Independents Day

What do we talk about when we talk about independent film? At various points it’s referred to a freedom of style, or it’s been shorthand for a low-budget film outside of the studio system. In his Cannes coverage, Kent Jones cites Larry Gross’s prophetic declaration that independent film would go from an “actual economic position within the film industry to pure marketing speak.” Nevertheless, filmmakers across the country (yes, in between L.A. and New York!) are still making films with humor and velocity, even, maybe especially, as the cultural and economic conditions become ever more precarious. Rather than retrace the well-trod mythology of independent film history, the contributors to this episode of The Film Comment Podcast have selected a few contemporary independent filmmakers—from Anna Biller to the Safdie Brothers—and some favorite practitioners from years past. Participants: Nellie Killian, Senior Programmer at BAMcinématek; Gina Telaroli, filmmaker, critic, and archivist; Violet Lucca, digital producer at Film Comment; and Nicolas Rapold, Editor of Film Comment.