 shadows is an improvised film about interracial relations during the beat generation years in new york city, and was written and directed by john cassavetes. the film stars ben carruthers, lelia goldoni, hugh hurd, and anthony ray (tony in the film). many film scholars consider shadows one of the highlights of independent film in the u.s. in 1960 the film won the critics award at the venice film festival. the film is considered a milestone and has achieved a legendary status in the independent cinema circuit. ==production== cassavetes shot the film twice, once in 1957 and again in 1959. the second version is the one cassavetes favored. although he did screen the first version, he lost track of the print, and for decades it was believed to have been lost or destroyed. the 1957 version was intended to have the jazz music of charles mingus on the soundtrack, but mingus failed to meet various deadlines set by cassavetes. the contributions of saxophonist shafi hadi, the saxophonist for mingus's group, proved to ultimately be the soundtrack for the film. ==alternative version== in 2004, after over a decade of searching, film scholar ray carney announced he had located the original 1957 version of the film. this print had apparently been screened only a few times before being mislaid. carney says his find includes a complete credits sequence which shows it is a final version, not a rough assembly. ==reception== film critic leonard maltin calls cassavetes' second version of shadows "a watershed in the birth of american independent cinema". the movie was shot with a 16&nbsp;
1950s_drama_films 1959_films American_films American_independent_films Art_films Black-and-white_films Directorial_debut_films English-language_films Films_about_race_and_ethnicity Films_directed_by_John_Cassavetes Jazz_films United_States_National_Film_Registry_films