Indie Film Series | Stranger Than Paradise (1984) and She’s Gotta Have It (1986)

By Ted Barron, Ph.D | Executive Director, DeBartolo Performing Arts Center, March 15, 2023

[About a 1 MIN read]

Two of the seminal works of 1980s New York-based indie film, Jim Jarmusch’s Stranger Than Paradise and Spike Lee’s She’s Gotta Have It established a model for profitable, low-budget production that would soon be subsumed by the larger Hollywood studios. 

About the Series
Independent or “indie” film often refers to films produced or distributed outside the Hollywood studio system.  While many films labeled as indie experiment with form and content, many others are often low-budget productions that adhere to the conventions of Hollywood cinema. For this podcast series, we will be discussing a group of films that trace the development of American independent cinema from its early roots in neorealism to more contemporary hybrid forms.  We will consider the role of technology in this (r)evolution from 16mm film to digital video to iPhones.

Series Host: Dr. Ted Barron
Dr. Ted Barron is the Executive Director of the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center and Judd and Mary Lou Leighton Director of the Performing Arts. He teaches courses on global cinema history, documentary film, and German film.