John Cassavetes's directorial debut revolves round a romance in nyc between Lelia, a pale - skinned black woman, a white man, also Tony. The relationship is put in peril when Tony matches the darker-skinned jazz singer brother, Hugh of Lelia, also discovers her racial heritage just isn't what he thought it had been. Shot on location in Manhattan with team and a mostly nonprofessional cast, Shadows is just a work that is widely known as the forerunner of the American independent film movement.