For 10 years now, The Education Channel has been doing more than just about anyone around to keep alive the dream of independent filmmaking in the Bay area. Local filmmakers have endured some hard times in recent years — the ill-conceived dismantling of USF's once-mighty film department was only the most recent and most devastating blow — but The Education Channel's been there for them through thick and thin. The Independents' Film Festival, an ambitious, ongoing program of indie and student films, airs every July on the channel, offering local struggling imagemakers a rare opportunity to strut their stuff in public, get some much-needed feedback on their efforts, and maybe even pick up an award or two. In addition to the Independents' Festival, The Education Channel also features regular blocks of programming devoted to classic foreign films by the likes of Kurosawa, Bergman, Tarkovsky and Eisenstein, as well segments featuring the best in animation and other forms of children's films from around the world. Sorry, Pinellas viewers — The Education Channel is still not available outside of Hillsborough County, but, hopefully, that situation won't last forever. Runner Up: Saints and Sinners Film Festival
The Education Channel's Independents' Film Festival, Time Warner Channels 18 and 21 in Hillsborough County, 813-254-2253.
This article appears in Sep 25 – Oct 1, 2003.