Graduation Year
2017
Date of Submission
4-2017
Document Type
Open Access Senior Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Film Studies
Reader 1
James Morrison
Terms of Use & License Information
Rights Information
© 2017 Adam Soll
Abstract
For more than 30 years, the Sundance Film Festival has served as the preeminent venue for exhibiting and selling American independent films. Since the festival’s inception, however, the distinction between Hollywood and indie films has become increasingly unclear, and Sundance has been accused of selling out to the mainstream. On one hand, the Sundance Institute continues to support and incubate truly independent artists who otherwise may never get their films made; on the other hand, the festival that the institute puts on every year is full of A-list stars, corporate sponsors, and countless other examples of Hollywood elitism. The American independent cinema is as vibrant in 2017 as ever, and new powerful players such as Netflix and Amazon who seemed to enter the scene overnight are now investing a great deal of money in the production and acquisition of Sundance films. Though it may seem counterintuitive, 2017’s edition of the festival proves that the presence of these massive corporations and Hollywood stars fosters and facilitates the creation and celebration of American independent film.
Recommended Citation
Soll, Adam, "In Defense of Sundance: Examining the Film Festival’s Place in American Independent Cinema in the Age of Netflix and Amazon" (2017). CMC Senior Theses. 1630.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/1630
