At first glance, Zurich might seem like a strange launching pad for a film revolution. However, the Swiss city’s reputation as s world banking capital overlooks its avant-garde past, when the artists and radicals at the infamous Cabaret Voltaire nightclub formed the absurdist Dada movement and plotted the anarchic upheaval of Old World society. So what better venue than the Zurich Film Festival to declare the next wave in authentic independent filmmaking?

Earlier this month, HieronyVision’s founders gathered emerging filmmakers and industry professionals at the influential Swiss film fest for a lively talk about the ultra microbudget revolution in cinema. The HV team made an impassioned argument for the need for a new film movement—and shockingly, it’s been 30 years since the last culturally relevant one! Because technological changes have armed every smart phone user with easily portable high-definition cameras, there are no more excuses for filmmakers to wait for someone to say yes to their project. Directors who want to make a film have all the tools they need at their disposal.

Of course, the trick is how to do it. At the event, the HV filmmakers offered advice from our manifesto “The Next Wave: Ultra Microbudget Filmmaking” to the audience. The guidelines—one nice aspect about filmmaking at this level is that there are truly no rules outside of the budget limitations—draw on experiences making films at this level and beyond, as well as workshops run through the HV Film Incubator for recent film students over the past few years. The principles run the gamut from shaping stories around production realities and taking advantage of available resources to fundraising and the necessary evil of marketing every step of the way.

Admittedly, some of this came as a shock to a European film community accustomed to film subsidies and grant committees. However, the overall reception to the need for change and adopting a DIY mentality was well-received, especially among the younger generations in attendance. In fact, the HV team had the pleasure of meeting with several of the rising filmmakers to learn about their inspiring projects… and encourage them to pursue them on their own terms, no strings attached, with the ultra microbudget mindset.