The Film Forum has been in the business of running independent films and documentaries since 1970. The SoHo based non profit theater is one of the four cardinal points in New York City for independent filmmakers to make their debut.

Started as a 50-seat screening room in a loft with a budget of $19,000, the theater eventually found its way to a niche on West Housten Street with a budget of $3.2 million.

Once there, the films, ranging from favorites such as the "Life and Times of Hank Greenberg" and the "Legend of Rita" to "Southern Comfort" and "The Gleaners and I," play for an exclusive two-week run at the three-screen theater. "Everything we open up here, we do it exclusively," says Michael Maggiore, publicity and programming associate for the Film Forum. "It allows us to have a unique quality."

As the movies change, so does the audience, which numbers at 280,000 a year. According to Maggiore, even though most of the audience comes from the West Village and Upper West Side, it is far from being what he would describe as monolithic.

What has changed is the need to compete for audiences as the number of films released each year has increased. "About 15 years ago, you needed financing to make a film," says Maggiore. "With digital technology, that is changing."

Film Forum programmers travel to independent festivals in Toronto, Rotterdam, Berlin and Amsterdam each year seeking fresh talent, in addition to sifting through 500 tapes sent by film distributors. "We look for good films, not following a political agenda or commercial expectations, but films by talented filmmakers that have something to offer audiences," Maggiore, says.

On average, a movie screening at the Film Forum brings in $10,000 per week, but big hits like "Dark Days," a documentary produced by Mark Singer about homeless New Yorkers living in the deserted Amtrak tunnels, can gross up to $86,000, or a full-house over a two-week run.

If a movie makes it big while at the Film Forum, it stays past the normal two weeks and moves to the third screening room, reserved for popular films or to book a movie in advance, like "Startup.com," which will open on May 11. For an independent filmmaker, a showing at the Film Forum often means a review in The New York Times or The Village Voice, papers that have long covered the screenings at the theater.

These days, more and more film-goers and commercial film companies are looking for movies with an edge and distinct quality, says Maggiore. "Mainstream audiences are looking to independent films, something different than what they have seen."