The last time I went to a movie I was offered a chance to be turned upside-down, given commemorative smiley face dishware, and with the rest of the crowd entertained live by the wisecracking writer/director/star.

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The film, "Starving Artists," a romantic comedy by local independent Allan Piper, was even more fun than the sideshow. Piper's wit and charming slapstick delivered laughs at a rate to match "Austin Powers." The only problem is that by the time I tell all my friends to check out this movie (and see the world wrongside-up), it will be gone.

Most local indie films come and go in a flicker. Lacking distribution deals and money to advertise, they may just get a single screening. Still, you don't have to be an insider to see these unsung feature films, documentaries, shorts, and animated flicks. A little checking around can pay off. Call it a treasure hunt, and this article your map.

Who's here?

Successful filmmakers like Brad Anderson ("Next Stop Wonderland") and famed playwright/screenwriter David Mamet ("The Spanish Prisoner") make movies in our midst. An international hot spot for documentary, Boston abounds with the creme de la creme of this genre; Academy-award winner Margaret Lazarus ("Defending Our Lives," about four of the Framingham Eight) is just one of them. Plenty of low-profile, budding talents are also in town, and each year more enroll at the area's top-notch college film programs. Their teachers include such critically acclaimed documentary filmmakers as Ross McElwee ("Sherman's March") and Robb Moss ("The Tourist").

A roll call of everyone to watch for would more than fill the pages of this article. But with some phoning and surfing, you can learn about the rest. Then, put yourself on the mailing lists of the festivals and independent venues, and you're set. It's worth the effort. "This is where the passion is. This is where people are dedicating their lives to communicating the stories that move us so deeply," says Devon Damonte of the Boston Film/Video Foundation.

Celluloid city

Hollywood rarely welcomes worthy newcomers. So the truly motivated - otherwise known as the obsessed, the headstrong, and the soon to be in debt - go it alone. "My interests are not mainstream or conventional so it never appealed to me to work at a major Hollywood studio and make all the concessions that you have to make," says local filmmaker Hilary Weisman.

Working with a pint-sized independent budget, however, brings other compromises. Weisman's case was a dire one. Her most recent flick, the highly unconventional "I Love My Movie" (airing May 4, 10 p.m. on WGBH-TV), opens with home movie footage of her in "Pulp Fiction"-wear, attempting to hold up a camera rental shop - what she thought was her only way to obtain equipment for her film. Relax, Weisman backed out of the heist, claiming it was a prank. But her genre-bending road movie, which blurs the line between fact and fiction, leaves one wondering what really happened.

One thing is certain: moviemaking involves a lot of begging and borrowing, plenty of 14-hour shooting days to save on rental equipment costs, and endless hours in the editing suite. Then comes the hard part: getting a distributor to release the film in theaters. The odds of this happening seem about as good as winning the Big Game.

Lately though, some locals are making it. Miramax picked up "Next Stop Wonderland" and Roxbury filmmaker Robert Patton-Spruill's "Squeeze" for seven figure sums. Barry Hershey's "The Empty Mirror" and John Shea's "Southie" are both due out soon. Another good omen: Davidlee Wilson's "The Autumn Heart" (starring Ally Sheedy and shot in Saugus) just continued the four-year trend of local works getting into the prestigious Sundance Film Festival. This feat should lead to a theater run. Distributor or no, everyone wants to show their labor of love to an audience. But nationally "there are more and more independent films and less and less places to show them," says Gerald Peary, critic and acting curator of the Harvard Film Archive.

This is where Boston stands out. The Museum of Fine Arts and independent theaters like the Harvard Film Archive and the Coolidge Corner Theatre have all made it their mission to showcase local works along with their usual independent offerings. Festivals like the New England Film and Video Festival, which starts next week, make it easy to catch a handful of local screenings at once. Adding to the artistic ferment are organizations like the Boston Film/Video Foundation, VideoSpace, and Local Sightings, all of which hold screenings around town.

The real thing

"Think about if you lived in a town with Martin Scorsese or your favorite dramatic directors and they were having a screening down the street. You would go," says Jeanne Jorden, who with Steve Ascher was nominated for an Academy Award for the documentary "Troublesome Creek: A Midwestern." "The luminaries of documentary are here," says Jorden, and a good documentary is a "totally different experience [than a feature film]. Real life is oftentimes more interesting than fiction," she says.

Frederick Wiseman ("Titicut Follies"), Errol Morris ("The Thin Blue Line"), and David Sutherland ("The Farmer's Wife," recently shown on PBS) are some of the "Scorseses" who live here. The stories they and the many other local documentary makers cull from our lives and history range from the geopolitical to the personal. Michal Goldman's current production, "Epiphany," explores the impact of an experimental Episcopal school in Dorchester. In "Always a Bridesmaid," Nina Davenport's present project, she confesses her fear of spinsterhood as her anxiety is stoked by her work as a wedding videographer and her 30th birthday.

The most outlandish "documentary" in the works right now is Zack Stratis' "It Could Be Worse." "It's the first-ever musical mock-umentary where everyone has something to come out about," says Stratis. This film, which should be completed in the fall, stars his real family exploring their own lives while occasionally breaking out into song.

Some locally made documentaries make it onto television to enrich those couch potato moments. But the often striking cinematography is better viewed on the big screen, and premieres provide a chance to meet the mind behind the movie. At recent screenings of Marlene Booth's "Yidl in the Middle: Growing Up Jewish in Iowa," "some of the discussions really felt like it was a living room that we were creating with people sharing their own experiences," says Bo Smith of the Museum of Fine Arts. "Our program shows that film is a living form with living artists. Whenever possible we have artists present so that there can be an exchange."

The underground

To see the wild side of local film, head to the underground - otherwise known as the bars and galleries. A remake of the remake of "Psycho" and works by accomplished figures in experimental film like Luther Price, who just exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art, and Dana Moser of MassArt, topped the bill at a recent Filmmakers Take Over. Aiming to "take the preciousness out of fine arts film," filmmakers present these carefully curated evenings of local avant-garde for a mixed gay-straight crowd at Jacques, a gay bar in the Bay Village.

At the JP Underground Film Revolution at the Midway Cafe, you can sit down with a beer, a cigarette, and a couple of tipsy regulars to watch serious local film and video. This unlikely union of the neighborhood watering hole and the artistic efforts of local indies has its charm - call it the real world screening room. Sandwiched between classic and cult movies, local work of every genre and skill level is shown nearly every Monday.

Across town, the Phoenix Landing in Central Square holds an Independent Film Nite every other Monday night. This "open mike" film and video screening pulls in recent film school grads, WGBH staff, and area artists. Anything goes: from works like "Hell is Other People" by David West about a dominatrix who gets the wrong address, to serious personal documentaries and short, meditative arts pieces. Works are not prescreened, making for an adventurous evening of hit or miss.

For local experimental films without the booze in the background, try the weekly MassArt Film Society screening nights. These intimate on-campus screenings are the only consistent venue in the area for local and national avant-garde films. The New York-style loft studio at Mobius, an experimental arts collaborative and gallery, also hosts screenings. Their programs range from the fictional documentaries of Mobius member David Franklin to surreal, image-based films by local artists.

A national rarity, there are video rooms at both the Artists Foundation in South Boston and the DeCordova Museum in Lincoln. Both present fine arts and grass roots films on repeating "loop tapes." Upcoming at the Artists Foundation is a minimalist piece by installation and video artist Larimar Richards. Richards put a snail on the lens of his camera, set all the functions on automatic, and let the two mutually investigate one another. Things really heat up when the snail begins to leave a trail of slime.

The next wave

As you read this, wannabes of Cambridge-pals-turned-filmakers Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are toiling away in the editing rooms of Boston University. Documentaries and short films are being dreamed up at Emerson College. Some devious student at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts is plotting a film to shock the unshockable. And quietly, the boundaries of animation and personal expression are being pushed at MassArt.

They have reason to set their sights high. Emerson alum Richard LaGravenese got an Oscar nomination for his 1991 screenplay "The Fisher King," and most recently wrote and directed "Living Out Loud" with Holly Hunter. MassArt graduate Luther Price has established a reputation as one of the most important experimental filmmakers of his generation. The top three prizes at the New England Film and Video Festival went to recent Harvard and Boston University graduates.

If the trend continues, many students will stick around after graduation. But you can see their work now. End-of-semester screenings are open to the public, and each program holds a springtime showcase of student works. Exact dates and times are available at department offices (see accompanying box). As with any class of students, some are rare talents and others are still developing their craft. Bring a love for the moving image with you, and you'll enjoy the show.

Denise Taylor is a freelance writer.