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Independent  &  Avant-Garde
Filmmakers

John Carpenter John Cassavetes [1929-89] Maya Deren [1917-61] Alex Gibney Robert Greenwald Page Henry Jaglom Jim Jarmusch Alejandro Jodorowsky Terrence Malick Page Michael Moore Page Errol Morris Godfrey Reggio John Sayles John Waters

here on page one: links people, A to L on page two: top of page people, M to Z on page three: selected films top of page collections on DVD individual films on page four: top of page film festivals & contests reference books how-to books & videos software

"I was always an independent, even when I had partners."
— movie producer Samuel Goldwyn [1879-1974]

"In feature films, the director is God; in documentary films, God is the director."
— Alfred Hitchcock [1899-1980]

Art House & International Films at Amazon: on DVD • on VHS
Documentary Films category at Amazon: on DVD • on VHS

L i n k s
Independent Filmmaker's Forum [last update 1999?]
IndieFilms: network of independent filmmakers
IndieWire: online community [est. 1996]
Reel Roundtable [est. 1998] in New York City
Indie Film Page
Amateur Movie Makers Association [1953-2009]
Albuquerque [NM] Independent Film Cooperative
Screen Actors Guild 'Indie' Program [est. 1997]
The Documentary Channel
Women Make Movies independent distribution
Chicken & Egg Pictures [est. 7/2005] helps feminist & female filmmakers - based in NYC & SFO
International Documentary Assn. [est. 1982]
Independent Filmmakers Alliance
New Film Makers - New York City [est. 1998]
New Film Makers - Los Angeles [est. 2007]
GoFilmFest Independent Film & Film Festival ezine

official website • crowd funding at IndieGoGo

Independent Film Project [est. 1979] Los Angeles FilmFest [June 2009 = #25] Independent Film Week {formerly I.F.P. Market} [Sept 2009 = #31] East Coast Gotham Independent Film Awards [Nov 2009 = #19]

Independent Film Channel [est. 1994] I.F.C. rant Magazine {subscription} I.F.C. Review quarterly {subscription} IFC Films (independent distribution)

subscription 4 issues/year for $18.00 via Amazon

F I L M - M A K E R S  { A to Z }

film 'herstorian' Ally Acker of Long Island, New York
IMDb listing • official website & blog • Wikipedia

"Reel Women: Pioneers of The Cinema, 1896 To The Present" [1990] by Ally Acker, Foreword by Judith Crist, Afterword by Marc Wanamaker Continuum 9¾x6½ pb [3/93] out of print/used Continuum 10¼x7½ hardcover [3/91] out of print/40+ used "Reel Women: Pioneers of The Cinema: The First Hundred Years, Volume I" [2011] by Ally Acker, Foreword by Judith Crist, Afterword & Photos by Marc Wanamaker CreateSpace 10x7 pb [8/2011] for $26.95 "Reel Women: Pioneers of The Cinema: The First Hundred Years, Volume II" [2012] by Ally Acker, Foreword by Jeanine Basinger, Afterword & Photos by Marc Wanamaker CreateSpace 10x7 pb [3/2012] for $26.95

Reel Women Archive Film Series on video since 1990

more details on Magic Lantern's Cinema Historians Page

Darren Aronofsky
IMDb listing • Wikipedia

Charles Band
Charles and his brother Richard have made over 250 schlock feature films, mostly in the horror genre.
browse Charles Band on DVD • official website • IMDb listing • Wikipedia

Joe Berlinger
IMDb listing • Wikipedia

"Crude: The Real Price of Oil" [First Run Features Sept 2009] Thirty thousand native residents of the despoiled Amazon rainforest in Ecuador sued Chevron for $27 billion in reparations, while still living in the heavily-polluted environment • Co-produced & directed by Joe Berlinger; won awards at Dallas, Big Sky, Nashville & Thessalonika film festivals First Run Features color DVD [2/2010] for $20.99 full credits at IMDb • official movie site • movie entry at Wikipedia

"Hank: Five Years From The Brink" [Bloomberg Business Week Sept 2013] 87 minutes from interviews with Henry 'Hank' Paulson and his wife Wendy Co-produced, written & directed by Joe Berlinger Virgil Films & Ent. widescreen color DVD [2/2014] for $19.99 Amazon Instant Video [2/2014] rental $3.99, purchase $12.99 full credits at IMDb

documentary filmmaker  Les Blank
official website • IMDb listing • Wikipedia

Stan Brakhage  [1933-2003]
IMDb listing • Wikipedia

FC's Stan Brakhage fansite

	"By Brakhage" Criterion Collection Anthology [2003] 26 films & extras on 2 disks Criterion DVD [6/2003] for $34.99
	"Brakhage" [Bravo tv movie 1998] Written & directed by Jim Shedden Zeitgeist color DVD [7/2004] for $26.09 full credits from IMDb

Charles Burnett
browse Charles Burnett on DVD • IMDb listing • Wikipedia

"Killer of Sheep" [original 1977; re-released 2007] Long considered a prime example of independent film-making; taught in film schools while until recently not availabale for viewing (due to music rights restrictions). A black man in South Central Los Angeles is disconnected from his wife and his son & daughter and is unable to sleep, while working long hours at the local slaughterhouse • Produced, written, directed & edited by Charles Burnett; starring Henry G. Sanders, Kaycee Moore, Charles Bracy, Angela Burnett, Eugene Cherry & Jack Drummond; won FIPRESCI Prize at Berlin International Film Festival (1981); listed on the first National Film Registry (1990) full credits from IMDb • official movie site New Yorker/Milestone b&w DVD [11/2007] 2 disks for $29.99 this DVD set also includes four short films by Burnett and his second feature film: "My Brother's Wedding" [shelved 1983; released 2007] A black man working at a dry cleaner in South Central Los Angeles agrees to be best man for his ambitious lawyer brother, whom he despises • Produced, written & directed by Charles Burnett; starring Everett Silas, Jessie Holmes, Gaye Shannon-Burnett, Ronnie Bell, Dennis Kemper & Sally Easter; full credits from IMDb

John Carpenter
http://www.amazon.com/John-Carpenter-Man-His-Movies/dp/B0001BKALC/

John Cassavetes  [1929-89]
"Life is a series of suicides, divorces, promises broken, children smashed, whatever."
== line from John Cassavetes movie "Love Streams" [1984]
browse John Cassavetes on DVD • browse books • IMDb listing • Wikipedia
received 3 Oscar nominations [1968-1975]; no wins

"The Films of John Cassavetes: Pragmatism, Modernism & The Movies" [1994] by Raymond Carney Cambridge Univ Press pb [11/2005] for $28.99

wife actress Gena Rowlands
son Nick Cassavetes [b. 1959]
daughter Alexandra Katherine 'Xan' Cassavetes [b. 1965]
daughter director Zoe Cassavetes [b. 1970]

John's mother-in-law Lady Rowlands [1904-99]

YouTube star Michelle Chmielewki

Shirley Clarke  [1919-97]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirley_Clarke
http://www.projectshirley.com/

"Robert Frost: A Lover's Quarrel With The World" [WGBH-TV 1963] The acclaimed 87-year-old poet is shown at speaking engagements at Amherst and Sarah Lawrence colleges, touring an aircraft carrier, receiving an award from President Kennedy, and at home near Boston. Produced by Robert Hughes; directed by Shirley Clarke; featuring Robert Frost, John F. Kennedy & Lyndon Johnson; won Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature available only on DVD-R via streaming license at Milestone Films (2013) full credits at IMDb • official movie site

"Ornette: Made In America" [indep Feb 1986, restored 2/2013] /tt0089742/
http://www.projectshirley.com/ornette.html movie by Shirley Clarke [1919-97]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSxkxE56GOc

Robert Carl Cohen  makes Radical Films
IMDb listing

Gary Conklin
official website • IMDb listing

Alex Cox
browse Alex Cox on DVD • IMDb listing • Wikipedia

	"Alex Cox: Film Anarchist" [2003] by Steven Paul Davies Batsford U.K. 9¾x7¼ pb [6/2003] out of print/used
	"X Films: True Confessions of A Radical Filmmaker" [2008 autobiography] by Alex Cox Soft Skull Press 9¼x6¼ pb [9/2008] for $13.46 I.B. Tauris 9¼x6½ hardcover [6/2008] out of print/used

Sarah Demeestere
http://www.superstringcreations.com/

Maya Deren  [1917-61]
IMDb listing • Wikipedia

"Maya Deren: Experimental Films" [1998] Mystic Fire Video b&w DVD [2/2002] for $39.99 Mystic Fire Video b&w VHS [9/98] for $37.49 official movie site

Magic Lantern's
Bill Douglas  [1934-91, U.K.] Page

designers & filmmakers Charles & Ray Eames
official website • team entry at Wikipedia

Charles & Ray Eames Page at Spirit of America Bookstore

Charles H. Ferguson
browse DVDs • official website • IMDb listing • Wikipedia

"No End In Sight: The American Occupation of Iraq" [Magnolia July 2007] Examines the principal errors of U.S. policy – the use of insufficient troop levels, the looting of Baghdad, the purge of professionals from the Iraqi government, and the disbanding of the Iraqi military – that largely created the insurgency and chaos that engulf Iraq today. Co-produced, written & directed by Charles Ferguson; narrated by Campbell Scott; won Special Jury Prize at Sundance; listed #7 on TIME Top Ten Best Movies of The Year (12/2007); Oscar nomination for Best Documentary Feature, WGA nom for Best Documentary Screenplay Magnolia widescreen color DVD [10/2007] for $19.99 full credits from IMDb • official movie site

"Inside Job" [Sony Pictures Classics Oct 2010] "If you're not enraged by the end of this movie, [then] you haven't been paying attention." — Mary & Richard Corliss, in Time Magazine A comprehensive analysis of the global financial crisis of 2008, thru exhaustive research and extensive interviews with key financial insiders, politicians, journalists & academics • Co-produced, written & directed by Charles Ferguson; narrated by Matt Damon; featuring Congressman Barney Frank, Raghuram Rajan, Nouriel Roubini, George Soros, Eliot Spitzer, Paul Volcker, many others; won Oscar & D.G.A. & WGA Awards for Best Documentary Feature, National Board of Review Award DVD/Blu-ray not yet available • credits at IMDb • official movie site

untitled Julian Assange TV movie [H.B.O. 2012? broadcast]
Announced 8/2011: TV docudrama about Julian Assange & WikiLeaks for H.B.O., to be directed
by Charles Ferguson • latest info at IMDb

filmmaker & media artist  Pιter Forgαcs [b. 1950] of Hungary
official website • IMDb listing • Wikipedia

"Hunky Blues: The American Dream" [Hungary May 2009] 100-minute documentary on the experiences of Hungarians who emigrated to America, mostly thru Ellis Island in New York City between 1890 and 1921; in Hungarian with English subtitles • Directed by Pιter Forgαcs Facets Video widescreen color/b&w DVD [6/2011] for $24.95 credits at IMDb

"Cinema's Alchemist: The Films of Pιter Forgαcs" [2011] Edited by Bill Nichols & Michael Renov Contributors include scholars from University of California, Berkeley; Budapest University; University of Southern California; Hamilton College in New York; University of California, Santa Cruz; University of Paris; University of Massachusetts, Amherst; Wesleyan University; University of Pennsylvania; University of Leiden, Netherlands; and Stockholm University Kindle Edition from Univ MN Press [11/2011] for $15.13 Univ MN Press 10x7 pb [11/2011] for $27.50 Univ MN Press 10x7 hardcover [11/2011] for $82.50

photographer & filmmaker Robert Frank [b. 1924]
"Although he has made 27 films, the work is largely a well-kept secret."
browse books at Amazon • Artcyclopedia • IMDb listing • Wikipedia

"The Americans" [1958] Photographs by Robert Frank; Introduction by Jack Kerouac considered to be Robert Frank's masterpiece Scalo Verlag 9½x8½ pb [9/93] out of print/used Random House/Pantheon 9¾x9 pb [1/86] out of print/used Steidl Verlag 8½x7½ hardcover [8/2005] out of print/used Scalo Verlag 8¾x9½ hardcover [5/98] out of print/used

"Frank Films" book [] by Robert Frank
http://www.amazon.com/Frank-Films-Film-Video-Robert/dp/3865218156/

"Robert Frank: The Complete Film Works"

publisher's official author page Volume 1: Steidl Verlag DVD-ROM [10/2008] 3 disks for $54.93 fancy film cans in a slipcase contain 3 films: "Pull My Daisy" [1959 short], "The Sin of Jesus" [1961 short], and "Me and My Brother" [1969] Volume 2: Steidl Verlag DVD [10/2008] - out of prodn/used fancy film can in a slipcase contains 3 films: "Conversations In Vermont" [26 min; 1969], "Life-Raft Earth" [37 min; 1969], and "OK End Here" [32 min; 1963] Volume 3: Steidl Verlag DVD [10/2008] 3 disks - out of prodn/used fancy film cans in a slipcase contain 3 films: "Keep Busy" feature [75 min; 1975], "About Me: A Musical" [29 min; 1971], and "S-8 Stones Footage from Exile On Main Street" [1972] NOTE: Volumes 4 & 5 & 6 were announced but are not produced (8/2013 & 4/2017) Volume 4: Steidl Verlag DVD [not yet released?] 3 disks for $112.49 fancy film cans in a slipcase contain 3 films: "Life Dances On ..." [30 min; 1980], "Energy and How To Get It" [30 min; 1981 spoof], and "Home Improvements" [29 min; 1985] Volume 5: Steidl Verlag DVD [not yet released?] 3 disks for $112.49 fancy film cans in a slipcase contain 2 films: "This Song For Jack" [26 min; 1983] documentary of a conference honoring Jack Kerouac that was held at the Naropa Institute in Boulder, Colorado; and "Hunter" [37 min; 1989] Volume 6: Steidl Verlag DVD [not yet released?] 3 disks for $112.49 fancy film cans in a slipcase contain 3 films: "C'est vrai (It's Real)" [60 min; 1990], "Candy Mountain" [91 min; 1987], and "Run/New Order" video [4 min; 1989]

Alex Gibney browse DVDs • IMDb listing • Wikipedia

Alex Gibney’s New York-based production firm Jigsaw Productions

http://www.amazon.com/David-Halberstams-Fifties-Edward-Herrmann/dp/0767004132/ [1997]
http://www.amazon.com/Enron-Smartest-Guys-Room-Blu-ray/dp/B000GFRII6/ [2006]
http://www.amazon.com/Enron-Smartest-Guys-Room/dp/B000C3L2IO/ [2006]
won shared Oscar & shared Emmy for "Taxi To The Dark Side" docufilm [2007] /tt0854678/
http://www.amazon.com/Gonzo-Life-Work-Hunter-Thompson/dp/B001EDFSIQ/ [2008]
http://www.amazon.com/Casino-Jack-United-States-Money/dp/B003L20IGU/ [2010]
"Freakonomics" [2010] /tt1152822/

"Client 9: The Rise & Fall of Eliot Spitzer" [Magnolia Pictures Nov 2010]
http://www.client9themovie.com/ /tt1638362/

"Magic Trip: Ken Kesey's Search For A Kool Place" [A&E / Magnolia Aug 2011] Described as 'archival cinema veritι', a documentary film made from Ken Kesey & Neal Cassady's mostly-silent footage of their 1964 road trips (and acid trips) in The Magic Bus 'Further', with Sixties-era commen-tary • Co-written & directed by Alex Gibney & Alison Ellwood; featuzing Ken Kesey, Neal Cassady, Allen Ginsberg, Wavy Gravy, The Grateful Dead Band {then called The Warlocks}, and the Merry Pranksters DVD/Blu-ray not yet available full credits at IMDb • official movie site

Brent Green
official website • IMDb listing • Wikipedia

"Gravity Was Everywhere Back Then" stop-motion feature [2010] /tt1660362/

Magic Lantern's
Robert Greenwald Page

browse Robert Greenwald on DVD

Robert Greenwald's blogsite

Brave New Conversations [est. 9/2010 - gone 2016]
participants included Jackson Browne, Janeane Garofalo, Amy Goodman, Congressman Alan Grayson,
Thom Hartmann, Tom Hayden, Oliver Stone & Marianne Williamson

Independent America Media
company official website

"The Two-Lane Search For Mom & Pop" [Canada/Id Commns Nov 2005] The married filmmakers traveled 13,000 miles across America in search of the current status of the 'mom and pop' grocery store. Executive produced by Tom Powers (Open Door Prodns); co-produced & directed by Hanson Hosein; co-produced & narrated by Heather Hughes CustomFlix color DVD [12/2006] for $22.99 credits at IMDb • official movie site

"Rising From Ruins" [indep 2009] Sequel to & extension of "The Two-Lane Search For Mom & Pop" [2005]: reports on the local 'mom & pop' businesses who sustained the neighborhoods of New Orleans immediately after Hurricane Katrina, while corporations did (less than) nothing. Executive produced by Tom Powers (Open Door Prodns); written & directed by Hanson Hosein; narrated by Heather Hughes DVD/Blu-ray not yet available credits at IMDb • official movie site

The Intercept [est. Feb 2014]
official website • entry at Wikipedia

"A Message From The Future With Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez" short film [The Intercept April 2019] /tt12961728/
Co-produced by Sharp As Knives, Molly Crabapple, Avi Lewis, Lauren Feeney; directed by Kim Boekbinder & Jim Batt;
co-written & narrated by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez; co-written by Avi Lewis; illustrated by Molly Crabapple
watch 4/2019 color short film [7:35] online at YouTube

"A Message From The Future II: The Years of Repair" short film [The Intercept Oct 2020]
Executive producer Naomi Klein; produced & co-written by Avi Lewis; co-written & narrated by Opal Tometi; co-directed & music by Kim Boekbinder;
co-directed by Jim Batt; illustrated by Molly Crabapple; also narrated by Gael Garcνa Bernal, Nnimmo Bassey, Emma Thompson
watch 10/2020 color short film [8:57] online at YouTube

Henry Jaglom
browse Henry Jaglom on DVD • IMDb listing • Wikipedia

Jim Jarmusch
browse Jim Jarmusch on DVD • IMDb listing • Wikipedia

JH's Jim Jarmusch fansite

"Mystery Train" [Orion Pictures Nov 1989] Three stories: A Japanese couple obsessed with 1950s America travel by train to Memphis; an Italian widow transporting her husband's body by plane is stuck overnight in Memphis; three Memphis lowlifes head for cover after a botched liquor store robbery – all converging on the same rundown Memphis hotel • Written & directed by Jim Jarmusch; original music by John Lurie; starring Masatoshi Nagase, Youki Kudoh, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Nicoletta Braschi, Elizabeth Bracco), Stephen Jones, Joe Strummer, Rick Aviles, Steve Buscemi & Tom Waits M.G.M. Home Video widescreen color DVD [3/2000] out of prodn/used M.G.M. Home Video color VHS [3/2000] out of prodn/used Milan Records soundtrack CD [8/94] 16 tracks for $11.98 full credits at IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia

surrealist filmmaker Alejandro 'Jodo' Jodorowsky [b. 1929]
browse books • IMDb listing • Wikipedia

Magic Lantern's Alejandro Jodorowsky Page

Michael Kang
official weblog • IMDb listing • Wikipedia

Kogonada
official website • IMDb listing • Wikipedia
sign up for email newsletter at TinyLetter
Kogonada's video channel at Vimeo
video essay 'Way of {Yasujiro} Ozu': at website • [2/2016 upload; 5:13] at Vimeo
video essay 'Ozu: Passageways': at website • [12/2012 upload; 1:18] at Vimeo

"Columbus" [Superlative Films Aug 2017]

A Korean-born man finds himself stuck in Columbus, Indiana, where his architect father is in a coma; he meets a young woman who has chosen to stay in Columbus to care for her recovering addict mother instead of pursuing her own dreams • Written & directed by Kogonada; starring John Cho, Haley Lu Richardson, Parker Posey, Erin Allegretti, Rory Culkin, Jim Dougherty, Caitlin Ewald, Michelle Forbes, Alphaeus Green Jr., Wynn Reichert, Rosalyn R. Ross, Lindsey Shope, Shani Salyers Stiles, Reen Vogel, William Willet DVD/Blu-ray not yet available • full credits at IMDb • official movie site • movie entry at Wikipedia watch 6/2017 official trailer [2:05] at YouTube

Barbara Kopple
official website Cabin Creek Films • IMDb listing • Wikipedia

Oscar-winner "Harlan County U.S.A." [1976]
"The Making of Harlan County USA" [2006]

Oscar-winner "American Dream" [1990]
http://www.amazon.com/American-Dream-Jesse-Jackson/dp/B0000DZTKP/

George & Mike Kuchar
George Kuchar: IMDb listing [1956-2008] • Wikipedia
Michael John 'Mike' Kuchar: IMDb listing [1956-2009] • Wikipedia

"George & Mike Kuchar: Reflections From A Cinematic Cesspool"
[Zanja Press Dangerous Concepts, 1997] ISBN 0915906341

official website of collaborator Marie Losier

"I, An Actress" [1970] by George Kuchar

"It Came From Kuchar" docu [2009] by Jennifer M. Kroot /tt1303745/

filmmaker Sara Lamm
P.B.S. 'Makers Profiles' short videos of Sara Lamm
http://www.magicsoapbox.com/doc/ + http://www.drbronner.com/
http://www.birthstorymovie.com/

Tom Laughlin [1931-2013]
IMDb listing • Wikipedia

official 'Billy Jack' website

"Billy Jack 35th Anniversary Ultimate Collection" [2005] Billy Jack Ent. widescreen color DVD set [9/2005] 5 disks - out of prodn/used includes "Born Losers" [1967]; "Billy Jack" [1971]; "The Trial of Billy Jack" [1974]; "Billy Jack Goes To Washington" [1977]; and a bonus disk with many extras • Produced, co-written & directed by and starring Tom Laughlin; co-written by & co-starring Delores Taylor

"The Complete Billy Jack Collection" DVD Box Set [2009] includes restored versions of "Born Losers" [1967] (written by Elizabeth James); "Billy Jack" [1971]; "The Trial of Billy Jack" [1974]; "Billy Jack Goes To Washington" [1977]; extras include eight commentaries • Produced, co-written & directed by and starring Tom Laughlin; co-written by & co-starring Delores Taylor Image Ent. widescreen color DVD set [8/2009] 4 disks for $23.49

"Born Losers" [1967] written by Elizabeth James
"Billy Jack" [1971]
"The Trial of Billy Jack" [1974]
"Billy Jack Goes To Washington" [1977]

"Billy Jack & Jean" [in development]
not listed at IMDb • watch official promo [22:28] at YouTube

William Lewis
IMDb listing • official website • Wikipedia

Barbara Loden [1932-80]
married 1968-80 to writer-director Elia Kazan [1909-2003]
IMDb listing • Wikipedia

made only one feature film: "Wanda" [1970]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wanda_(film)

Pare Lorentz  [1905-92]
IMDb listing • Wikipedia

I.D.A. Pare Lorentz Film Festival [Oct 2007]

jump to Page Two: People, M to Z

here on Magic Lantern's Independent & Avant-Garde Filmmakers Pages

top of page 1 • links • people, A to L • top of page 2 • people, M to Z

top of page 3 • selected films: collections on DVD • individual films

top of page 4 • film festivals • reference books • how-to books & videos • software

documentary filmmaker Robert Greenwald Page
documentary filmmaker Michael Moore Page

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