Grass-roots movements to bring cinema of substance to the cinema-starved masses around the world have to be applauded: movies are one of the few truly democratic vehicles left for the dissemination of Dreams in this dreary world of ours. While the drive-in has been all but driven from the scene in this country (see the heart-breaking documentary DRIVE-IN BLUES), there are still independent films aplenty (as typified by the stalwarts in the documentary THE HECK WITH Hollywood, for instance, although even the indies are often co-opted these days by more Commercial interests). Still, we often take these movies for granted (The Sundance Channel notwithstanding). Just recently, one of the local cable systems dumped its Public Access Channel (thereby effectively denying The Public ACCESS to its cable system, something the FCC used to protect), something I'd fought long and hard for. That particular forum for local would-be filmmakers is no more; ironic, because this is often referred to as "Hollywood East." My own filmmaking aspirations began with Super 8 shorts inspired by the likes of George Romero and John Carpenter; when I discovered Public Access, I felt that I'd at last found The Promised Land- a place where IDEAS could be presented and exchanged and technique(s) could be honed (Super 8 was simply too expensive to allow for much in the way of experimentation). While the internet may prove a viable forum, it's only a matter of time before it, too, is Commercialized beyond recognition. Or, as one of the folks in COMRADES IN DREAMS puts it: "Life ain't easy."
Review of Comrades in Dreams
