While not all film makers say that Harvard itself has had an impact on their work, the University has supported students' education in the field, says Gardner.

"About 30 years ago, Harvard committed itself to supporting work in this area, and experimentation in this area," he says.

And the Harvard Film Archives in the Carpenter Center remains an important promoter of independent film, says Vlada K. Petric, curator of Harvard Film Archives and senior lecturer on Visual and Environmental Studies.

"One of the main goals of Harvard Film Archives is to promote and show those films that are not created with the intention to entertain the audience and make money, but to reveal, in a truly artistic way, various aspects of human experience, the society in which we live, and the media which influences us," says Petric.

The Harvard Film Archives is currently screening 70 films from the "Film Makers' Cooperative," the largest distributor of independent cinema, says Petric. "Some of the films in this series are made by the filmmakers that work in the Film Department at Harvard University."

Just as the College is an institution that fosters intellectual discussion, Cambridge also provides its own wealth of ideas that serve filmmakers well.

"Cambridge is full of ideas," says Gardner. "It's an environment in which thinking and talking goes on about subjects which affect not only Cambridge but the world."

And that "thinking and talking" is just what filmmakers seek. "Out of that discourse," says Gardner, "has come an opportunity for people to work in a variety of media, including film."

There is one more bonus for filmmakers living in Cambridge and the greater Boston area, according to Schwartz. The Charles River not only makes Cambridge a decent place to live and maintain a studio, Schwartz says, but also creates some tranquility in the hectic life of a producer.

"Filmmaking is a tense business. It's good to run in the morning," he says.