There have been a number of movements across the globe shaping the art as well as technology of cinema.

Cinema - the most powerful art form in today's world. Although it's a relatively new medium, the language of cinema has gone through extensive experimentation at various times to come into its modern-day form. Filmmakers from all around the world have challenged all the traditional film making norms time and again, resulting into a whole new approach towards the medium of cinema. So, let's have a look at some of the most important film movements of all time.

German Expressionism: German Expressionism flourished in post World War I era. At that time, Germany was going through a disastrous socio-economic condition. The filmmakers started producing films using abstract set design, lighting and colors to represent the psychological absurdities of the country. Also, they created a whole new style of acting and emphasized on using the shadows differently in cinema. Thus, the films from these times show a surreal world hidden behind the reality.

Example: 'Metropolis'.

Soviet Montage: The Soviet Montage Movement emerged in the 1920s revolutionizing the cinematic language across the globe. Soviet filmmakers like Sergei Eisenstein, Lev Kuleshov and others started focusing more on images, instead of words. Challenging the continue editing techniques of American cinema, they came up with the idea of montage shots that would represent the narrative more effectively.

Example: 'Battleship Potemkin'.

Italian Neorealism: Italy was going through a poor socio-economic situation during the post World War II era. The filmmakers, lacking enough capital, started producing movies with stories about the working class people. Thus, a new film movement named Italian Neorealism emerged emphasizing on shooting in real location and with minimal resources such as natural light, non-professional actors etc. These films represent the poverty, oppression, crime, injustice etc. of the Italian society at that time.

Example: 'Bicycle Thieves'.

French New Wave: In the late 1950s, some young film buffs from France got exhausted seeing the traditional filmmaking norms and went on to come up with an unconventional approach towards creating movies. Filmmakers like Jean-Luc Godard, François Truffaut, Éric Rohmer and several others started producing low-budget movies with stories about the common people of the society. Also, they developed various filmmaking techniques like jump cuts, long takes, tracking shots, discontinuous editing and more which would redefine the overall narrative style in cinema.

Example: 'Breathless'.

Dogme 95: The Danish filmmakers Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg started this movement in mid-90s, introducing a number of rules to produce cinema in low budget and with a more realistic look. This film movement emphasized on shooting in real locations, avoiding musical soundtrack, using natural lights as well as color and more.

Example: 'Festen'.

Some other important film movements are New Hollywood, Hong Kong New Wave, Third Cinema, Japanese New Wave, Parallel Cinema etc.