It’s Been a Good Summer . . . for Independent Film
by Roxanne Messina Captor

Summer studio blockbusters do not always break box office records as anticipated. This summer has been an example of a serious shift in box office attendance as one after another expected blockbuster underperformed, and failed to earn back their enormous production cost. Most of the surprise successes came from the independent film world.

Winged Migration (SFIFF 2003) by Jacques Perrin is a beautiful look at the flight of birds, shot in such a way that the viewers feel they are flying with the birds. Many new rigging techniques, including that of attaching cameras to the birds, give one this feeling of flight. The buzz on this film started at places like our Festival, and the audiences have made it a summer success story. Whale Rider by Niki Caro, cowinner of the 2003 Festival’s Audience Award for Best Narrative Film, also scored well with audiences this summer. And Swimming Pool by François Ozon (Under the Sand, SFIFF 2001), the story of a British mystery author who visits her publisher’s home in the South of France, has drawn enthusiastic audiences all summer.

Coming out of the Cannes and Karlovy Vary film festivals there are some exciting new independent films to watch out for. The Barbarian Invasions by Denys Arcand (Jesus of Montreal, SFIFF 1990) explores the lives and loves of a group of left-wing Quebecois intellectuals. It focuses on a single character, Remy Girard, who has been diagnosed with terminal cancer. The title refers to Remy’s sense of despair as he watches everything he holds dear—nationalism, intellectualism and the social safety net—crumble around him. His estranged son, a wealthy financier, is so appalled at the state of medical care that he takes matters into his own hands, bribing the hospital staff to create a private ward for his father.

Watch for Buddy, the surprise hit at Karlovy Vary, by Norwegian director Morten Tyldum. Buddy is a coming-of-age story about three friends in their early 20s and their short reality-TV career. Commercials director Tyldum’s first feature has captured the attention of audiences and U.S. studios. The winner of the Crystal Globe was Ferzan Ozpetek’s Facing Windows. Alain Corneau’s Fear and Trembling, another SFIFF 2003 film, won the best actress award for Sylvie Testud, who played a young French woman struggling with Japan’s ruthless corporate culture.
We will continue to bring you the best examples of independent world cinema, the films we can proudly say are, on their own terms, more successful than many commercial films.