Among the new fifted indie directors in 1982 were Wayne Wang (Chan Is Missing) and Susan Seidelman (Smithereens).

Though a two-character, dialogue-driven film, Louis Malle's Dinner With Andre took the indie cinema by storm in 1981.

The most influential indie in 1979 was undoubtedly Return of the Secaucus Seven, which marked the feature debut of John Sayles, considered by many film critics to be the father of the “New American Independent Cinema.”

Three of the most interesting indies in 1979 were: Victor Nunez's Gal Young 'Un, Richard Pearce's Heartland, and John Hanson's Northern Lights, all reflecting regional cinema.

In 1978, among the indies that mattered were Claudie Weill's Girlfriends and Charles Burnett's Killer of Sheep.