B OYS DON’T CRY, but indie filmmakers do ... that Hilary Swank received the Oscar for BOYS DON’T CRY was not only well deserved, but given how Academy voting goes, something of a miracle. The kind of miracle that may not repeat itself, for films like this may not get distribution in the future. BOYS DON’T CRY was a courageous, excellently mounted production that gives independent film a good name. Christine Vachon (KIDS, SAFE) is one of the most fearlessly aggressive producers in the independent film world, and she got both technical and creative talent to work at scale or on deferral. Fox Searchlight (THE FULL MONTY, THE BROTHERS MCMULLAN, TITUS) secured the distribution rights and helped in the development. It didn’t cost them much. The film placed on numerous 10-Best lists, and stars Hilary Swank and Chloe Sevigny won many acting citations. Heading into the Oscars, the only awards I cared passionately about were Swank’s and John Irving’s for the screenplay of THE CIDER HOUSE RULES.

That aside, the odds were for Annette Bening for AMERICAN BEAUTY, a role in which she may have been letter perfect, but one which was mostly one-dimensional, shrill, and somewhat cartoonish, especially next to the more natural performances of Kevin Spacey, the often overlooked Chris Cooper, and the startling teenagers. But, BEAUTY was the movie of the year, Bening is "Hollywood" and most of the voters saw her performance, whereas fewer saw the less widely distributed vehicle for Hilary Swank. Her winning was all the more miraculous and should have been a proud day for every individual, especially Fox Searchlight, where I would have assumed a state of euphoria.

Not so!

The end of the week following the Oscars, I ran into a senior acquisitions executive for Fox Searchlight at a screening of SWIMMING, another small but quality indie film. When I congratulated him on the success of BOYS DON’T CRY, he responded, in a somewhat discouraged tone that the new business executives at Fox (visionary indie distributor exec. Lindsay Law had left 5 months earlier) were not thrilled and that they didn’t want to get involved with films like that anymore. "It hasn’t grossed $15 million," they stated. That it cost them next to nothing and gave them a good name made no difference.

It was too small.

That information came in the midst of a disparaging week. The day before I had had lunch with a senior evaluator at HBO. He also had a new boss. Where HBO is obliged to show every film that gets a theatrical release, they are developing more of their own programming and have less room for "filler" independent films that don’t get noteworthy distribution. He told me that even a genre film like the locally-produced UNDERCURRENT, which sold to Cinemax, might not get picked up in today’s climate.

The next night I went out with Brad Anderson, who is no longer at Miramax. With the success of SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE, THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY, and THE CIDER HOUSE RULES, Miramax is less interested in low budget independent film. Although the official reason for Miramax’s not buying anything at Sundance was president Harvey Weinstein’s being in the hospital, the real reason is that the David O. Selznick wannabe Weinstein is tired of buying films like HAPPY TEXAS for 11 million dollars and losing money.

Fortunately, Brad is still with us. He submitted his script to Miramax for the $14 million remake of the French comedy WHEN THE CAT’S AWAY, landed Paramount Classics for a late summer release of the under $2 million romantic comedy HAPPY ACCIDENTS with Vincent D’Onoforio and an excellent Marisa Tomei, and is going to shoot a low-budget horror film in the Boston area sometime in June. He is also working at RKO on a remake of Val Lewton’s 1944 horror film THE SEVENTH VICTIM.

I’m happy for Brad. He’s got creativity, talent, and a distinctive vision. I’m glad he’s out of Miramax, yet I wonder how these lower budgeted films will reach an audience.

Things are changing so rapidly. October Films is history, swallowed up by Barrry Diller’s USA Films. Just 2 years ago, everyone was praising Artisan Entertainment for picking up Darren Aronofsky’s cutting edge PI and having the foresight to acquire THE BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB and the THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT. Now, Artisan, which went into wide distribution of BLAIR WITCH to the disappointment of shopping mall teenagers who couldn’t understand what all the fuss was about, acquired Roman Polanski’s THE NINTH GATE, and distributed it to every multiplex in the country. Here was a film that should have been in art houses only. But, they are overlooking the quality low-budget films, the kind that play to specialized theaters.

It’s too early to predict the economics of distribution on the internet. There are still ancillary markets, home video and foreign sales, but they are more receptive to formulaic genre films than to the kind of films that are shown in festivals. The future is questionable.

Speaking of festivals. Both the New England Film and Video Festival and Film Fest New Haven are to be congratulated on their programs. The NEFVF’s week-long program came on the heels of an excellent series for their 25th anniversary, filled with programs and activities which clearly revealed a newly reinvigorated Boston Film and Video Foundation, the festival’s sponsor. Congratulations to everyone involved, especially the persevering Ann-Marie Stein.

In fact, three films from the NEFVF won awards in Film Fest New Haven. Monika Mitchell’s Slamdance winner NIGHT DEPOSIT with Christy Scott-Cashman won Best Comic Short. Alice Bouvrie’s documentary IDITAROD: A FAR DISTANT PLACE which got Best Cinematography in Boston, won an Honorable Mention in New Haven. It also showed recently at a special showcase in New York’s Anthology Film Archive. Martha’s Vineyard-raised and Emerson College grad Tim Bridwell’s moody, atmospheric RENDEVOUS IN SAMARKAND was the only narrative feature chosen to be shown from New England. This beautifully designed and shot film won an Honorable Mention in New Haven. All three filmmakers were present in New Haven and agreed that FilmFest New Haven was the most "Filmmaker Friendly" festival they had ever attended.

Many of these films will be shown in the new mini-theater opening up in Haverhill on May 18th where the grand opening event will be Peter Kelley’s SPORTING DOG, produced by and starring Haverhill-raised Steve Stapinsky. If you would like your film considered, call Local Sightings at (617) 975-3361.