Christine Tamblyn reviews and critiques the AFI (American Film Institution)sponsored National Video Festival, which "despite the eclectic topics of panels and presentations...the programming served to reinforce the prevalent drift towards mainstream values and expressive modes occuring in independent video." This article is a response to questions around the support that the American Film Institution offers independent film and video producers. Article addresses rising costs to produce video. Also describes several projects including Gary Hill's Why do things get muddled?

The author critized the AFI National Video Festival for programming works that lack a variety of shooting styles and production differences; they were "cookie cutter."