Analysis of the Distinction between the Independent Stream and Quasi-Independent Stream in the Present Cinema of the United States from Pierre Bourdieu’s Perspective

With the reduction of film-making studios in Hollywood, a stream of independent film-making has emerged in the United States. Over the course of time and after some decades since the advent of this new approach, differences can be traced within this model of film-making based on various relationships dominant in the US cinema system. The goal of this research is explication of such distinctions and tendencies. Distinctions that result in the divergence of the US independent cinema. Enjoying the thoughts of Pierre Bourdieu, the French sociologist, especially his field theory and its surrounding concepts, this research tries to identify and explain two specific approaches in the independent cinema of the US. The first is a cinema called “quasi-independent” (semi-independent) which is a corrective solution at the service of the mainstream cinema, and on the other hand, a form of cinema named “independent” which could create a distinct field from different dimensions such as aesthetic, viewing the minority, and economic and political discussion within the American cinema.