As noted by Rhian Daly on NME, Idris Elba has championed the importance of independent film to diversity in an essay in The Sunday Times.

Idris writes, liberally edited:

“Film isn’t elitist. We all express ourselves through the stories we tell, what we watch and the communities we create. One person’s film culture is watching Spider-Man at the Rio, another’s is going to a Kurosawa season at the BFI or catching the new Christopher Nolan movie at an Imax. But it’s those smaller independent and community cinemas that have been hardest hit by the lockdown… Film isn’t just entertainment. We’re looking at each other, watching what other people do and encouraging greater honesty about each other’s cultures. It’s the age of mass storytelling in which a video recorded on a phone can bring together families separated by lockdown — or inspire a powerful global movement… A nation finally acknowledging its diversity needs a diverse film culture — we have to protect it at the time we need it most… We may need the money mainstream cinema from America brings in, but to create future stars and introduce new voices, independent film is where it’s at. I wouldn’t be here without it.”

Rhian also quotes Sandra Oh as claiming UK TV is not diverse:

“The UK, I’m not afraid to say, is behind. I am not only the only Asian person on set, but the development of people behind the camera is very slow in the UK.”

My take: yes, independent film is indispensable to diversity, mainly because no one can stop you from making your film with your particular point of view. Inclusion, on the other hand, still has lots of gatekeepers, those thwarting your message from getting out and keeping you out of their club. I think the fact that we’re discussing the problem shows we’re firmly on the path to change it.