1st Edition

Contemporary American Independent Film From the Margins to the Mainstream

Edited By Christine Holmlund, Justin Wyatt Copyright 2005
    320 Pages 30 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    320 Pages 30 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    From Easy Rider to The Blair Witch Project, this book is a comprehensive examination of the independent film scene. Exploring the uneasy relationship between independent films and the major studios, the contributors trace the changing ideas and definitions of independent cinema, and the diversity of independent film practices.

    They consider the ways in which indie films are marketed and distributed, and how new technologies such as video, cable and the internet, offered new opportunities for filmmakers to produce and market independent films.

    Turning to the work of key auteurs such as John Sayles and Haile Gerima, contributors ask whether independent filmmakers can also be stars, and consider how indie features like Boys Don't Cry and Shopping for Fangs address issues of gender, sexuality and ethnicity normally avoided by Hollywood.

    For all students of film studies and American studies, this cultural journey through independent film history will be an absolute must read.

    1. Introduction: From the Margins to the Mainstream  Part 1: Critical Formations  2. Introduction to 'Critical Formations'  3. The Independent Feature Movement  4. Independence for Independents  5. Dimension Pictures: Portrait of a 1970s Independent  6. End of the Indies  7. Alternative Cinemas  Part 2: Cult Film/Cool Film  8. 'Queen of the Indies': Parker Posey's Niche Stardom and the Taste Cultures of Independent Film  9. Dark, Disturbing, Intelligent, Provocative, and Quirky: Avant-garde Cinema of the 1980s and 1990s  10. Communitarianism, Film Entrepreneurism and the Crusade of Troma Entertainment  Part 3: Iconoclasts & Auteurs  11. John Sayles, Independent Filmmaker: Bet on Yourself  12. Haile Gerima: Sacred Shield of Culture  13. Seminal Fantasies: Wakefield Poole, Pornography, Independent Cinema and the Avant-Garde  Part 4: Identity Hooks - Cultural Binds  14. Generation Q's ABCs: Queer Kids and 1990s Independent Films  15. Just Another Girl Outside the Neo-Indie  16. Guests at The Wedding Banquet: The Cinema of the Chinese Diaspora and the Rise of the American Independents  Part 5: Shifting Markets, Changing Media  17. Revisiting 1970s Independent Distribution and Marketing Strategies  18. Digital Deployment(s)  19. The IFC and Sundance: Channeling Independence

    Biography

    Chris Holmlund is Professor of Cinema Studies, Women's Studies and French at the University of Tennessee. She is the author of (Routledge, 2003) and co-editor of (Minnesota University Press, 1997). She is working on a book on action films.
    Justin Wyatt is Executive Director, Research at the ABC Television Network. He holds a Ph.D. in Critical Studies from UCLA, and is the author of (University of Texas Press, 1994) and (Flicks Books, 1998).