How To Enjoy Indie Movies Online

By Ericka Marsh


Strictly speaking, any American movie not made by one of the major studios can be considered an indie movie. In practical terms, it represents a broader range, and includes virtually any kind of film that doesn't have the budget of a big Hollywood film. These almost never get released onto the big screen, even in the sophisticated LA and NY film markets. Those who want to keep in touch with the scene should find out about finding indie movies online.

If one values quality, one should learn to appreciate it when it appears. The average indie film isn't looking to be just another knockoff of mainstream movies, but looks at approaches and subjects Hollywood generally doesn't yet touch. It can be liberating not needing to make $100 million on the first weekend. It permits the cultivation of a small audience of elite taste and knowledge.

Perhaps the backbone of independent film is the indie filmmaker, often possessing a Master's degree from one of the growing number of film schools. Frequently, these films are also the work of undegreed, guerilla filmmakers. These types blur together almost seamlessly, with the latter group perhaps a bit more likely to emphasize genre like horror.

There are certain entire genres of film that will almost never make vast sums of money because of the nature of a mass audience. Chief among these is the documentary. This medium has become a remarkably powerful way to spread awareness not only of themes that don't make the Hollywood film, but topics that don't make the network news.

Documentary films have become a weapon of resistance for the powerless living in untended corners of the world, places like Indonesia and Rwanda. At home, they have been a tool for giving attention to impoverished or otherwise marginalized groups of people. The camera counterbalances the advantage in resources possessed by multinational corporations and oppressive regimes.

Since the independent film world is full of film school graduates, dedicated websites serving this select audience are also fine sources for movies film-makers use to learn their art. They generally carry foreign language films, and many of the sites are genuinely committed to representing as many nations as possible. Many also carry silent films, one of the world's unacknowledged treasures almost completely unwatched by the sugar-stimulated 21st century audience.

One of the great capacities of the indie film is to provide genres of film that serve minority communities. They become part of a common lifestyle, nearly an alternate media universe. One community serviced in such a way is the gay and lesbian community, which is hungry for representations of screen romance that do not follow the mainstream, heterosexual model.

Another community is made up of evangelical Christians and other traditionalist groups, including a new wave of Mormon filmmakers. These groups often feel that the values of mainstream, Hollywood media fare too rarely reflects their values, and are building their own media environment one movie at a time. The reasons to invest a little time, and possibly just a little money, finding independent films on the internet grow each year.




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