No Wave Cinema

Originating in New York City’s Lower East Side during the 1970s and 1980s, a loose collective of filmmakers and artists created a bold, boundary-pushing body of work that later became known as No Wave Cinema.

Much like the influential music movement that inspired its name, No Wave Cinema rejected conventional filmmaking norms—its definitions, aesthetics, and methods. Instead, it embraced a raw, low-budget, politically charged style. Drawing heavily from punk culture and guerrilla filmmaking practices, No Wave Cinema used humor, shock, and improvisation to confront and disrupt traditional cinematic approaches.

Notable No wave films:

IVAN KRAL, AMOS POE - The Blank Generation (1976)

AMOS POE - Unmade Beds (1976) - The Foreigner (1978) - Subway Riders (1981)

JAMIE NARES - Rome '78 (1978)

SCOTT B and BETH B - G-Man (1978) - Black Box (1978) - Letters to Dad (1979) - The Offenders (1980) - Vortex (1981)

ABEL FERRARA - The Driller Killer (1979) - Ms. 45 (1981)

JIM JARMUSCH - Permanent Vacation (1980) - Stranger Than Paradise (1984)

ERIC MITCHELL - Underground U.S.A. (1980) - The Way It Is or Eurydice in the Avenues (1985)

SUSAN SEIDELMAN - Smithereens (1982)

LIZZIE BORDEN - Born in Flames (1983)

BRADLEY EROS - Mutable Fire (1984)

BETTE GORDON - Variety (1984)

CINQUIÉ LEE - Window on Your Present (1988)