Directed by Bette Gordon • 1983 • United States
Starring Sandy McLeod, Will Patton, Richard M. Davidson
The provocative, sexually charged tale of a woman’s journey of self-discovery, Bette Gordon’s independent landmark offers a bold challenge to conventional notions of feminism and pornography. Emerging out of New York City’s 1980s artistic underground, VARIETY follows Christine (Sandy McLeod), a bright and unassuming young woman who takes a job selling tickets at a porno theater near Times Square. Instead of distancing herself from the dark and erotic nature of her new milieu, Christine soon develops an obsession that begins to consume her life. Featuring contributions from a variety of counterculture luminaries—including cult novelist Kathy Acker, who cowrote the script; musician John Lurie; and photographer Nan Goldin—VARIETY remains revolutionary in its fearless exploration of erotic fantasy from a woman’s point of view.
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Stranger Than Paradise
Directed by Jim Jarmusch • 1984 • United States, Germany
Starring John Lurie, Richard Edson, Eszter BalintWith this breakout film, Jim Jarmusch established himself as one of the most exciting voices in the burgeoning independent-film scene, a road-movie poet with an affinity for Americana at it...
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Five Corners
Directed by Tony Bill • 1987 • United States
Tony Bill's ensemble piece, featuring an extraordinary cast (Jodie Foster, John Turturro, Tim Robbins), is an urban romance set against the youthful idealism and the matter-of-fact violence of a working-class Bronx neighborhood in the early '60s. With...
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Metropolitan
Directed by Whit Stillman • 1990 • United States
Starring Carolyn Farina, Edward Clements, Taylor NicholsOne of the great American independent films of the 1990s, the surprise hit METROPOLITAN, by writer-director Whit Stillman, is a sparkling comedic chronicle of a young man’s romantic misadven...
