DOK Industry Podcast · DOK Leipzig – International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film

Mapping the Future of In(ter)dependent Cinema

·46 min·2 clips

We invited a food stall artist from Jakarta to draw our mind map because it needed to be situated and lived

This episode features Lucy Mukherjee, director of the documentary lab at Firelight Media, in conversation with researchers and cultural workers Abhi and Laura. They explore the United Screens project, which maps alternative film circulation methods for independent and Global South cinema practitioners. United Screens began as participatory research interviewing filmmakers about distribution challenges and evolved into an exhibition at SAVVY Contemporary in 2018. The research distilled five major challenges in film circulation: funds, spaces, archiving, aesthetics, and censorship. Filmmakers navigated these through collectivizing resources and domesticating digital technology, leading to a visual mind map of interconnected solutions. The project draws inspiration from historical movements like Third Cinema in Latin America and the Network of Arab Alternative Screens. A key anecdote involves commissioning a Jakarta sign-painter, Bah Ortano, to hand-paint the research mind map, embedding local street aesthetics into the project. Another experiment involved screening short films in Berlin's local "spätis" (kiosks) and a Bogotá art space called Estacion Terrena, bringing films to everyday community gathering spots. The hosts propose reimagining platforms like YouTube as community-owned "networks of networks" rather than corporate gatekeepers. They critique the standard distribution path as a restrictive, transactional "life dream" model that limits a film's lifespan and audience connection. The conversation highlights inspiring alternative economies, such as early 2000s Chinese video shops and the pirated film community Cinephilia, as models of passionate, accessible circulation. Their "Think Well" gatherings use games and role-play to dream up new infrastructures, emphasizing imagination and play over rigid think tanks. A new platform, Mesh Dia, explores relational licensing models, viewing film ownership as collective stewardship akin to Indigenous land practices. The tone is collaborative, hopeful, and intellectually curious, blending academic references with practical experiments. It is conversational and idea-driven, focusing on systemic critique and community-based solutions. This episode is ideal for independent filmmakers, film festival programmers, and media scholars seeking alternatives to traditional distribution. Listeners looking for a technical, step-by-step distribution guide or industry insider gossip might find it too conceptual.

As heard by us

A grounded look at showing films where audiences already are.

The episode follows Lucy Mukherjee as she steers a conversation about alternative distribution, with the core question staying clear throughout: where people already gather, and how films can meet them there.

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Why you'd press play

If you want distribution ideas that start in the community, this one does.

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