"Moving Forward, Looking Back : The European Avant-Garde and the Invention of Film Culture, 1913-1339 is the first concise and critical overview of this crucial period in film history. Arguing that the avant-garde should be understood as a transnational network of European scope, this book ushers in a new approach to the study of artistic movements. Such ephemeral activities as alternative screening practice, teaching, publishing, film collecting, exhibitions and film festivals in fact stand at the beginning of what came to be known as film culture ever since. The book thus argues for the lasting and continuing impact that the avant-garde has had on the cinema in general, and not just on film form and film style."--Jacket.