Who killed independent cinema? This great director has the answer

We owe him the trilogy Before Sunrise, Sunset and Midnight, the gems Boyhood, Apollo 10½ and A Scanner Darkly…

While promoting his latest film Hit Man at the 80th Venice Film Festival, American director Richard Linklater spoke at the microphone. The Hollywood Reporter that, according to him, independent cinema had “Gone with the wind or algorithm“.

Filmmaker regrets that movies become “contentand is no longer culturally relevant. It also challenges young audiences’ interest in cinema.

Independent cinema is gone with the wind – or with the algorithm.

“I feel like it’s gone with the wind — or the algorithm. When I ask this question to some of my contemporaries, who I worked with in the 1990s, we say, ‘Oh my God, we’d never do that today.’

Does the new generation still value cinema?

We selfishly tell ourselves that we were born at the right time. I was able to participate in what is now seen as the last great era of cinema. And then we hope for a better day. But the distribution failed. Unfortunately, it is mainly society that is affected. Is there a new generation that still appreciates cinema? That’s what I’m interested in.

As culture and technology evolve, it’s hard to see cinema ever regaining the importance it once had. I think we felt this happen when they started calling movies “content”… but that’s what happens when you let techies take over your industry.

It’s hard to imagine that independent cinema, in particular, could have the cultural relevance it has. It’s hard to imagine an entire culture being on the same page about anything, much less filmmaking. We can be self-centered and say it’s just about the movies, but in fact it’s about our whole modern cultural life.

An observation that resonates even more in this time of Hollywood writers and actors strike and Mark Ruffalo’s recent statements. The latter especially want studios to impose strict regulations on the use of artificial intelligence, especially by platforms.

Hitman Richard Linklater received a standing ovation during his presentation at the Venice Film Festival. The acting of Glenn Powell, the main actor of the film, was considered worthy of an Oscar by the journalists present.

Also starring Adria Ariona, Austin Amelio and Reta, the feature film follows a Houston police officer who goes undercover as an assassin. He breaks protocol to help a desperate woman trying to escape an abusive boyfriend.

The release date has not been announced yet.