Two new indie collections

Just wanted to give a mention to two new edited collections either about or relevant to American indies (OK, I’m also plugging the fact that I’ve got an essay in each of them!).

Possible Films cover

First is US Independent Film After 1989: Possible Films, edited by Claire Perkins and Constantine Verevis, from Edinburgh UP. This collection differs from most in having a particular focus on single-film chapters about generally smaller and lesser-known indies. My contribution is a chapter on Primer, which I see as in many ways a model example of the ultra-low-budget first-time indie feature. Haven’t got around to reading the rest yet, but it looks like a very useful addition to the literature.

Media Independence cover

The other is a volume with a broader focus on independence across the media, Media Independence: Working with Freedom or Working for Free?, edited by James Bennett and Niki Strange. My chapter in this is, unsurprisingly, about American indie film, but I’ve tried also to situate it within some of the broader dimensions of media independence around which the book is organized. Other chapters range across a wide variety of media terrain and dimensions of independence.

One annoying feature of both books, however, is that they’re out initially only in hardback at eye-watering prices (£75 and £85 respectively – also Kindle edition for Bennett and Strange, but that’s £80) that seem designed to exploit academic libraries, which are their only remotely likely buyers at that extortionate rate. Hate this policy of some publishers, which prevents any normal individual from buying such titles when they come out. My inclination is not to order for my university library until out in paperback, to avoid complicity in such a rip-off.

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