I see your point, this was the era of the new waves, and many countries began making film, others developed a remarkable voice, and it helps that at this time (at least part of it) the Soviet Union drastically lightened up on their censorship of films made in Eastern Europe. In the late 60's you had "New Waves" from Japan, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Sweden, Italy, and of course America's "Easy Riders and Raging Bulls". Many critics and historians who grew up in this time period are leaning towards this (which is certainly understandable) so you're not alone. I can come up with as many valid points to your argument as my own. 

However what we fail to see from this period is how clueless Hollywood really was. Lots of credit goes to brilliant executives like Robert Evans at Paramount for green lighting projects like Rosemary's Baby, Chinatown, and of course the Godfather films, but for every Godfather was a Swarm, Funny Lady, and Shaft's Big Score. This doesn't mean that 30's cinema is without blemish, but never in film did so many overbudgeted pieces of junk come out, even though the present Hollywood is certainly challenging that. I'm more familiar with this period of film on a general level, having seen more films from this period than the one I mentioned, however much more was going on at this point, so I think percentage wise I'm far from covering all bases.