Book reviews Art and visual culture Ortner, Sherry B. Not Hollywood: independent film at the twilight of the American dream. xi, 331 pp., tables, bibliogr. London, Durham, N.C.: Duke Univ. Press, 2013.£16.99 (paper) The complexities, tensions, and contradictions of the world of American independent cinema come to life in this innovative publication. Based on the author’s ethnographic research of this alternative film ‘scene’, the book tackles both the narratives of independent films and the contexts within which they are produced. Moreover, it explores their interrelation with the recent changes in American culture and society, under the regime of neoliberal capitalism. The book seeks to understand the emergence and flourishing of independent cinema. The main argument is that independent films form part of American public culture by offering a ‘cultural critique’ of dominant cultural representations. Indie films can thus be considered to be oppositional forms that ‘talk back’ to Hollywood, subverting those representations by ‘doing everything that Hollywood generally will not do’ (p. 259). Thus they prompt movie audiences to think about the harsh realities in contemporary life. Throughout the book, analysis is enlightened by an eclectic combination of different Marxist perspectives. Ortner understands independent film-making in relation to the major changes in the American class structure that have been developing since the 1970s. Those changes, as a result of neoliberal policies and practices, would have been implicated in both the material conditions and social imaginaries of the indie movement. The independent movie scene is, then, read as part of the cultural shifts tied to such transformations. For Ortner, the films evidence a cluster of changes in economy, in family life, and in the patterns of political engagement. The current crisis of American independent film-making would also be entwined with those transformations, as well as with the new social movements that they have inspired. Ortner analyses the discourses of both the people and the films of the indie scene. The research is based on an ethnographic approach that involved (unfortunately limited) participant observation of film production sites, such as film sets and festivals. Film-makers and producers’ perspectives were mainly drawn from personal and published interviews. Additionally, Ortner provides an analysis of the narratives of independent films, which are understood as cultural texts. The book is organized in two parts, the ‘ethnographic’ and the ‘films’ chapters, which alternate with one another. The ethnographic chapters are focused on accounts of the social world in which independent films are made and circulate. Thus, chapter 1 explores the discourses of ‘independence’ prevalent in the indie world, as well as the conceptual opposition between Hollywood and independent film. Chapter 3 is about the coming together of the indie ‘scene’. Here, Ortner critically understands the scene as both a community of taste and a ‘field of cultural production’, drawing on Bourdieu’s notion about the constitution of art worlds. Chapter 5 focuses on independent producers, looking into their backgrounds and attitudes. Ortner also refers to their role in making both Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute (N.S.) , - © Royal Anthropological Institute 