Driven to express creative visions without studio resources, independent feature filmmakers have managed to defy the expense and complexity of moviemaking and get their films made.

Twenty years ago, This State I'm In (1990) was a miracle for director Robert Ziebell, who pulled together a feature that got significant national attention. Its production methods and history will be contrasted with another low-budget independent feature also playing in this year's festival, Memories of Overdevelopment (2010), which has likewise made its remarkably low budget go a very long way.