Redefining the term ‘Indie’ film – Interdependent Film

Okayyy, the first word of the title sounds a little pompous but hey, humor me. Sometimes I really wonder why an Independent/Indie film is called so. Of course, the most common reasons are that they are created outside of the mainstream studio system/film industry, that they rely on independent(unusual) sources(or even the lack) of money, that they are mostly composed of an Independent group of creators who mostly rely on passion and nothing else, that they cannot compromise on the independence of their visions, that they have the ability to take creative risks independently and so on. These reasons are well, quite understandable.

But apart from exceptions(like a one-man production), ‘Independent’ filmmakers are the ones to mostly ‘depend’ on resources that aren’t exactly quantifiable or tangible or put in monetary terms. Like borrowing from family, begging from friends and also stealing(ok, forget I said that but let’s not forget the fact that even mainstream filmmakers steal stuff all the time) from any readily available resource.

Back again, ‘Independent or Indie’ filmmakers depend on favors that are sometimes returned and sometimes not. But a general sense of camaraderie(among themselves) of the rebellious kind exists, that is kinda mutual. There is a need for that kind of support. So that ways, they are also dependent on each other. They seek scaffolding from their filmmaking brethren who are ever ready to provide assistance even if there’s nothing in the horizon for them but maybe hoping someday something might come of it.

Most of our earlier projects were mostly Independent, in the sense that, it was only our close-knit team of 4 with almost no dependence on external factors. It would be mildly amusing, not to mention pretentious, to see the same set of names(ours) over and over again in the end credits. Almost every name/s in every department in production would be a ditto. But now, as we move forward, the independence is slowly being replaced by an increasing ‘Interdependence’ even though we try to retain our Indie spirit in the general sense of the word primarily by learning-clawing our way out to completion. I intend to elaborate on the Interdependence part and on clawing our way out to finishing our Indie, sorry, Interdependent/Interdie project that has been in our pipeline. Because it is a must that we acknowledge our means, however small, to an end I hope will make some difference. Our recent documentary film(Metroxical New York) too has been sort of an Interdependent film, which is in the festival application phase about which I’ll update later.