By Gail Waterhouse, News staff

From the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to Boston College, Boston and Cambridge are known for their intellectual residents. But when it comes to cinema, one has to prowl to find something more stimulating than Hollywood’s big-budget films.
Well aware of this conundrum, local theatres are working to fill an ever-growing desire for multiplex alternatives.
The Video Underground in Jamaica Plain specializes, for instance, in renting national and local independent movies, cult favorites and foreign films, said owner Evonne Wetzner.
Wetzner said she created the store in 2002.
‘It was started out of frustration that there weren’t any stores out there doing what I was looking for,’ she said. ‘There was the need for this kind of alternative to the Blockbuster-type video stores in the area.’
Wetzner said The Video Underground was well-received when it opened, and the customer base is more varied than just the stereotypical alternative crowd.
‘We really have a mix of art students and families and older people coming in,’ she said. ‘It’s a pretty diverse mix of customers, not just hipsters.’
One of the most important reasons behind starting The Video Underground was to make people aware of independent films and other types of films that may not get a lot of publicity, she said.
‘Part of the fun of the store is getting to show people movies they wouldn’t normally get to see,’ she said.
The Video Underground also sponsors other independent film ventures outside of its own space.
‘We’ve been a sponsor for the Independent Film Festival of Boston for four years, and have worked with the Brattle Theatre, collaborating on some programs,’ she said.
One of the programs The Video Underground co-presents is CineMental, a series run every third Wednesday at the Brattle Theatre in Cambridge.’ The series ‘explores the fringes of queer film, video and groundbreaking performative work with a decidedly alternative perspective,’ according to the Brattle’s website.
Emilia Dunham, a junior sociology major, said she has been to a few CineMental events, and described the them each as a group of short films bound together by a certain theme.
‘I went to their Halloween show, and they showed a little bit of everything,’ she said. ‘Some of it was campy, some was funny, some of it was depressing and some was just random.’
Dunham said she also goes to the Museum of Fine Arts when she wants to see something that isn’t playing in larger theatres.
Freshman communication and cinema studies major Amanda Krader also said there are particular theatres in the area she turns to for something less mainstream.
‘Sometimes I go to the Kendall Square Cinema, but there’s also the Harvard Film Archive and, of course, the Museum of Fine Arts if I don’t want to go far,’ she said.
Dunham said although she feels Boston has a decent number of places that offer alternative or independent films, finding them can sometimes be daunting.
‘I think it’s still kind of tough if you don’t know where to look,’ she said.’ ‘Whenever I go to an alternative film, I get tons of handouts and advertisements for other things, but the hardest part is still finding the first one to go to.’
Krader agreed that alternative media is harder to come by.
‘I like to look around and see what movies are playing, but when I want to see something alternative, I make a conscious decision to see it,’ she said. ‘I have to make more of an effort.’