Features

Video blogs, vodcasts, YouTube -- in many ways it seems that independent filmmakers have taken the internet by force.  But what about independent films picked up for distribution?  In many cases, they are notably missing from the online arena.  Companies like Zipporah Films, Women Make Movies and Davidson Films still stick with their tried-and-true model of

Mainstream Thai cinema is coming up on the international radar lately. In 2003, Francis Ford Coppola spearheaded the international release of Suriyothai, one of the highest grossing Thai films ever when it was first released in that country. It recalls the heroic exploits of a 16th Thai queen defending her country against Burmese invasion.

Sundance is growing. More submissions than ever--8,000 for 2008. More screenings. More countries of origin represented in both the feature and documentary competitions. More arms of the Sundance empire--institutes, labs, the Sundance Channel--at work. More categories to sift through than a sane film-goer can practically comprehend, let alone stand in line for.

On a sunny Saturday afternoon in January, director David Butler and his motley film crew set up shop in a cavernous yellow brick building on Eastern Avenue in Baltimore’s Little Italy. The team, known collectively as Bargain Basement Films, started straggling in at about 7 a.m.

Sarah Silverman is the controversial comedian du jour. Her capacity to shock today's audiences may be distinctly Silverman, yet her career stands on the shoulders of several comedic foremothers. Her routines echo the boldness of Fanny Brice, the sexuality of Sophie Tucker, and the brashness of Joan Rivers to name just a few.

In 1975, when a small group of energetic filmmakers convened the Association of Independent Video and Filmmakers in their living rooms and makeshift offices, the word “independent” didn’t yet conjure up a world of arthouses, busy film festival circuits, and documentary filmmakers with household names.

When I started to write this article, I began with a David Letterman-esque list of 20 reasons we need AIVF. I included practical items like “to get a job,” “to fill out an IRS schedule C for an unincorporated business,” and “to find out which film festivals are scams.” But the real reason we need AIVF is to find each other. We need to know where we are.

Ohio-based filmmakers Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert’s 3-hour and 45-minute documentary A Lion in the House follows five families with economically and racially diverse backgrounds over six years during their fights against childhood cancer.

In 1998, I joined the production team of Julie Gustafson’s Desire, a documentary about teenage girls from three diverse New Orleans neighborhoods. Funded by both local and outside foundations, Desire was one of the first in New Orleans to create paid opportunities for local documentary makers. As a member of Julie’s crew, I met many independent filmmakers working in the city, and my short stint on the project turned into a long-term relationship with New Orleans. I visited many times over the next eight years to see filmmaking friends and to hear about their projects.

Morgan Spurlock’s Super Size Me (2004) was an unqualified hit. The documentary, which followed Spurlock as he ate nothing but McDonalds for 30 days and interviewed a string of experts on the rapidly worsening American obesity epidemic, was nominated for an Oscar. It won at Sundance and at countless other festivals. It earned glowing reviews and a wide theatrical release—still a rarity for documentaries. It became the sixth highest grossing documentary in history, and it even made Spurlock some money—almost miraculous for a documentarian.