From Arthouse to Microcinema

There seems to be a trend in the arts nowadays towards constantly trying to find something "new" and "alternative" to the mainstream. Of course, art is all about challenging oneself and discovering new possibilities in the medium. Without this desire for a genre that defies convention, experimental film itself would not even exist. However, I feel like there is a limit to the boundaries we can push in terms of filmmaking and exhibition. Microcinema seems to be more about the gimmick of underground film as a concept than the art itself. Like...we get it, it's different, it's "hipster," it's niche to go see a low budget experimental documentary student film shown on a VHS tape in a room of ten other people, but other than the edginess of it all, what's really the point? I guess it cultivates a community of like-minded individuals, and I always want to support filmic endeavors that aren't monetarily based, but microcinema just feels so...extra.