[2][3] Founded by Rouzbeh Rashidi, the Experimental Film Society originated in 2000 in Tehran, Iran, and expanded to Dublin in 2004.

[4] Initially, it was a member-based not-for-profit film collective specialising in avant-garde, experimental and low-budget filmmaking.

[5] After accepting new international members, it emphasised film archiving, restoration and programming by underground filmmakers.

The book, as suggested in the name, chronicles the history of modern underground cinema by assembling a series of writings, interviews and manifestos that examine the concepts that arise from EFS filmmaking.

It comments on the activities during 20 years of EFS from an external viewpoint, focusing more on criticism of the group's filmography and essays on film theory.