In 1970s Hollywood, the “New Hollywood” or “American New Wave” reached its zenith as studios, desperate to connect with a disillusioned, post-Vietnam audience, handed absolute creative control to a young generation of film-school-educated directors. This resulted in an era of uncompromising, dark, and psychologically complex masterpieces like The Godfather (1972), Chinatown (1974), and Taxi Driver (1976) that challenged traditional moral boundaries.

Concurrently, international cinema pushed artistic extremes, from the provocative social critiques of the West German New Cinema to the visceral body horror of David Cronenberg in Canada. However, the economic landscape of the industry shifted seismically in the decade’s latter half; the massive, unprecedented success of Steven Spielberg’s Jaws (1975) and George Lucas’s Star Wars (1977) gave rise to the summer blockbuster, permanently pivoting studio focus toward high-concept, merchandise-driven franchise filmmaking.

Directors born in the 1970s included Paul Thomas Anderson (1970), Christopher Nolan (1970), Sofia Coppola (1971), Ava DuVernay (1972), Rian Johnson (1973), Taika Waititi (1975), and Jordan Peele (1979). These were the directors who came of age with directors, then met an imposing canon of world cinema as they reached adulthood.