Gus Van Sant was a painter with an interest in avant-garde cinema when he began making short films in the late 1970s. His earliest feature films were made at a time when American independent cinema was going through a major transformation. His first film, Mala Noche, a gritty, beautiful drama filmed with almost no budget in grainy black-and-white on the streets of Portland, Oregon, received critical attention but no widespread distribution. His second feature, Drugstore Cowboy, was released the same year as Sex, Lies, and Videotape and Do the Right Thing, as the American independent movement found a foothold in the mainstream. With rare integrity to his unique artistic vision, favoring stories about characters on society's margins, and experimenting boldly with the conventions of narrative filmmaking, Van Sant has established himself as one of the most audacious and accomplished American filmmakers of his generation, and one of the few whose films can truly be called independent.

Featured Works:

Mala Noche (1986); Drugstore Cowboy (1989); My Own Private Idaho (1991, pictured); Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1993); To Die For (1995); Good Will Hunting (1997); Psycho (1998); Gerry (2002); Elephant (2003); Last Days (2005); Paranoid Park (2007); Milk (2008); Restless (2011)

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Gus Van Sant

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