This week’s class revolved around Independent Cinema and the many qualities that its form embodies. We utilised Steven Soderbergh’s Sex, Lies and Videotapes (1989) as a vehicle to begin the discussion on taboo topics that challenge and compromise the societal views and values of the time. Soderbergh’s film explores the overlooked nuances of female sexuality and desire through the sexually repressed female characters throughout the film and brings to attention the interplay between dormant sexual fantasies and male impotence.

Independent films present confronting issues to the societies in which they are made and, as a result, usually have quite small budgets. However, the use of character development, relationships and dialogue are redeeming qualities and are often used as replacements for props, costume and cinematography in order to allow the thematic narrative to progress.

Independent films are those that appeal to a select audience, they usually have much deeper over-arching themes throughout the film and require more investment from the audience in order to understand the concepts and notions that are embedded within them. Independent films also make use of independent music artists by using their music throughout the film and sometimes even making a cameo appearance within the film in order to provide the film with another dimension of independent authenticity.