The DIY films that vanish without trace

For every Morris: A Life with Bells On that enjoy success, there are countless DIY labours of love that will never find an audience. So why are the studios ignoring Britain's burgeoning indie film industry? The paradox here is that a gentle, old-fashioned indie may well be the riskiest indie of them all for the industry – if not the audience.

Here in the UK, the Raindance film festival at least remains something akin to a safe haven. Elliot Grove, who founded the event in 1993, explains that there are 11 homegrown DIY features in this year's line-up, up from six or seven in previous years. The most notable of these is Colin, a British zombie movie reported to have had a budget of just £45. Its director, Marc Price, says he made it in part to inspire other wannabe film-makers; to make them think: "If this arsehole can do it, I can do it."

Grove insists this is actually a good time for DIY cinema. Quality is up, and the cost of making movies is down. Even so, he sees few signs of a commercial breakthrough for any of the movies. "You have to remember that 96% of cinemas are controlled by the studios, and the studios don't want to show films they haven't made. But it works the other way, too. Ask the public to choose between two films – a glossy Hollywood one and an unsung British one – and nine out of 10 will go for the Hollywood one. That culture is not about to change. Independent film is always going to be niche."

The process of making movies is actually getting easier, and there are now so many more platforms to screen them on. Yet there is no overriding strategy, no distribution system to knit it all together. A crucial piece of the jigsaw appears to be missing.

Back in London, Liz Rosenthal runs Power to the Pixel, an organisation that aims to help independent film-makers navigate a changing, digital terrain. The business, she says, is in a mess. "It's the classic best of times/worst of times. There is now an infinite space to show your work, and the film industry is an old business model, desperately trying to catch up. If you are a traditional distributor, it costs a lot to release a movie, so obviously they want to go with what they know and think is low risk. Every film-maker still wants a theatrical release, but there are thousands of films being made. They can't all expect to find a space."

Rosenthal feels the problem lies as much with the independent British film-maker as it does with the distributors. "Getting films out in the world has always been harder than actually making them," she says. "But people still have the tendency to think, 'Oh, I make films and that's that.' You can't just finish a film and think, 'Here it is. Take it off my hands.' The best independent film-makers don't just make a film in isolation; they are an integral part of the entire process. They build a fanbase and target an audience. They form groups and communities. And that's not being tawdry: that's being creative."