When walking through downtown San Rafael, you will see many shops and businesses, but one stands taller and more visually striking than the rest. Between two coffee shops sits the Rafael Theatre, a film center unlike any other in the area due to the movies it shows. There are no big-name films, no Avengers, no Star Wars, no recent blockbusters, but instead the posters present independent films, about more down-to-earth ideas.
In today’s day and age, younger generations are less and less interested in artistic and independent filmmaking and would rather go and see another mass-produced piece of media, with big-name actors and actresses.
While there is nothing wrong with this, it is leaving the independent film industry’s future looking more and more unstable. While local film festivals, such as Mill Valley Film Festival and Doc Lands, continue to do decently, their audiences are getting older and older, with a lack of younger ones to replace them.
The way youth view the act of watching films can play a large role in this as well. Yvonne Fox, an events manager for California Film Institute, says that “it’s hard to say if kids have the same nostalgia or feel at a movie theatre that past generations had.” She mentioned that “If you eliminate (the theater) it becomes a form of lost art and we are seeing it now, with movie theatres closing left and right.”
With theatres such as Northgate and Regency 6 Cinema shutting down for good, and new movies losing millions, this decline is happening quicker than people may realize. Independent films are hit even harder, as these theaters primarily show big-name films, and still can’t avoid closure, leaving an even greater challenge for small films.
San Rafael High students offer great insight on the youth’s beliefs about independent films. One student, Edmund Conklin, says “[I] think that there is an indie film for everyone,” and that “they are very specialised and very hyperspecific to the individual.” He continues to say, when asked why this would turn some people away from these films, that “people can go into [movies] looking for something and they won’t get what they want out of it. There is a mass appeal that is lost, which can reduce their popularity and success.” Not seeing a specific type of film that you can connect with can turn viewers off the idea, as they see it as a waste of time. If the youth of San Rafael are unable to discover and appreciate these films, the livelihoods of the films are threatened.
The best way to see this action in effect is through local festivals and events, hosted at or by local theatres. The Mill Valley Film Festival, an 11-day event, celebrates the success and achievements of independent films. According to the Marin Independent Journal, in 2019, the festival set a record high of 76,000 attendees, with the previous years being around 65,000.
However, festivals hosted after Covid-19 have struggled to reach 40,000 people, even with big-name actors such as Brendan Frasier, Kate Winslet, and Andrew Garfield. These festivals are key to bringing in a younger audience, as there are many new opportunities, such as family film screenings, to expose the young to the world of independent films. Although it is very difficult for said audiences to attend these events with celebrities, as they are either member-exclusive or expensive to obtain tickets for.
Despite all of this ominous change, there is hope for the future of these movies. A branch of the California Film Institute is dedicated to education and informing the youth. They do this by showing films, holding screenings for students, and working with other groups, such as Canal Alliance, to show films to the less privileged. Fox, who aids with the education department, says, “I’ve seen it actually grow over the years, it’s gone from 6,000 to 8,000 to 10, now 12,000 kids that we serve annually.” This small growth in interest, along with other efforts from the community, could help bring independent films in San Rafael back to the spotlight.
