 Related to Dada cinema, Surrealist cinema is characterized by juxtapositions, the rejection of dramatic psychology, and a frequent use of shocking imagery.Philippe Soupault and André Breton’s 1920 book collaboration "Les Champs Magnétiques" is often considered to be the first Surrealist work, but it was only once Breton had completed his "Surrealist Manifesto" in 1924 that ‘Surrealism drafted itself an official birth certificate.’

Surrealist films of the twenties include Rene Clair's "Entr'acte" (1924), Fernand Leger's "Ballet Mechanique" (1924), Jean Renoir's "La Fille de L'eau" (1924), Marcel Duchamp's "Anemic Cinema" (1926), Jean Epstein's "Fall of the House of Usher" (1928) (with Luis Buñuel assisting), Watson and Webber's "Fall of the House of Usher" (1928) and Germaine Dulac's "The Seashell and the Clergyman" (1928) (from a screenplay by Antonin Artaud).Other films include "Un Chien Andalou" and "L'Age d'Or" by Buñuel and Salvador Dalí; Buñuel went on to direct many more films, never denying his surrealist roots.