Below is a list of significant events and films in underground film history between the years 1990 and 1999. Reference key of sources appears at the bottom of the page.
1990
MAJOR EVENTS
The sixth and final New York Film Festival Downtown is held.
(J.S.)
SIGNIFICANT FILMS
U.S.
Richard Baylor
Thoughts From the White Walls
(J.S.)
Dead Love
(J.S.)
Jeri Cain Rossi
Burley-Q
(J.S.)
Su Friedrich
Sink or Swim
(P.A.S.)
The Evil Cameraman (1986/90)
(starring Richard Kern and Jap Anne; soundtrack by Foetus) (J.S.)
X = Y
(starring Casandra Stark) (J.S.)
1991
SIGNIFICANT FILMS
U.S.
Beth B
Stigmata
(J.S.)
Richard Baylor
Dum Dum
(J.S.)
Good Things Happen to Those That Love the Lord
(J.S.)
Jeri Cain Rossi
Anima Sola
(J.S.)
Scooter and Jinx
(aka Moneylove; released by Geffen Records on Sonic Youth video “Goo”) (J.S.)
Tumble
(J.S.)
Nazi
(J.S.)
Catholic
(J.S.)
Horoscope
(starring Holly Adams) (J.S.)
Casandra Stark Mele
Death of an Arabian Woman
(starring Casandra Stark) (J.S.)
1992
SIGNIFICANT FILMS
U.S.
Beth B
Amnesia
(J.S.)
Richard Baylor
My Funny Valentine
(J.S.)
Jesus Hates You (1990/92)
(J.S.)
Jeri Cain Rossi
Black Hearts Bleed Red
(based on Flannery O’Connor short story “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”) (J.S.)
Dirty
(in collaboration with Annabelle Davies) (based on Georges Bataille’s Le Bleu Du Ciel (Blue of Noon, 1935/1957)) (J.S.)
The Bitches
(starring Serbu and Annabelle Davies) (J.S.)
The Sewing Circle
(starring Kembra Pfahler) (J.S.)
Leslie Thornton
Peggy and Fred in Hell (1984-1992)
(In six parts) (P.A.S.)
War Is Menstrual Envy (1990-92)
(starring Steven Oddo, Kembra Pfahler, Mike Wilson, Ari Roussimoff, Annie Sprinkle, Ray) (J.S.)
1993
SIGNIFICANT FILMS
U.S.
Beth B
Under Lock and Key
(J.S.)
Two Small Bodies
(adapted from the play by Neal Bell) (J.S.)
Richard Baylor
Cirsium Delectus
(J.S.)
My Nightmare
(J.S.)
Detachable Penis
(music video for King Missile) (J.S.)
Room 429
(music video for Cop Shoot Cop) (J.S.)
Body Bomb
(music video for Unsane) (J.S.)
Todd Phillips
Hated: G.G. Allin & The Murder Junkies
(J.S.)
Charles Pinion
Red Spirit Lake
(J.S.)
Jim VanBebber
My Sweet Satan
(J.S.)
1994
MAJOR EVENTS
April 19: At the annual membership meeting, Canyon Cinema officially changes its bylaws so that they can start distributing video works.
(S.M.)
The first New York Underground Film Festival is held. The event was created by Todd Phillips and Andrew Gurland. Main feature is Chicken Hawk: Men Who Love Boys, directed by Adi Sideman.
(J.S.)
Also, this is the first year for the Chicago Underground Film Festival.
(J.S.)
Pip Chodorov founds Re:Voir, a French company that distributes avant-garde and experimental films on VHS.
(S.M.)
Filmmaker Earl Bodien dies.
(S.M.)
SIGNIFICANT FILMS
U.S.
Lunchbox
(music video for Marilyn Manson) (J.S.)
Love Is…
(music video for King Missile) (J.S.)
Casandra Stark Mele
The Anarchists
(J.S.)
Ela Troyano
Carmelita Tropicana
(J.S.)
1995
MAJOR EVENTS
The second annual New York Underground Film Festival is held.
(J.S.)
Filmmaker Warren Sonbert dies.
(S.M.)
SIGNIFICANT FILMS
U.S.
Eric Brummer
Joanna Died and Went to Hell
(in collaboration with Holly Adams) (J.S.)
1996
MAJOR EVENTS
The Whitney Museum of American Art holds a retrospective of ’70s and ’80s post-punk NYC cinema, curated by Matthew Yokobosky and entitled “No Wave Cinema, 1978-87.”
(J.S.)
SIGNIFICANT FILMS
U.S.
Beth B
Visiting Desire
(in collaboration with Holly Adams) (J.S.)
Douglas Buck
Cutting Moments
(J.S.)
Cheryl Dunye
Watermelon Woman
(S.M.)
Su Friedrich
Hide and Seek
(S.M.)
1997
MAJOR EVENTS
Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-MN) gets the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations to start investigating NEA funding. Canyon Cinema, an NEA funding recipient, comes under attack for publishing pictures of elderly lesbians kissing in their film catalog and eventually loses nearly all of its NEA funding. Also under investigation are distributor Women Make Movies and filmmakers Yvonne Rainer and Su Friedrich.
(S.M.)
SIGNIFICANT FILMS
U.S.
Beth B
Voices Unheard
(J.S.)
James Benning
Four Corners
(P.A.S.)
Huck Botko
Fruitcake
(J.S.)
Baked Alaska
(J.S.)
Robert Pejo
R.I.P.: Rest in Pieces
(J.S.)
Ela Troyano
Latin Boys Go to Hell
(J.S.)
Tommy Turner
Whack Is Whack
(J.S.)
Jim VanBebber
Charlie’s Family (1997)
(aka The Manson Family (2004))
1998
MAJOR EVENTS
August 20: Nick Zedd writes a new manifesto, The Theory of Xenomorphosis.
(J.S.)
SIGNIFICANT FILMS
U.S.
Tommy Turner
The Magician
(co-directed with Jennifer Tull) (J.S.)
1999
SIGNIFICANT FILMS
U.S.
Huck Botko
Graham Cracker Cream Pie
(J.S.)
Eric Brummer
Debbie Does Damnation
(J.S.)
Bob Judd
Jesse Helms Is Cleaning Up America
(J.S.)
Tom Thumb in the Land of the Giants
(J.S.)
Ecstasy in Entropy
(awarded a Chicago Underground Film Festival Completion Grant) (J.S.)
REFERENCE KEY:
J.S.: Jack Sargeant. Deathtripping: the Extreme Underground. Brooklyn: Soft Skull, 2008. (Originally published: London: Creation, 1995.)
P.A.S.: P. Adams Sitney. Visionary Film: the American Avant-garde, 1943-2000. New York: Oxford UP, 2002.
S.M.: Scott MacDonald. Canyon Cinema: the Life and times of an Independent Film Distributor. Berkeley: University of California, 2008.