Now in its 15th year, the Film Independent Forum is the pre-eminent conference for independent filmmakers and content creators in Los Angeles. Off-the-record conversations with working filmmakers make this the must-attend spring event for filmmakers and industry professionals. If you are anywhere near production or close to entering the festival circuit, join your peers for a weekend of solution-driven strategies, success stories, and opportunities to connect one-on-one with working artists and industry pros.

"Our slate of keynotes, executives Ashok Amirtraj from Hyde Park, Elissa Federoff from NEON, and filmmakers Dawn Porter and Lulu Wang, speak to this moment in time, and to the fact that our industry is global and cinema a truly universal language," said Maria Raquel Bozzi, Senior Director of Education and International Initiatives. "Having a virtual, week-long Forum this year presents a great opportunity for broadening the scope to a global reach and serve many of the filmmakers and professionals we have been working with throughout our international programs."

 You can read an exclusive conversation with her below. You can also listen to an exclusive conversation between Art And Maria below.

• What were the challenges in putting this together during this pandemic and how did you decide to still make it happen?

Well, the main challenge was to plan and time the event when things were really evolving every day.  Initially, we were on track to have the event April 30 to May 2, but right around the time when we were going to announce our initial programming (March 9) and go on sale, the country was shut down and we all went home and quarantined.  So, in the midst of all that uncertainty,  we postponed it to the end of July thinking by then we would be able to have an in person experience, but by late April it was clear to me that this scenario was highly optimistic, and since by then we had begun having a lot of virtual programming with some level of success, I figured it was best to begin planning for a virtual event rather than wait for things to clear up. And I am glad we did, since we seem to be at a worse place than we were four months ago in terms of the pandemic, and I think filmmakers are hungry for information and programming that allows them to somehow get a better understanding of how things are evolving and also how to continue to sharpen their tools while our industry is in a period of pause, reflection, and reinvention. And that is what the Forum in essence has always offered.

• How do you think this pandemic and surge of online interactions (like this forum) will help breakdown international boundaries?

Actually, I think that has been the silver lining of this crisis, at least for us.  We, at Film Independent have been working at an international level for the last five years, mainly through our Global Media Makers Program, our partnership with the State Department’s Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs, but also with many partners throughout a total of 20 countries now.   As the pandemic hit, I was on my way to Dhaka, Bangladesh with three mentors to present a four-day workshop on Creative Producing and engage audiences there with the work of our Project Involve Fellows through a showcase of shorts created in the program. But I had to make the hard decision to cancel the workshop two days before it was about to start.  As you can imagine all parties involved were very disappointed. 

We also had a Screenwriting Residency for 12 filmmakers from the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia here in Los Angeles scheduled to begin in mid-April.  But very soon we realized and decided to give these experiences a try via an online platform. We were able to pivot really quickly and held these two programs online.  We were surprised by the level of intimate connection and camaraderie we accomplished between the filmmakers and the US mentors and our staff here.  We are currently presenting a Documentary Workshop for five universities and 106 students in Pakistan where we have been able to connect award winning filmmakers directly with these students.  These experiences have given us confidence that true connections around film can happen no matter what. So, it was really exciting and encouraging to learn that, since we know there is a lot of interest for the programming we have been offering throughout the years, we just did not have enough people to travel around the world to fulfill all that interest.  Now we know we can do it online with great results.  

These experiences had a great impact on the Forum.  It led us to reimagine the event at a global scale.  We know a lot of filmmaking communities around the world that we have been working with, so we thought, why not bring all these communities together through the Forum this year?  And that is exactly how the re-imagined Forum looks like. We have envisioned this event to be a coming together of many filmmakers around the world.  We have a lot of panels where people are convening to talk shop and compare notes about their practice and current experience during this global crisis across multiple time zones and that is really exciting!

• Is streaming the future? How do traditional independent studios/filmmakers compete with that or benefit from that? 

  I think streaming is the present and I can only imagine how much more sophisticated we will become using it as a tool.  However, I don’t think streaming will ever be the replacement of direct human interaction and live experiences.  I really hope that is not the case.  Streaming is a complement, an alternative and an option for whenever and wherever the direct interaction is not possible or doesn’t make logistical, economical, and environmental sense.  I hope that what streaming will do is to force us to ask ourselves the question, does this really require a trip? Or could we do this online? I think that is a question we should all have been asking ourselves a long time ago, if we don’t want our next global crisis to be the global warming crisis.

• How is international cinema and non-English films doing in the US? What does a possible future look like 

  Quoting Bong Joon Ho’s acceptance speech at the Oscars’ when he said: 'Once you overcome the one-inch tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing film”—I think Parasite perhaps represents this rupture, this moment in time that marks the point where Americans are becoming more accepting of subtitles and more curious about world cinema.  Also, the different streaming platforms that have made it really easy for audiences to be more open to dip their toes into cinema that they might not be ready to commit to if they have to buy a ticket and pay for parking, and babysitter, etc. Once they start finding things they like online, they might begin to identify the filmmakers and national cinemas that they like, therefore would make the leap to buy a ticket when they come to a theater near them.

• What's next for Film Independent and you? Our international programs are really growing as a result of the current crisis.  

  We are busier than ever. We have multiple weekly programs, screenings and conversations on an ongoing basis. We are beginning to work with a multitude of education institutions, film festivals, and governments around the world, to create more and more virtual programs for their constituents.  Any time we get to connect filmmakers from different parts of the world is very exciting for me.

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EDIT: Updated with audio/phone conversation on Jul 30, 2020.

The 2020 Film Independent Forum takes place online July 31- August 7. More details at the link below

http://www.mynewyorkeye.com/awards-and-festivals-news/film-independent-forum-keynotes-with-ashok-amritraj-elissa-federoff-dawn-porter-amp-lulu-wang