Blog #10: From Art House to 'Microcinema'

I found the reading from this week to be very informational as it provided me with an opinion I haven't heard before. It is clearly apparent that the Art House cinema has changed drastically due to increased popularity and funding. With the expansion of this style of cinema into less urban areas, the underground uniqueness began to fade. Microcinema is a very unique form of cinema because due to its low overhead and low funding, the pieces that are created are extremely unique and artistically expressionistic. Without someone constantly telling you what you can and cannot do, artists have the ability to openly create. Of course, having little funding means lower quality productions, but that is what makes them special.

Marlon Riggs seems very prevalent in modern culture. You can see his influence on modern pop culture icons such as Kendrick Lamar and many others. In Tongues Untied, Riggs pushes the comfort of late 1980's culture and shows sensual acts that pop culture generally shied away from. Being both gay and African American during his time was fairly uncommon so he provided a very unique perspective which helped in the adaptation of perception towards gays. 

Unfortunately for Su Friedrich I was in charge of the slides so I couldn't take notes on the interesting facts that Catherine presented. I know that she was very influential in the development of queer cinema. Also, props to Catherine for actually interviewing Friedrich because she was able to get opinionated answers from the actual artist instead of just the artist summaries.