The Screengrab is, regardless of our tinkering around with the mainstream, really all about independent film. See? Right up there at the top of the page, it says "news, gossip and comment for indie-film addicts". We go out of our way to bring you the latest and best in indie film news every single day.
There's just one problem: what exactly do we mean by 'independent film', anyway?
It's a question that a lot of people have been asking lately, as the lines between the big studios and the little moviemakers grows increasingly blurred and the meaning of 'independent' -- always nebulous in the arcane world of cinema financing -- becomes more difficult than ever to determine. The latest blogger to contemplate the meaning of independent cinema is Cole Drumb at Film.com, who uses an essay by the always-engaging Ray Carney as his jumping-off point.
Drumb, using Carney's questions about the nature of independent film (and what distinguishes it from, say, independent opera) as his basis, goes on to ask at what point an independent filmmaker ceases to be one; to what degree mainstream work subsidizes independent effort; and where we're heading in the indie world as festivals become more commercialized and studio consolidation leads to more and more mainstream interest in the indie circuit. It's an intriguing set of questions, at least, and attempts to contextualize people like the Coen Brothers and John Cassavetes against a modern definition of independent film.