the cinema of transgression:

New York City’s Lower East Side in the early Eighties saw an explosion of the downtown film scene, as a variety of film-makers, photographers, performers and artists, inspired by the post-punk No Wave music scene, began to explore new, direct, and confrontational cinematic forms.

In 1984 the manifesto for the Cinema of Transgression was announced, a movement looking to transform values by breaking all taboos of cinematic expression, conservative religion, politics and aesthetics.

the manifesto is a bit reactionary, but still has its points. the best thing is thanks to ubuweb you can see a lot of the films from those involved in this scene. via warrenellis.com