Klawans, Stuart, Michelson, Annette, Peqa, Richard, Schamus, James, Turvey, Malcolm. "Round Table: Independence in the Cinema". October, Vol. 91. (Winter, 2000): 3-23.

This roundtable discussion features the five above-named film scholars who gathered to discuss independent cinema. Specifically, the scholars wanted to make an attempt at defining independent cinema and discussing how it came to be over the course of the past forty years. It is noted that in recent times, the film industry is more horizontally integrated than it several decades ago. For this reason, Richard Peqa argues that American cinema has really become a single body and that independent and .dependent. cinema are not truly separate entities, because the smaller studios that put out independent films are being absorbed by big name studios. James Schamus notes however that there are still tensions within the film industry that create distinction between these two types of cinema. The discussion turns to French New Wave cinema at one point and it is noted how the movement and how it spurred independent cinema by offering the public an alternative to the domineering American film industry. The movement was aided by the French government who offered subsidies to independent studios and rewards for directors making their first films. This governmental compensation drew a crowd of younger directors who, in turn, attracted younger audiences. On a large scale, the movement can be seen as a reaction or act of rebellion against the more streamlined big budget movies from big name American studios.