The ITVS Indies Roundup

A curated list of indie news and recommendations from ITVS’s Rebecca Huval.

Who said there’s no money in documentary filmmaking? You could score $100,000 for producing a three-minute nonfiction film about invention or innovation in the Focus Forward Filmmaker Challenge. The deadline for submissions is August 23. While we’re on the subject of money, the CEO of the portfolio platform Behance talked with Indiewire about how creatives will find more meaningful work (and moolah) in the future. Pop quiz: Where is the second-biggest movie capital behind Hollywood and Bollywood? It’s Nollywood. New York Times Magazine published a juicy profile on Nigeria’s burgeoning film industry, probing into the work of cutting-edge filmmaker Kunle Afolayan.

If you’re looking for an adventure abroad, Moscow is renting out dirt-cheap film studios to international talent in order to spread filmmaking know-how. Groundbreaking film critic Andrew Sarris died at 83. He influenced cultural mavens to view cinema as an art worthy of thoughtful criticism. Here’s his 1973 review of “Gone With the Wind” for The Atlantic. 

Did you love this year’s Oscar-winner The Artist? You should watch the (free!) 1980 documentary Hollywood: A Celebration of the American Silent Film, featuring interviews with aging silent-film directors. The future of TV looks nimble and internet-savvy, and Makers Studios is showing us how it might be done. To celebrate summer solstice, check out some international music videos that show what listeners around the globe will be grooving to this verano.