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As the film industry emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic, we are seeing big-budget films taking over film festivals in an effort to bring more attention to the events. 

Film festivals have long been an integral part of the film industry, providing independent movies that lack the marketing resources of a major studio a place to premiere and build buzz. 

However, independent filmmakers are losing that opportunity, as a wave of major festivals have begun to favor box-office giants instead. While this is not a new occurrence, it is happening in a more widespread manner in this year’s festival circuit.

Each year, a handful of the independent/art-house films that premiere at festivals take off beyond the festival circuit and gain more widespread acclaim and exposure.”

The Cannes Film Festival, one of the biggest film festivals in the world, seems to be a leader in this change of focus. Thierry Frémaux, the director of the festival, began building hype in May for a “planetary blockbuster” premiering at Cannes this year. The film was eventually revealed to be “F9,” the ninth installment in the Fast & Furious franchise.

While “F9” may be premiering outside of competition and many may see this as a simple, fun tactic to bring people back to the festival, it is still a major problem for the independent filmmakers premiering their work at Cannes. Almost all focus was taken off of the rest of the festival slate as most of the news circuit became fixated on the identity of the mystery blockbuster.

Likewise, the Venice Film Festival revealed that the Warner Bros.-backed film “Dune” would be premiering with the rest of their lineup in the fall. The film has been highly anticipated and features a cast full of big names, including Zendaya, Timothée Chalamet, Oscar Isaac and Josh Brolin. 

It’s all well and good that these festivals are attempting to build hype for themselves after emerging from the pandemic, as the industry was certainly hit hard. Yet by the festival director’s choosing to promote and build their marketing plans off of the premieres of major movies, the rest of the festival competitors are becoming lost in the shuffle. 

This change in focus by leaders in the film festival circuit is not just making an impact on the festivals themselves. The push to promote movies funded by major studios has taken its toll on the entire industry, even trickling down to individual theaters. 

Theaters like The Lyric are becoming the final haven for independent film, as they are slowly being pushed away from their old stomping grounds.”

Particularly impacted are the independent theaters that exist outside of the nationwide chains like Regal or AMC. Already hurt worse than bigger theaters by the pandemic, independent theaters are now losing their central selling point: being the only place to watch the best independent films of the year. 

Each year, a handful of the independent/art-house films that premiere at festivals take off beyond the festival circuit and gain more widespread acclaim and exposure. In the past, the best and sometimes only place moviegoers could see these films were local independent theaters that pride themselves on providing a unique viewing experience that differs from the run-of-the-mill chain theater. 

Now, as independent films are seeing their already small influence dwindle even further, the theaters that support them are suffering too. Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, an indie theater chain with three Colorado locations, just emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy. This, unfortunately, resulted in it selling “substantially all of its assets” to outside lender groups.

Alamo is still a chain and thus had the adequate assets to emerge from its financial struggles. This is not the case with many other theaters.

There is hope to be found, however. Fort Collins’ own independent theater, The Lyric, has managed to stay above water during the pandemic and is open for multiple screenings a day. They also maintain their identity as an independent theater by featuring outdoor screenings of classic films, limited runs of independent movies and even events like concerts and open mic nights.

Theaters like The Lyric are becoming the final haven for independent film, as they are slowly being pushed away from their old stomping grounds.

And so, in the age of streaming giants, blockbuster marketing and major studio collaborations, the only way for independent film to truly survive is by small theaters to shy away from blockbuster screening in favor of the little guys.

JD Meltzner can be reached at letters@collegian.com or on Twitter @jd_meltzner.