My Plea

In January of 2006 I was lucky enough to be able to attend the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. I spent the best week of my life there and have memories that will last a lifetime. While I was at the festival I saw 18 films, the best being Stephanie Daley, a film about a girl who has a still birth and is accused of murdering her child. She is forced to see a forensic psychologist who happens to be pregnant and has already endured a miscarriage once before. It is a very emotional film featuring great performances from Amber Tamblyn and Tilda Swinton and is skillfully directed by Hilary Brougher. Stephanie Daley was picked up for distribution by Regent Releasing and finally released in April of 2007, grossing a meager $25,129 (boxofficemojo.com) in its entire theatrical run, which some films gross in just one showing.

Today the film was released on dvd. I went to Circuity City with the intentions of buying this great film, but they did not have it. The same goes for Best Buy, Target, Hollywood Video, FYE, and Spin Street. Blockbuster had it available to rent but not for sale. This upset me because it is a truly phenomenal film that deserves to be seen, but how can it when it is not even made available to the general public?

Today the only films really worth seeing , the ones that can truly change a person's life, are those made by independent filmmakers. The films selling, however, are these massive blockbuster films with little or no substance at all; for example, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End . This is a horrible film that has so many subplots that the viewer can hardly understand what is going on. It provides plenty of non-stop action and special effects in the hopes that the viewer will not notice these flaws. At World's End was made just because it would make money, and it completely ruins the first Pirates film, which happens to be a great film in this viewer's opinion. The films that really deserve all this money are these smaller independent films which actually have something to say. Sure, some independent films do well. Last year Little Miss Sunshine came out of nowhere to do really well at the box office while also garnering a few Oscar nominations and two wins for Best Supporting Actor (Alan Arkin) and Best Original Screenplay. The only independent films that really get attention though are the ones that receive Oscar nominations.

This is a travesty. Independent films have to be kept alive, but this is only possible if viewers like yourself give these films a chance. Today I challenge everyone to go out and search for these low budget independent films. Try to watch a film that really makes you think, that has a point to it. Don't go waste your money to stare absentmindedly at a screen for two hours, marvel at some special effects, and then walk out of the theater retaining nothing of what you just saw. Go see a film that can change your perspective of life. Go see films like Stephanie Daley.