American Indie Filmmakers: Thinking Globally and Acting Globally, Too

National cinema has expanded into international cinema, with directors of all nationalities chafing at audience expectations for a certain style or theme. Directors who are first- or second-generation immigrants in the US push film boundaries to explore new settings and characters, often beyond their own ethnicity. Author Dennis Lim suggests that the directors “go beyond dutiful multiculturalism.” Many of the films would have once been categorized as Asian American films – but that category has become more widespread, diverse and political. Some directors impose American models onto the developing-nation settings, but other directors find poetic stories about cultural assimilation in ordinary settings. For example, Iranian-American director Ramin Bahrani – influenced by the Italian, US and Iranian trends – tells the tale of a Pakistani pushcart vendor who sells bagels and coffee. He relays the self-consciousness of Muslim-Americans in post-9/11 New York, with the haunting imagery of Camus’s “Myth of Sisyphus,” the hero who endlessly pushes a rock up a hill, only to have it fall back down again. The directors win attention and awards for relaying the powerful emotions and endeavors of ordinary humans caught up in world events. – YaleGlobal