Our Mission in a Nutshell

We exist with the purpose of expanding and supporting the world of film-lovers who appreciate creatively produced film.

And for Those Who Crave a Little Detail

We strive to expand the viewership of these films by bringing recommendations of films to audiences who may not normally be exposed to them. For this purpose, we’ve chosen radio as our main medium. Our goal is to share our recommendations with listeners who may not currently be involved in this incredible art. Our hope is that our program will encourage more and more people to seek out great films, thereby expanding the indie film market.

An expanded market means more support for more films. Everyone, the artists and the audience, wins.

Looking to support this growing community of film-lovers, we’ve created a space to revel in all things film—a place of recommendations, of thoughtful commentary and information, and a place to bring together others who share our passion.

And for Those Who Want the Full Monty

Why Radio? We love the diversity radio lends to our program—the Indie Film Minute might air between two country songs, in the middle of a daytime news/talk show, just before that newly discovered album cut, or after hours when the night owls tune in. With radio, program directors schedule shows like ours ahead of time, curating their material with care. This means that the Indie Film Minute is always (1) selected with a discerning eye by someone unaffiliated with our program to share with his/her particular listeners, (2) arranged/programmed in the context of a larger station, and (3) arranged/programmed with some amount of foresight, meaning that, for example, the show might be played at the same times each week so fans can tune in easily.

Since radio is traditionally a passive medium, we’re able to reach more people who might not necessarily seek us out, but still could potentially become some of our biggest fans. Our mission is to introduce these great films to new audiences, and radio gives us a way to reach people of all different backgrounds from all over the country. These potential indie film fans may have given up on or, horror of horrors, may have never been entranced by the real power of film in the first place. Perhaps they’ve tried independent film and have been let down by something too experimental or by an artist who hasn’t yet reached his or her storytelling potential. Or perhaps they just don’t have any available resources to keep tabs on the ever-changing world of independent film.

A love of film can bring a lifetime of reward. We’re here to introduce as many people as we can to the luscious world of indie film—and it all can start with just one of our shows.

Recommendations, Not Reviews? In service to our mission, we recommend films that we feel will be rewarding to our community. We seek to provide positive experiences, and for this reason our recommendations come with enough detail for potential viewers to decide if a specific film might be to their liking.

In general, we feel that there are enough reviewers out there to warn against what they feel are the “bad” films. We take a purposefully positive bent at the Indie Film Minute. And why not? Film can provide such a rich and rewarding experience, and there is enough snark in the world elsewhere!

Rental, not “In Theater”? We love the “in-theater” experience. Theaters are where directors dream their films will be seen, and theaters provide the controlled atmosphere where films shine their brightest. We relish every opportunity to see indie films in the theater.

But the sad fact is that it’s impossible for almost everyone to see most indie films in theaters. For many film-lovers, their favorite creative gems may never become available in a theater near them.

For this and many other reasons, we’ve found that renting or streaming films and watching them at home has become the most accessible way to enter the world of independent film. Because of this, viewers are no longer spoon-fed selections through what’s on the marquee each week. More and more, film fans are accepting the challenge to find the right film to suit their immediate moods.

And now, our archives are a great place to start the search.

How Do We Find Our Films?

We feature films that we feel our community will like. Our films are diverse, coming from the worlds of American Independent, Foreign, Overlooked, Classic, and Feature Documentary film. We don’t feature the well-known Hollywood films, for obvious reasons. Many of our recommended films deal with raw, challenging issues that people face every day in the real world. With that in mind, films that may contain triggering subjects are marked with the “Be Careful Here” and “Darker Subjects” tags in the archive.

We love films, and so we seek them out everywhere. Our favorite sources of discovery are the recommendations from those within our community. When we find a great film, we share with our friends, and you should too! Many of our favorites were recommendations from our community.

How Can the Community Participate?

We hope that our searchable archives become your favorite source for finding the next film experience. It is ever growing.

We hope that you find our blog interesting, thought-provoking, and informative—a place to kick back and indulge in the subject of film.

We hope that you’ll like our Facebook page and participate in the forum that exists there. Here you can recommend your own film favorites and finds, share positive thoughts on subjects related to film in the abstract, and recommend specific films for viewing.

We hope that you’ll follow us on Twitter at @indiefilmminute, where we’ll share all manner of news, links, and tidbits that we feel will be of interest to our community. We tweet when we post new films recommendations or blog posts, when we find interesting articles, and when we’re excited about a new film experience.

And finally, we hope that you’ll participate in our mission by spreading the word about the Indie Film Minute!