1. Make a request to purchase their work at your local library
I get it, not everyone can shell out $30-50 for a DVD of every rare movie they want to see. But you know who does have that kind of money? Your library. Hurry up and do it quickly though because libraries often will limit their collections to things that came out within the last year or two.
2. Check out their work from your local library
Did you know that libraries pay royalties to the artists every time you check something out? Did you know that libraries are also a great way to find all those hard to find often out of print works that continue to become obscure as mediums shift. Did you throw out your old DVD player? Don’t have a blu-ray? No problem! Most libraries are now offering streaming video. As long as you have a library account you can now stream anything from Joanna Hogg to Chantal Akerman in good conscience.
3. Review their work
So many times I go to check out a movie on imdb, letterboxd or amazon and find nothing in the review section. Get in the habit of writing reviews for the stuff you like, even the stuff you don’t like telling people not to waste their time! Bad reviews have prompted me to write good ones to counter people’s opinions I thought were wrong. Good ones have helped me watch movies I might not otherwise have seen. I’ve also used reviews to give trigger warnings or to warn people off poor prints of movies. They’re useful and they help people discover great art.
4. Follow their social media accounts
Increasingly we’re living in an era where social media is a kingmaker. People make professional connections their all the time but I’ve been dispirited to see so many talented wonderful directors who barely have any followers. This is a great way to interact with directors you like and get updates on their projects right from the source.
5. Fill out their wiki pages
There is nothing more depressing than when I Google a filmmaker to find out more about them and find their wiki page woefully out of date, if it exists at all. Wiki has a huge problem with a lack of female contributors and this translates into a lack of pages on women filmmakers and their work. After you watch a movie, go to its wiki page and see if it has a summary. If not, write one! If you watch a movie and notice that there’s no biographical info on the director create a page.