The new independent cinema doesn't exist in a social or economic void. As a social institution, it has benefitted from the operation of artistic, economic, technological, organizational, and demographic forces. Various conditions have facilitated the emergence of the new American independent cinema as an alternative system to Hollywood:
Indie Cinema Forces: Prestige of American Indies Continues to Rise
January 28, 2006 by
It's official: the American independent cinema has arrived! The New York Times puts indie films on its front page, and devotes a special issue of its Sunday Magazine to the independents. Time singles out Miramax's Harvey Weinstein as one of the most accomplished Americans of 1997, running a major article on the Weinstein brothers. Entertainment Weekly commits a special issue to the independents, as do the stalwart industry trades Variety and Hollywood Reporter in their annual issues. The development of a viable alternative cinema, with its own institutional structure, may be one of the most exciting developments in American culture during the last two decades.
Movie Cycles: Vietnam and Hollywood
After The Green Berets, Hollywood went into a phase of silence that lasted about a decade. Some filmmakers, mostly of left-wing persuasion, addressed issues that were pertinent to Vietnam but they did it in disguise.