In the 1990’s, independent films escalated into a cin-
ema of diversity that included a great variety of
voices and perspectives. In the 1980’s and earlier,
films were privately made and financed as under-
ground, eccentric, or experimental works. In the
1990’s, there was a proliferation of personal films by
directors who were denied expression in profits-
driven Hollywood. Because of the large number of
film school graduates and the popularity of indepen-
dent films, it became easier to secure financing out-
side the Hollywood system.
Independent films catered to more mature audi-
ences than the age twelve-to-twenty viewers targeted
by Hollywood films, and in view of the wide experi-
ences of the filmmakers themselves, created niche
audiences outside the mainstream. Also, during the
1990’s, indie films fared well at the Academy Awards,
winning Oscars for directing, writing, and editing.
Major Genres The most prominent form of film in
the 1990’s was noir, a genre that has fascinated the
American public since the 1940’s with its dark per-
spectives on lust, greed, and death. Having experi-
enced a comeback in the 1980’s in the films of David
Lynch, the Coen brothers, and Martin Scorsese, noir
continued into the 1990’s through the works of
these filmmakers as well as of Quentin Tarantino
and his imitators. Perhaps reflecting America’s
moral chaos, noir films became the film of choice for
numerous fledgling filmmakers, who counted on
the genre’s popularity and its relative ease in film-
ing. Classic noir, with its extremes in lighting and
character depiction, merges with comedy or coming-
of-age elements to depict broad ranges of experi-
ence, whereas neo-noir tends to flatten the charac-
ter excesses so that no characters are as virtuous or
evil as in conventional noir. Also, many noir films
provided an opportunity to shock the audience with
their brutally violent situations and language, as if to
leave no taboo unexplored.
Despite the success of serious drama in the hands
of some directors, especially John Sayles, the second
most prevalent genre in the 1990’s was satiric com-
edy. Following the lead of Robert Altman, many film-
makers attempted character-driven, experimental
narratives with cynical political themes. Tim Rob-
bins, one of Altman’s protégés, followed similarly in
Bob Roberts(1992).Other filmmakers created youth-
oriented films in which characters confronted anxi-
eties about race, sexual preferences, coming of age,
suicide, pedophilia, dysfunctional families, and
other extreme subjects that were not usually present
in Hollywood films.
Impact The primary venue for showing American
independent films, the Sundance Film Festival, lo-
cated in Park City, Utah, and cofounded by Robert
Redford, was established for the purpose of display-
ing the works of new filmmakers. The festival has
been known for its presentation of diverse works by
regional artists, women, and ethnic minorities. Be-
ginning as a small showcase for independent films,
the annual event has become so enormous that it has
moved toward an institutional and mainstream inde-
pendent cinema festival. Sundance helped to bring
attention to such indie films asClerks(1994) andThe
Blair Witch Project(1999).
Films containing social or ethical issues tradition-
ally ignored by Hollywood studios were taken on by
independent filmmakers during the 1990’s. Tal-
ented, creative artists who could not work in the Hol-
lywood system had an opportunity for cinematic self-
expression within independent films. Viewers who
tired of the traditional viewpoints (white, middle-
class, heterosexual, male) yearned for stories that, if
not closer to their own lives, at least represented an
enjoyable diversity.
Further Reading
Biskind, Peter.Down and Dirty Pictures: Miramax,
Sundance, and the Rise of the Independent Film.New
York: Simon & Schuster, 2004. Biskind devotes
much of the book to discussions of Sundance
Film Festival cofounder Robert Redford and
Miramax cofounder Harvey Weinstein, both of
whom are viewed by Biskin as fostering, yet ulti-
mately ruining the “purity” of independent film.
Chion, Michel.David Lynch.Rev. ed. London: Brit-
ish Film Institute, 2006. Companion to Lynch’s
body of work, focusing on themes and motifs be-
hind his surreal films.
Keyssar, Helene.Robert Altman’s America.New York:
Oxford University Press, 1991. Examines the
films of Altman, America’s premier independent
filmmaker, who consistently fuses myths with his-
tory to comment on the American Dream.
Rowell, Erica.The Brothers Grim: The Films of Ethan
and Joel Coen.Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press,- Interesting study of the Coen brothers,
their beginnings, and their films, including the
use of black humor and violence in their films.
450 Independent films The Nineties in America