film

One of the great mavericks of 20th-century cinema, John Cassavetes was responsible for several milestones of independent film, and Shadows was the first. Set in New York City during the Beat Generation years, it explores race relations through the experiences of Lelia, Hugh, and Ben, three Black siblings played by Lelia Goldoni, Hugh Hurd and Ben Carruthers. The film follows the siblings for two weeks of their lives as Hugh and Ben struggle on the margins of the city's jazz scene and Leila goes through romantic trials and tribulations.

Cassavetes originally developed Shadows as an acting workshop exercise, allowing actors to improvise dialogue and scenes. It was initially shot in 1957 and released in 1958, but a poor reception from critics and audiences led him to rework it with a full script, with the re-release, which is the version that will be shown at Phenomena, coming out in 1959. In a remarkable turnaround in fortunes for the film, the reworked version won the Critics' Award at the 1960 Venice Film Festival, and set the stage for Cassavetes' extraordinary career.