Microbudget Movies

Microbudget Movies

29 Episodes

No budget? No problem! Short on cash but flush with inspiration, these resourceful filmmakers prove that passion and creative vision can turn scarcity into opportunity. From the ultimate in B-noir sleaze (DETOUR) to counterculture sensations from the indie underground (SWEET SWEETBACK’S BAADASSSSS SONG, ERASERHEAD) to early masterpieces from celebrated international auteurs like Chantal Akerman (JE TU IL ELLE), David Lynch (ERASERHEAD), Jim Jarmusch (STRANGER THAN PARADISE), Richard Linklater (SLACKER), and Jia Zhangke (XIAO WU), the films in this collection—all made for $150,000 or less—make a little go a long way, refusing to let their shoestring budgets hamper their artistic invention.

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Microbudget Movies

29 Episodes

  • Clean, Shaven
    1:19:13
    Clean, Shaven
    Episode 1

    Clean, Shaven

    Episode 1

    Directed by Lodge Kerrigan • 1994 • United States
    Starring Peter Greene, Robert Albert, Megan Owen

    Lodge Kerrigan began his succession of utterly unique, visually and aurally dazzling character studies with the raw, ravaging CLEAN, SHAVEN. A compelling headfirst dive into the mindscape of a schi...

  • Xiao Wu
    1:53:04
    Xiao Wu
    Episode 2

    Xiao Wu

    Episode 2

    Directed by Jia Zhangke • 1997 • China, Hong Kong
    Starring Wang Hongwei, Hao Hongjian, Zuo Baitao

    The feature debut of visionary director Jia Zhangke announced the arrival of arguably the most important Chinese filmmaker of his generation. Left behind by friends who have taken advantage of the c...

  • Following
    1:10:05
    Following
    Episode 3

    Following

    Episode 3

    Directed by Christopher Nolan • 1999 • United Kingdom
    Starring Jeremy Theobald, Alex Haw

    Before he became a sensation with the twisty revenge story MEMENTO, Christopher Nolan fashioned this low-budget, 16 mm black-and-white neonoir with comparable precision and cunning. Providing irrefutable evi...

  • In Vanda’s Room
    2:50:51
    In Vanda’s Room
    Episode 4

    In Vanda’s Room

    Episode 4

    Directed by Pedro Costa • 2000 • Germany, Portugal, Switzerland

    For the extraordinarily beautiful second film in his Fontainhas trilogy, Pedro Costa jettisoned his earlier films' larger crews to burrow even deeper into the Lisbon ghetto and the lives of its desperate inhabitants. With the inti...

  • Frownland
    1:46:54
    Frownland
    Episode 5

    Frownland

    Episode 5

    Directed by Ronald Bronstein • 2007 • United States

    Longtime Safdie brothers collaborator Ronald Bronstein has described his lone directorial effort as "a rotten egg lobbed with bad aim at the silver screen." Be forewarned: audience response has been intensely divided. FROWNLAND has garnered bot...

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