November 30, 2004

Wither independent film?

The Independent Spirit Awards nominations today were a pretty clear sign that the independent movement needs some independent movement. The nominations were a marked contrast to yesterday's Sundance announcement that it will be further embracing World Cinema and, almost more importantly, non-American documentary filmmaking. Of course, the fact that Sundance and IFP/West are announcing in the same 24 hours, followed the next day by The Gotham Awards indicates just how far into the toilet this whole thing has gone.

Sundance, in the last three years, has really fought to change the direction of a festival that was on the verge of becoming so commercially driven that it seemed sure to become irrelevant. I honor the courage of the effort. This year's move is probably the most important one so far since I believe the expansion of the indie playing field - and the acknowledgement of the cinema of the rest of the world in more than sidebars of political focus that change every three years or so - is absolutely critical. The horror, of course, is that other countries might start to tailor their local product to fit American demand… that would be tragic. It happened for a while in the U.K. and they are just getting over the unpleasant phenomenon. But Sundance is not, I think, where the trouble is.

Let me say, LOUDLY, before this deconstruction that I do not mean to be questioning the validity or integrity of any of the nominees here. Kinsey was a lock to be ISA nominated before it hit Toronto, given Bill Condon's skills, his history, the film's quality, its subject matter and its price. As a $12 million indie, it is part of a middle-class of films that is becoming more and more of a rarity. And, as any regular reader knows, I am a fan of the film. Likewise, a movie like Primer, which won at Sundance last year… a sure ISA favorite.

So….

The nightmare we are looking dead in the face of is the battle between the IFP/NY (Gotham Awards) and the IFP/Los Angeles (Independent Spirit Awards).

When the obviously conflicting dates of the Gotham Awards and the ISA announcement was announced, I was heading to New York and called IFP/NY director Michelle Byrd and we sat down for a long chat. She was not willing to call out her west coast colleague in any way - IFP is a series of individual efforts held together by an infamously contentious board - but we did discuss the vision for the NY effort as opposed to the style of the L.A. arm. IFP/Los Angeles director Dawn Hudson was unavailable to talk with me in the six weeks since.

Before Sunset, I Heart Huckabees, Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind, Don Cheadle/Hotel Rwanda... all winners or nominees at the Gotham Awards… all none too mysteriously missing from the IFP/L.A.'s nominations.

Is this really what it's come down to? Is "celebrat(ing) the most talented artists-known and unknown-working in independent film" enhanced by a civil war between the coasts?

Is there anyone in the indie world who really believes that Don Cheadle or Julie Delpy would not normally be honored by the Independent Spirit Awards for their performances this year? Would either of these films really fail to be nominated for Best Picture? Is the taste for Before Sunset really that much more pronounced in the east? Is there anyone who thinks this is not punitive? All that is remarkable is that they actually gave Before Sunset a writing nomination in spite of it winning Best Feature at the Gothams.

The argument from IFP/L.A. on Eternal Sunshine and Huckabees will be that they D.Q.ed on cost. But, based on the traditional rules of the Independent Spirit Awards, so did Sideways, which cost $21 million to produce. Sideways is one of only two titles to be Best Picture nominated that cost over $10 million. And Sideways cost $9 million more than the other one, Kinsey.

Of course, Alexander Payne changed his cost tune shortly after Toronto, telling everyone who asked that the film cost an economy-of-means modest $16 million. This is untrue. But the Independent Spirit Awards couldn't let go of the indie film that was most likely to be highly feted at the Oscars this year and Searchlight wouldn't let go of another promotional opportunity. Let's just hope that this does not auger a repeat of last year's In America effort in which the film ended up with just three nominations, two for acting and one for screenplay. As much as I love Sideways, I am beginning to worry.

When I look at the Indie Spirit Award nominations, I see IFP doing its best to be what the Academy was when its awards started… the voice of its master… in this case, the major's Dependent indie arms and the couple of major indies in the game.

Lost In Translation, Far From Heaven, Memento, the mysteriously qualifying Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Election and Gods & Monsters. The last six winners of Best Feature. 50/50 on nominations. No wins for Oscar's Best Picture. Crapshoot. But for the indies, an Oscar nomination is a big win. So they keep playing this game.

What is an independent film in 2004? Apparently, the IFP/L.A. has no answer better than the Potter Stewart on pornography.

Let's take a look at Best Feature this year.

Sony Classics, Fox Searchlight, Fine Line, ThinkFilm, Fox Searchlight.

How did ThinkFilm do it? My guess is that the powers at IFP/L.A. needed some street cred and decided that Primer would be its show pony, with due respect to Shane Carruth and the rest of his team. Perhaps that might explain why the film turned up ahead of otherwise nominated The Motorcycle Diaries, The Woodsman, Garden State and Door In The Floor.

Can anyone explain why Jamie Foxx, Kyra Sedgwick, Aidan Quinn and cinematographer David Greene are nominated for two TV movies directed by Vondie Curtis Hall (Redemption) and Lisa Cholodenko (Cavedweller).

I'm pretty sure it's a rhetorical question…

There are other anomalies…

Maria Full of Grace is mostly in Spanish. But the fudging there is almost acceptable by reasonable people. It takes places, in part, in New York and was directed by an American. But how exactly did Bad Education and The Sea Inside get relegated to Best Foreign Language while The Motorcycle Diaries is all over the Spirit nods? You can be sure there will be a good excuse… but is that excuse going to be in the interest of independent film?

Oy…

It's all such a shell game. All of it. All of us.

But one of the reasons why the Academy is taken more seriously, in town and out of town, is that it is a voting group of over 6000 people. Not surprisingly, the categories at the Oscars that come under fire are the ones that are based on committee efforts. People hate the smoke-filled room.

Maybe the ISA's smoke-filled room is filled with marijuana smoke. But when you are talking indie film, shouldn't there be a higher standard? And shouldn't it be free of all the back biting?

Innocent me.

READER OF THE DAY: BRAIN MOVEMENT writes: "Saw Bad Education this weekend and while watching the film the same
thing occurred to me that David Edelstein talked about in a recent
article: Pedro is all growed up. What a fabulous film. It reminded me
of why I've grown tired, nay, intolerant, of Kevin Smith movies.
Smith's films are examples of a stagnating artist. I haven't seen
Jersey Girl, but it seems to me that, unlike Mr. Almodovar, Mr. Smith
is stuck making silly movies with callow sensibilities that demonstate
no forward motion by him as an artist. The things I laughed at when I
was in junior high are not the same things I laugh at now (ok Howard
Stern sometimes makes me chuckle but only when I'm not around other intellectual-types). Almodovar went through his goofy phase and
although he, thankfully, hasn't lost his sense of humor, he has grown
leaps and bounds as a filmmaker and continues to surprise me with his talent. That's all I want for my $10.50."

E-ME: What do you think?