Life finds a way, says Jeff Goldblum’s scientist character, Dr Ian Malcolm, in the Jurassic Park movies. And so too does creativity. You never know where artistic brilliance is going to go, and where it is going to thrive. But it is as irrepressible as DNA.
Look at it this way: for film fanatics like me, these are anxious times. In September, the world’s second biggest cinema chain, Cineworld, filed for bankruptcy. Global box office returns this year are still at least 20 per cent down on the 2017-19 average. Fewer movies are being released, tickets are too expensive, and the pipeline of avant garde, arthouse and indie films has rarely looked more precarious, as studios increasingly sink the bulk of their money into franchises, superhero “cinematic universes”, and the safe bet of the tentpole sequel rather than the quirky breakout director or the chamber piece movie gem.
