Cinema of Transgression

The Cinema of Transgression is a term coined by Nick Zedd in 1985 to describe a New York City–based underground film movement, consisting of a loose-knit group of artists using shock value and black humor in their films.[1][2] Key players in this movement were Zedd, Kembra Pfahler, Tessa Hughes-Freeland, Casandra Stark, Beth B, Tommy Turner, Jon Moritsugu, Manuel DeLanda, David Wojnarowicz, Richard Kern, and Lydia Lunch, who in the late 1970s and mid-1980s began to make very low-budget films using cheap 8 mm cameras.

Zedd outlined his philosophy on the Cinema of Transgression in The Cinema of Transgression Manifesto, published under the name Orion Jeriko in the zine The Underground Film Bulletin (1984–90).[3]

Cinema of Transgression continues to heavily influence underground filmmakers. In 2000, the British Film Institute showed a retrospective of the movement's work introduced by those involved in the production of the original video films.[4]

  1. ^ Shock Value: New York’s underground ‘Cinema of Transgression’-Dangerous Minds
  2. ^ Sabin, Roger (2002). Punk Rock: So What?: The Cultural Legacy of Punk. Routledge. pp. 69–72. ISBN 9780203448403.
  3. ^ Zedd, Nick (1985). "The Cinema of Transgression Manifesto". Archived from the original on 22 October 2014. Retrieved 7 June 2014.
  4. ^ Zedd, Nick (2000). "The Cinema of Transgression 1984–90". Archived from the original on February 2, 2017.