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The 83rd annual Academy Awards were held in 2011, and many independent films took home Oscar gold.

For the 19th time in the last 30 years, an independent film took home the most prized award of the night – the Academy Award for Best Picture. The Oscar went to “The King’s Speech,” an inspirational tale crafted by the Weinstein Company. Tom Hooper was honored as Best Director for the film, and Colin Firth earned recognition as Best Actor. The film’s writer, David Seidler, won the award for Best Original Screenplay.

The Weinstein Company also produced another big winner of the night, “The (more…)

Independent films, or Indie films, are making a huge impression on the movie industry by introducing new and creative ways to make movies. Advanced technology, such as digital cameras and computers gave the Indie film industry new tools to work with. These movies have a very limited budget and are forced to seek new and creative ways to make new movies. Independent film festivals were established to introduce Indie movies to the public. The most famous (more…)

Easy Rider, a complex story built upon male bravado, proves to be an important independent film. The fledgling Filmmaker, Peter Fonda, had much to prove. Not only to himself as he stepped away from the iconic structure of Hollywood, so embraced by his father Henry and sister Jane, but also to the previously forced system attempting to reconstruct itself as new American cinema. 1969 proved the true end of many idealistic frameworks in American life and film couldn’t help but react to this reality.

Subculture became a viewpoint to reckon with through writing such as Hunter S. (more…)

Independent cinema works outside of the typical boundaries imposed by Hollywood. Independent films are made on a shoestring budget, and often depict storylines, characters, and topics and themes that are not explored in
the average Hollywood film. However, despite the fact that independent cinema works outside of Hollywood’s restrictions, the conventional MPAA rating system still applies to these films. This is detrimental to independent cinema.

The MPAA rating system is flawed. When it comes to extreme content, the MPAA is far more lenient with violence than it (more…)

Over the past twenty years or so, independent films have become more and more prevalent. To make a movie an independent film, less than fifty percent of the money that goes into making the film can come from a major movie studio. Sometimes these films are made from smaller studios that are really a part of a major studio, but this is not really the normal process.

Because of using a smaller budget, many of these independent films will have a different look to them (more…)

Sundance is one of the most prolific film festivals currently being promoted. The quality of films that have graced the screens and audiences of Sundance has been top-notch since the festival’s inception. The following is a top 10 list of all of the amazing films that won awards in this prestigious competition.

1. How to Die in Oregon. This 2011 Grand Prize-winning documentary is a shocking look at the state of Oregon’s “Death with Dignity” act, which allows terminally ill patients to seek out doctors to end their lives with medication. It poses many questions regarding assisted-suicide in (more…)

You remember when some of these low-budget movies came out, right? They were hailed as box office blockbusters made for nothing and now you can catch any of them on your http://www.direct.tv satellite tvhere’s to reminiscing.
Blair Witch Project – Probably the most celebrated low-budget film of its era, Blair Witch brought forth a new idea in scary and it sold a lot of movie tickets, too. Who would (more…)

The Sundance film festival has a very rich history dating back to the first event held in Salt Lake City, Utah back in August of 1978. The festival originally was started by founders John Earle, Cirina Hampton Catania and Sterling Van Wagenen. The festival originally began as a way to feature films that were American made, and also as a way to raise the visibility and potential that Utah had to offer to film makers for set locations and other (more…)

The top ten independent films of the nineties.

10. Dreams, released in 1990. Dreams is 119 minutes long and is a good movie for anyone who appreciates art and imagery. This movie is more about visuals than a sequential story.

9. The Blair Witch Project, release date was 1999. This movie was a pioneer in the art of shooting a shaky, documentary style horror film. It was one of the first, if not the first.

8. My Own Private Idaho, released in 1991. This movie is a story of self exploration and controversial subject matter such as sexuality.

7. Barton Fink, released in 1991. This film (more…)

While Hollywood has been busy rolling out cookie-cutter blockbusters and remakes it’s no big surprise that the movies receiving the most critical acclaim are coming from small production houses. Full of more spirit, emotion, and realism than yet another superhero flick could hope to produce, the top ten independent films of the decade have been busy winning over critics and taking home awards.

The magic of these films lies in their independent roots. With a studio budget, “Paranormal Activity” would have failed to terrify audiences with (more…)