This article investigates whether or not it is possible to translate the philosophical essay into a two- and later three-dimensional audiovisual form known as the `essay film'. This genre is increasingly gaining recognition as a distinct branch of international cinema. This text traces the essay film's origins back to early silent cinema and the abstract, experimental films of artists and then follows its development and the forking of paths into non-fiction `art cinema' and non-fiction film, concluding with recent experiments that blur the distinction between art and film and which seek to transform the essay into a sculptural installation.
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