Kurt Kren was a vital figure in Austrian avant-garde cinema of the post-war period. His structural films, often shot frame-by-frame following elaborately pre-scored charts and diagrams, have influenced filmmakers for decades, even as Kren himself has remained a nomadic and obscure public figure. Kurt Kren, edited by Nicky Hamlyn, Simon Payne, and A. L. Rees, brings together interviews with Kren, film scores, and classic, out-of-print essays, alongside the reflections of contemporary academics and filmmakers, to add much-needed critical discussion of Kren’s legacy. Taken together, the collection challenges the canonical view of Kren that ignores his underground lineage and powerful, lyrical imagery.

Nicky Hamlyn is a writer and filmmaker based in the United Kingdom. He teaches at the University for the Creative Arts and the Royal College of Art in London and is the author of Film Art Phenomena. Simon Payne is a video artist, writer, and programmer. He is a senior lecturer in film and media studies at Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge. A. L. Rees (1949–2014) was a critic, historian, and research tutor at the Royal College of Art, London.