Sarah Andrews
Collecting American Independent Cinema (Films) for a Research Library
These selection aids assist in identifying
American independent cinema available on video or DVD. For these purposes, American independent cinema
is defined as films outside mainstream popular culture, either because of
the subject matter covered, or the overall style of filmmaking. In addition, independent cinema is usually
not released by a major studio and often has extremely small production and
marketing budgets. Regardless of the
type of library, adults and older teenagers would be most likely to use independent
films for entertainment or study because of the subject matter covered.
Since most of these films fall outside of mainstream culture, and do
not receive much media attention, patrons must be highly motivated to identify
potential titles, or librarians need to promote their use.
I expect patrons using independent
films to fall into a few general categories.
The first type of patron I refer to as film buffs. Film buffs love movies, and actively seek
out information regarding new films.
Film buffs have a higher potential than most patrons for identifying new
titles. They may also be interested in
all works in a particular genre—such as gay or lesbian film—or by a particular
director. Second are film
scholars—faculty or students who actively study films, including writing about
movies. Third are filmmakers—those who
actually create movies. Depending on
the location of the research library, any or all of these types of patrons may
be present.
If a research library
comprehensively collects American independent cinema, patrons would expect to
find films from all date ranges and in multiple subject areas. Film scholars also often like to study a
director’s entire cinematic output, so a research library may need to commit to
purchasing all the works by a given director.
Not all independent films are available in VHS and DVD format, so the
library should be committed to collecting either format and providing and
maintaining viewing equipment.
Recommended
Sources
Facets Multi-Media,
Chicago, IL.
http://www.facets.org
Facets Features: Not your Typical Movies. [quaterly].
Facets Complete
Video Catalog #15.
Facets is a non-profit organization dedicated to
promoting films. Their print catalog is
divided into multiple categories such as Independent American cinema, and
Experimental cinema and video. Another
useful feature in the complete catalog is the list of titles of films that are
available on compilation videos. Their
frequent mailers (Facets Features) feature more current information than the
print catalog. All of their catalogs
feature in-depth descriptions about each film.
Unfortunately, their website is less useful for identifying possible
selections because to identify films by subject you must first select the link
called “Facets Features,” then click a link called “film lists” and finally
select from a list of topics, none of which is called independent or
experimental.
Reel.com
: your connection to the movies. Hollywood, CA : Hollywood
Entertainment Corporation.
Reel.com is a free web resource that contains a database of over 50,000 titles and some original content such as film reviews by staff. You can search this site by defined categories, and indie (short for independent) is one of the categories available. Reel.com has a brief description of each film, along with availability information. You can click through hotlinks to other works by the same director or with the same stars, as well as links to genres. Reel provides information on out of print, in print, and films still only in theaters. Unfortunately, you must click through a link to Amazon.com for pricing information. Reel offers a unique feature which aids in browsing: at the individual film description screen, you are offered “close” matches—films which Reel determines to be similar to the one you selected, and “creative matches”—films which may also appeal to you, but may not be actually similar.
Wiener,
Thomas J. (2002). The Off-Hollywood
Film Guide. New York: Random House.
Although this
book is small for a film guide at 535 pages, the content is very information
rich. Wiener provides a list of free online
resources, as well as other expected indexes such as directors or actors. Each film listing give the country of
origin, director, most cast members, an indicator of genre, any awards won, and
a review. In addition, the book
provides information about content only available on the DVD edition, and
offers a “goes well with” suggestion for movie lovers.
The most amazing
feature of this book is Weiner’s subgenre classification system. Each film listed is assigned to one or more
classified subgenres each listed in their own index. For example, he has an overall genre called drama (coded DR), and
this contains subgenres such as DR 19: Love, Forbidden Varieties (p. 459).
Pym, John (Ed.) (2003).
Time Out Film Guide. London:
Penguin.
The Time Out Film
Guide is updated annually, and now contains reviews for over 14,500 films. A more unique feature to this guide is the
diversity reviewers—the 2003 edition contains reviews by more than 200
different authors. In addition,
reviewers are from all over the globe, so this source represents the most
diversity of opinion. In addition, each
movie listed includes information about producers and screenwriters, as well as
director, cast, year released and country of origin. A comprehensive general subject index covers areas such as
experimental film, lesbians and lesbianism, and feminist cinema. However, no subject category called
independent exists. Another nice
feature of this guide, although not really helpful for American films, is that
titles are listed by their title in English, but the original language title is
referred to.
Ebert,
Roger (2002). Roger Ebert’s Movie
YearBook. Kansas City, MO: Andrews McMeel.
and
2003 Sundance Film Festival. http://festival.sundance.org
The Sundance Film
Festival is only for independent cinema, and has a section devoted to American
independent cinema. Ebert’s chapter
offers a highly opinionated summary of the festival, and lists titles. Finding a comprehensive list of films
screened at the festival is difficult, as the Sundance organization does not
appear to archive information about previous festivals on their website. Ebert’s books may be one way to find titles
screened in earlier years.
Buyindies.com
http://www.buyindies.com and
phone call to Alison on November 12, 2002.
BuyIndies sells independent,
educational, and hard to find films on VHS, DVD, and even 16mm. Some film reviews are available, and most
films are categorized into subject classifications such as classic or cult
films. The site contains over 50,000
titles from approximately 550 “sellers.”
Sellers are usually independent distribution companies, or sometimes the
filmmakers themselves. Titles that
appear on this site were often not available anywhere else.
Filmmaker:
the magazine of independent film.
http://www.filmmakermagazine.com
This magazine seems to focus on interviews with directors about new or soon-to-be-released in theaters films such as “Bowling for Columbine” by director Michael Moore. Other articles focus on practical information for independent filmmakers such as raising funds. A regular feature is a column called “new DVDs.” This magazine is less useful as a selection aid, but skimming through the issues can help a librarian remain current on the topic. The films reviewed may be called independent, but they appear to be (at least to me) the bigger budget, more popular type of independent films. The films featured here will be more likely to be requested by library patrons. In addition, the website offers additional useful content such as a list of distributors.
Levy, Emanuel (1999). Cinema of outsiders: the rise of American
Independent Film. New York: New
York University Press.
Levy’s book only covers the period
1977-1998, but provides a good overview to the independent film industry,
including historical information and current industry practices. This book contains chapter long essays about
particular subgenres such as “Cinema of Diversity.” Each essay contains related film titles through. A unique feature of this book is an index called
“major movies by year.” Levy’s book
is written in a scholarly, yet readable style, and contains a selected bibliography
that is 14 pages long. While this
book does not attempt to identify which titles would be available on video
or DVD, it provides a wealth of information for the beginning librarian.
Pribram, E. Deidre
(2002). Cinema & Culture: Independent
Film in the United States, 1980-2001. New York: Peter Lang.
Pribram’s book is similar to Levy’s,
also offering historical information, and including interesting information
about studio buyouts and current practices.
This title focuses more on “narrative” independent films than
others. The book also contains a long
filmography. The book’s title is
somewhat misleading, as many of the films discussed were not made in the United
States.