Indie Film 2020 Movement

By Sujewa Ekanayake

From this Twitter thread.

Maybe a new film movement - Indie Film 2020 - where filmmakers have to strip the project down to the simplest version, and have to make and release using their own resources and work.

A good way to get back into filmmaking. Make it a fiction feature - a good challenge.

Basically what I did w/ The Secret Society For Slow Romance in 2020. Adapted it to work w/in pandemic restrictions - 2 characters, I acted and also directed, shot the movie. Watched it all the way through - very happy w/ it.
So, like Dogme 95, we need some rules. It's auteurist cinema...it's not corporate filmmaking or filmmaking by a committee - and it's definitely not Hollywood filmmaking.

RULES 1 - crew of 1-3, cast of 1-5 2- shoot digital 3 - using available locations 4 - self funded (donations OK, no investors) 5 - non-SAG, non-union

6 - film must be a fiction feature with a script 7 - film must be submitted to festivals 8 - self-distribution 9 - document the work 10 - write about what you learned from the project

11 - any genre will do. best if a comedy or a drama. The less people and things you surround yourself with for making a film, more you will have to do and more you will be able to do. sometimes too much help and money are obstacles.

Last thing to keep in mind - follow safety protocols, have all cast and crew be vaccinated people. If you are a filmmaker, you won't be happy unless you are making a movie. this is a way to do it.

Look at small films as sources of inspiration. also look at super indie, experimental, outsider work. this movie you are making is not a hollywood movie, so you have the freedom to experiment. Have fun with it. use it to learn things, refine your skills, and connect w/...an audience ultimately.

1000 people who dig your movie is an audience. that's a great start :). You can release the movie through festivals, art house theaters, DIY screenings, VOD (Vimeo, Amazon), and any other method that you can largely control. best that way.

Once you figure out how to make essentially a minimalist feature for no official budget, you can always make work as a filmmaker/artist. Creative liberation :). Good luck.

Anyone who does it, let me know, will help promote the movie - here on twitter and at my blogs if the movie looks good/interesting to me.