New Delhi, Sep 24 (IANS): With independent films on the rise, a proper distribution channel is needed to showcase such films, say filmmakers.

Hansal Mehta, Umesh Kulkarni and Ritu Sarin and film critic Saibal Chatterjee, who were speaking at a panel discussion - Indian Inde Cinema - stressed upon having a distribution channel for films like "The Lunchbox" and "Shahid".

Explaining the meaning of independent films, "Shahid" director Mehta said that they need to show an independence in ideology.

"Independent cinema is independent spirited films. We don't adhere to a formula, which has been imposed," he said at the discussion at an event here to announce the second edition of Dharamshala International Film Festival.

"There is a lot of capital involved and companies like UTV have money and they are putting it on content, which is not formula driven and doesn't have stars," he added.

Chatterjee said: "Independent space for distribution is missing here. We now need to work on creating a distribution network."

Marathi filmmaker Kulkarni, however, feels that digitization has made it a lot easier for filmmakers.

"This is the beginning of a movement. Digitization has also democratized the way of making a film," he said, but stressed upon having a better distribution network in the country.

"The regional films market is small. Films are screened outside, but not within India. There is no distribution channel. We don't have cross over within the country," he said.

Dharamshala film festival will be held Oct 24-27 at Dharamshala.