I don’t have the stats to prove it, but I’d guess that a surprisingly high percentage (maybe even a majority) of the films produced in the US in a given year are independent documentaries. Certainly that’s true of the 1100+ independent filmmakers in the Fractured Atlas membership, many of whom participate in our fiscal sponsorship program.
Of course, very few of these films ever get seen by more than a handful of people. Movies are mass media in America, and if you’re not going to gross $50 million in your opening weekend, it’s tough to find a serious distributor.
Thankfully, the internet is systematically dismantling the very notion of mass media. Today, via Walter Mossberg, I learned about a new service called SnagFilms, which aims to faciliatate the viral distribution of independent documentary films. As Mossberg puts it:
The service … allows anyone with a blog, a Web site, or even a page on a social-networking site, to open a virtual movie theater and show these documentaries, free. The virtual theater is a small widget that contains the film, and that can be embedded easily and quickly in a wide variety of popular social-networking services and blog platforms. No technical knowledge is needed.
SnagFilms already has an impressive roster of films to choose from, and a wide open content model promises an even greater bounty in the future. Filmmakers can submit their work simply by emailing submissions@snagfilms.com.
So let’s try this out, shall we? A quick perusal of the site turned up a few interesting-looking films. (Disclaimer: I haven’t actually watched any of these, so view at your own risk. They may be offensive or simply not very good.)
“I see technology as a tool that can be integrated seamlessly with the human mind,” says Fractured Atlas member Treva Wurmfeld, a filmmaker, sculptor, and performance artist who was featured at the 2006 benefit.Her work explores the relationship between biology and technology and how human beings are adapting to a world in the midst of rapid change.
“As humans become more dependent on computers, it is important to explore the possibilities of the brain unmediated by technology,” says Treva of her work.“I spend a lot of time on sail boats where people are turning to electronic equipment for navigation, rather than using the natural elements.”
“Like being on a boat at sea, however, technology tends to isolate humans,” she continues.“It would seem as we grow more dependent on technological devices that mimic our own functions we grow lazier and less in touch with our own bio-feedback.”
Treva’s most recent project is the documentary Destination Therapy, in which she follows Dr. Howard “Bud” Frazier of the Texas Heart Institute as he designs and implements the next generation of Total Artificial Hearts.“It will completely replace the human heart and take over the functions of both ventricles,” she explains.“Patients on this device would not have a pulse.Rather, they would have blood flowing continuously through their circulatory system.”
The subject of the film mirrors the themes found in Treva’s other work.“The artificial heart is the scientific pursuit of mimicking anatomical function.It represents the anthropomorphizing of technology and how it integrates into natural systems.”
Treva is influenced by other artists who explore this issue.“I draw a lot of inspiration from Mary Shelley,” she says.“Shelley supposedly wrote Frankenstein in a waking dream state between consciousness and unconsciousness. The oscillation between reality and fantasy – a blurry space between night and day – is what truly inspires me as both an author and spectator.”
