In the early months of 2016 I found myself browsing Amazon one night. I was bored and on a mini shopping spree. A few random clicks brought me to their listing of best selling LGBT films. I figured what the heck and bought a few independent films from that list that looked cool. When my purchases arrived, little did I know how my cinematic experience was going to go up by leaps and bounds. From that purchase my LGBT Foreign Film Series was born. Also born alongside of it was my love for the art of the independent film.
What got me hooked on independent film is that for the most part it’s devoted to quality story telling and character development. I’ve fount this especially prevalent in the LGBT themed films I’ve watched. With respect to storytelling, most films do two things that earn my respect. For starters there are generally little to no plot holes that remain at the end of the film. The story is completely told. Usually plot holes mean a mind numbing sequel and I’ve yet to come across a sequel to any of the independent films I’ve watched. The other key thing has to do with the ending to the film. Independent film differs in a big way from mainstream Hollywood. In mainstream films involving romance for example, characters 9 times out of 10 meet, fall in love, overcome their obstacle and ride off happily into the sunset. Not quite so in the land of the independent film. I’ve seen plenty of films where the guy ends up not getting the other guy he’s trying to romance. Now I am not saying all endings are like that. But there are more out there that will have endings like that. It just depends on what lesson the filmmaker is trying to convey, as I have seen a few films where guy does get the guy. Granted in those cases it seems natural and not forced like it would be in your generic Hollywood production.
A story is only as good as the characters you put in it. In films such as Being 17, Closet Monster and Call Me By Your Name, the characters don’t follow any particular stereotype. I love that! I see a variety of people with their own hopes and dreams. To put it bluntly, I see regular people. This makes me want to spend time with them on whatever their journey may be. I want to laugh with them, cry with them and grow with them so I can learn more about them as the film goes on. I hate understanding almost everything about a character when I’ve only been watching the film for 5 minutes. Film is an investment. Give me a non stereotypical character and I will usually invest my time in said film!
While I absolutely love independent film, it is not without its drawbacks. Most independent films that I have come across have a very limited theatrical distribution. This means that they only play on select screens and often it’s not around me (most initial screenings take place in New York or Los Angeles) for a long time if at all. Plus the number of screenings are usually quite few I have found. That forces me into a time crunch as I don’t have the same window to see it as I would the latest Batman or Star Wars movie. A few times my hand has been forced to undertake a special journey to go see a film. The most prominent example of that would be the film Closet Monster. For this particular film I wound up in New Orleans (I live in the D.C.- Baltimore area) so I could see it. This was the closest I could actually see the movie while it was still in theaters.
After having seen a movie and decided it was a keeper, issue number two crops up. More often than not I have to wait ages for a DVD or Video On Demand (VOD) release. This usually is the work of the limited theatrical distribution. The film usually appears on select screens for a little bit and then moves on to the next suite of towns/film festivals. It can take months or the greater portion of a year for a film to complete this circuit. The wait is absolutely agonizing. Closet Monster and Being 17 come to mind as two examples of my most agonizing waits. I saw Closet Monster in theaters in August 2016. It’s DVD release date in the US was January 2017. I had the privilege to see Being 17 in theaters in October 2016. It’s DVD release date was in April 2017. In the case of Closet Monster my long wait was softened by the fact that its U.K. DVD release was in October 2016 as it had completed its theatrical run a lot earlier. I ended up purchasing a U.K. copy of the movie to tide me over until I could get my hands on a Blu-Ray version of the film. With respect to Being 17 I had no such luck. A French DVD existed but had no english subtitles. So in that case I had to agonizingly wait around half a year to get my hands on that DVD.
When all is said and done, I identify myself having a love/hate relationship with independent film. I get to focus my attention on better quality films. However, the trade off is a longer wait to see the films. For the most part the good does end up outweighing the bad. Essentially I tell my self that the best things are worth waiting for.