Off the Wall led to someone winning an award.
An art film is typically a serious , independent film aimed at a niche market rather than a mass market audience .. independent film. independent film. niche market. niche market. mass market. mass market. audience. audience. An art film is `` intended to be a serious artistic work , often experimental and not designed for mass appeal '' ; they are `` made primarily for aesthetic reasons rather than commercial profit '' , and they contain `` unconventional or highly symbolic content '' .. Film critics and film studies scholars typically define an art film as possessing `` formal qualities that mark them as different from mainstream Hollywood films '' , which can include , among other elements , a sense of social realism ; an emphasis on the authorial expressiveness of the director ; and a focus on the thoughts , dreams , or motivations of characters , as opposed to the unfolding of a clear , goal-driven story .. film studies. film studies. social realism. social realism. mainstream. Mainstream ( terminology ). Film scholar David Bordwell describes art cinema as `` a film genre , with its own distinct conventions '' .. David Bordwell. David Bordwell. film genre. film genre. Art film producers usually present their films at specialty theatres -LRB- repertory cinemas , or , in the U.S. , `` arthouse cinemas '' -RRB- and film festivals .. film festivals. film festivals. The term art film is much more widely used in the United States , the UK and Australia than in Europe , where the term is more associated with `` auteur '' films and `` national cinema '' -LRB- e.g. , German national cinema -RRB- .. national cinema. national cinema. Because they are aimed at small niche market audiences , they can rarely get the financial backing that will permit large production budgets , expensive special effects , costly celebrity actors , or huge advertising campaigns , as are used in widely released mainstream blockbuster films .. niche market. niche market. celebrity. celebrity. widely released. wide release. blockbuster. Blockbuster ( entertainment ). mainstream. Mainstream ( terminology ). Art film directors make up for these constraints by creating a different type of film , which typically uses lesser-known film actors -LRB- or even amateur actors -RRB- and modest sets to make films that focus much more on developing ideas or exploring new narrative techniques or film-making conventions .. A certain degree of experience and knowledge are required to fully understand or appreciate such films .. One mid-1990s art film was called `` largely a cerebral experience '' that one enjoys `` because of what you know about film '' .. This contrasts sharply with mainstream `` blockbuster '' films , which are geared more towards escapism and pure entertainment .. blockbuster. Blockbuster ( entertainment ). escapism. escapism. mainstream. Mainstream ( terminology ). For promotion , art films rely on the publicity generated from film critics ' reviews , discussion of their film by arts columnists , commentators and bloggers , and `` word-of-mouth '' promotion by audience members .. audience. audience. Since art films have small initial investment costs , they only need to appeal to a small portion of the mainstream viewing audiences to become financially viable .. mainstream. Mainstream ( terminology )