhol’s Factory of New York tricksters, to another film Sontag declared as one of the greatest films ever; the surreal, yet allegorical nightmare “Begotten”.

Beyond just the grainy black and white film stock Zwartjes shot on, even his ensemble of absurdist characters he’d rotate in his films, people that existed in the underworld of the Dutch art freak-out scene, helped influence later filmmaking troupes, such as the constantly revolving cast and crew of German film pioneer Rainer Werner Fassbinder.

Zwartjes method of filmmaking is one few have dared repeat to this day; All scenes were shot in order, with one take, and no editing equipment used. Even the score was played in the background while filming, with all effects done in-camera, making Zwartjes the first (and possibly the last) true Dogma 95 filmmaker. We’re proud to present these Dutch Discoveries, lost treasures from cinema’s most fascinating filmmakers.