Michael Snow (b. 1929)
A to Z (1956)
Michael Snow's first film, A to Z (4 minutes, colour, silent, 1956) shows a crepuscular scene, a cross-hatched blue ink drawing of table and chairs, cups and saucers, which comes to animated life. Hindsight hints of things to come are evoked by the scalar title, legato mood and oddly the anthropomorphic chairs ("two chairs fuck," says Snow) who prophesy the heroic presence of the yellow chair in Wavelength, done 10 years later. - Max Knowles.