Surrealism was a cultural movement which began in the early 1920s. Well known for artwork and writing produced by group members, it also influenced the medium of film. Surrealist films include Un chien andalou and L'Âge d'Or by Luis Buñuel and Dalí; Buñuel went on to direct many more films, with varying degrees of surrealist influence.
The animated films of Isao Takahata began to have broad international influence in the 1970s. Experimental works by the anime production company Gainax tend to contain surreal elements, notably Hideaki Anno's movie The End of Evangelion. Angel's Egg, produced by Mamoru Oshii and artist Yoshitaka Amano, is perhaps the most notable example of surrealist influence in anime.
Tex Avery's cartoons originated on film in the 1930s and 1940s, but millions more know his famous characters from Saturday morning cartoons replayed during the 1970s: Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, etc. Another Looney Tunes animator, Robert Clampett, was renowned for his surreal style in both story and visuals. Especially notable are The Great Piggy Bank Robbery and Porky in Wackyland. The Chicago Surrealist Group, in particular, has done a great deal of work on the Surrealist nature of the Looney Tunes cartoons.
Roy Andersson (Songs from the Second Floor and You, the living)
Kenneth Anger (Fireworks, Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome, and Scorpio Rising)
Darren Aronofsky (π)
Carlos Atanes (CODEX ATANICUS, FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions')
Luis Buñuel (The Phantom of Liberty The Exterminating Angel (film), The Milky Way (1969 film), The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie)
Donald Cammell (White of the Eye (film), Wild Side)
Víctor Erice (El Espiritu de la Colmena)
Federico Fellini (La Dolce Vita, 8½, Fellini Satyricon)
Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and La Science des Rêves)
Peter Greenaway (Drowning by Numbers)
Jean-Pierre Jeunet & Marc Caro (Delicatessen and La Cite des Enfants Perdus)
David Lynch (Eraserhead, Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks, Lost Highway, Mulholland Drive, Inland Empire)
Nikos Nikolaidis (Evrydiki BA 2O37, The Wretches Are Still Singing, Sweet Bunch, Morning Patrol, Singapore Sling, See You in Hell, My Darling, The Loser Takes It All. and The Zero Years)
Nicolas Roeg (Performance and Walkabout)
Lars von Trier (Riget)
Fernando Arrabal (Viva la Muerte (film))
Alejandro Jodorowsky (The Holy Mountain and El Topo)
Roland Topor & René Laloux (La Planète Sauvage)
Walerian Borowczyk (La Bête)
Wojciech Has (The Saragossa Manuscript, and The Hour-Glass Sanatorium)
Jaromil Jires (Valerie and Her Week of Wonders)
Elem Klimov (Idi I Smotri)
Emir Kusturica (Time of the Gypsies and Underground)
Adonis Kyrou (Le Moine)
Dusan Makavejev (Sweet Movie)
Sergei Paradjanov (Colour of Pomegranates)
Jan Švankmajer (Faust and Alice (1988 film))
Andrei Tarkovsky (The Mirror (1975 film), Solaris)
Bela Tarr (Werckmeister Harmonies)
Andrzej Zulawski
Pater Sparrow (1)
György Pálfi (Hukkle and Taxidermia)
Higuchinsky (Uzumaki)
Hiroshi Teshigahara (Woman in the Dunes)
Shin'ya Tsukamoto (Tetsuo and A Snake of June)
Takashi Miike (Ichi The Killer, Visitor Q, Audition (1999 film), Gozu)
Shion Sono (Suicide club, Strange Circus, Love Exposure)
Kim Ki-duk (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring, Real Fiction, Time, 3-Iron, Breath, Dream)
Jean-Luc Godard (Le weekend)
Jacques Rivette (Céline et Julie vont en bateau and Le Pont du Nord)
Richard Elfman (Forbidden Zone)
Richard Lester (The Bed-Sitting Room (film))
Terry Gilliam (Brazil and The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus)
Guy Maddin (Archangel, Cowards Bend the Knee, My Winnipeg, The Saddest Music in the World)
Walt Disney (Fantasia and Destino)
Mamoru Oshii (Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer, Tenshi no Tamago and Gosenzo-sama Banbanzai!)
The Brothers Quay (The Piano Tuner of Earthquakes)
Jan Švankmajer (Faust and Alice)
Chris Landreth (The End, Bingo and Ryan)
Ari Folman (Waltz with Bashir)
Tatsuo Sato (Cat Soup)
Hideaki Anno (The End of Evangelion)
Kazuya Tsurumaki (The End of Evangelion, FLCL)
Hiroyuki Imaishi (Dead Leaves, Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt)
Eiichi Yamamoto (Belladonna of Sadness)
Fleischer Brothers (Bimbo's Initiation) and (Snow White)
