Log in
  
Home > Opinion > IndieFile
Related topics: IndieFile,Indie Film News, Opinion

 

IFTA Picks 30 ‘Most Significant Independent Films’

8 Sep, 2010 By: Billy Gil

Yea, lists! The Independent Film & Television Alliance (IFTA) is celebrating its 30th anniversary by picking the 30 most significant independent films from the past three decades.

The films were picked by IFTA’s 27-member board of directors, considering films that were independently financed and that introduced new styles of cinema, achieved international acclaim, launched notable careers or stood out in some other way.

Fun factoid: IFTA members have produced and distributed 18 of the past 30 films that won best picture at the Academy Awards.

“From Oscar winners to controversial and visionary game changers, independent films have shaped and defined the film industry and popular culture over the last 30 years,” said IFTA chairman Lloyd Kaufman.

Without further ado, the list:

The most significant independent films from each of the past three decades are:
1980s: Amadeus; Blue Velvet; Dances With Wolves; Das Boot (The Boat); Gandhi; My Left Foot; A Nightmare on Elm Street; Platoon; Sex, Lies and Videotape; The Terminator.
(Honorary mentions: The Killing Fields; The Last Emperor; The Toxic Avenger)

1990s: Braveheart; Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; Fargo; Four Weddings and a Funeral; Life Is Beautiful; Pulp Fiction; Reservoir Dogs; The Silence of the Lambs; The Usual Suspects; Where the Day Takes You.
(Honorary mentions: Basic Instinct, Good Will Hunting; Trainspotting)
 
2000s: Brokeback Mountain; Crash; The Hurt Locker; Inglourious Basterds; Juno; Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring; Million Dollar Baby; Monster; The Pianist; Slumdog Millionaire.
(Honorary mentions: Bowling for Columbine; Memento; Twilight)
 
All of the films should be available on DVD.

IFTA also has partnered with American Cinematheque for the screening series “30 Most Significant Independent Films,” starting Sept. 29 at American Cinematheque’s Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood, Calif., with a reception and screening of 1989 Irish film My Left Foot (starring Daniel Day-Lewis), followed by a Q&A with director Jim Sheridan. The screening schedule is yet to be announced, with the series alternating between the Egyptian and Aero Theatres in Santa Monica, Calif.


Bookmark it:
Add Comment