Fernanda Faya
May 17, 2016
Latin American film production is living a creative and prolific moment. Countries like Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, and Mexico are producing films with strong identity, reflecting on contemporary themes of those countries’ realities. Along with such rich production comes the necessity to make the films reach a broader audience. Consolidating the status of those cinemas. This research deals with a yet emerging festival scene that focuses on Latin American production. It tries to point out possibilities for that independent production to have an audience of their own in Third World and developing countries, where the consumption of North American and European production overshadows the rest.
Influenced by Amalia Cordova’s[1] lecture I was specially inspired by an idea that has been one of the fundaments of Third Cinema theory: the necessity of a mutual cultural exchange between those countries, and the importance of a true combative, militant attitude for the perpetuation and enrichment of those cinemas. The idea of a united Latin America appeared many times in the Third Cinema theories, and it’s the core of my research. Therefore, my list comprises film festivals, which focus on independent Latin American production, in the following countries: Brazil, Cuba, Mexico, Argentina, Australia, Colombia, and Germany. Following are some particularly interesting findings.
FESTIVAL DE CINEMA LATINO AMERICANO DE SAO PAULO – one of the biggest Latin American Film Festivals in South America, this festival showcases mainly word premiere Latin American films and it offers a retrospective of significant trajectories for Latin American cinema. The festival is an important space for exchange, discussion, and reflection, offering workshops, round tables, and free outdoor screenings. It’s one of the most important film festivals in São Paulo, focusing on Latin American production and the reinforcement and diffusion of cinemas from the continent.
FESTIVAL LATINOAMERICANO DE CINE INDEPENDIENTE – FECIILBA is another Film Festival focused on independent film productions from Latin America. They hold the festival in Bahía Blanca, in the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The Festival’s motivation is to offer an exchange space for filmmakers and they also promoted, in the last session of the festival, workshops on editing, introduction to film analysis, and low budget cinema. They also have a student’s section and an experimental section, which broaden the reach of the festival.
FESTIVAL INTERNACIONAL PACHAMAMA-CINEMA DE FRONTEIRA happens in Rio Branco, Pará, in the north of Brazil. This festival is dedicated to decentralize the film product, create new exhibition routes and promote a dialogue between cultures, specially the regions of border between Bolivia, Brazil and Peru. One of the most interesting aspects of this festival is the goal to motivate the creation of new platforms of exhibition in regions excluded from the traditional circuit, like the State of Pará, a region with very low resources for culture. That is why the festival also has an itinerant section intended to strengthen new distribution alternatives throughout the continent. Their aim is very interesting and connected to Third Cinema spirit. The creators of the festival understand that the traditional film industry creates gaps between the film and the audience, and they want, instead, to promote dialogue between creators and audience, fostering a participatory audience. The festival resists, being supported mostly by private funds.
Reflection
My conclusion after doing this research is ambiguous. The negative but obvious aspect of the research is the fact that a Euro/North American centric dominance happens right from the first moment of research: the Internet. It isn’t a surprise that not only History has been told from that perspective, neglecting all the other countries and cultures that don’t belong to that axis, but also the means to information have been taken over and are still being monopolized. So I faced an immediate challenge to break trough the impositions of a North American/European oriented information and had to expand my research to Portuguese, Spanish and Italian languages. Ironically the motivation and commitment of Third Cinema was towards the creation of a social and cultural emancipation, towards a self-determined and independent cinema. So it’s impossible not to see how this emancipation is still urgent.
The positive surprise resulting from my research is the realization that there is a true effort in some Latin American countries to connect the film production and reinforce a Latin American identity. I guess the importance of this initiative and practice is absolutely connected to a reality of a hierarchical access to information and unbalanced dissemination between productions coming from the US and Europe, and that coming from Latin American countries. The fact that in their own countries, independent national productions are completely suppressed by foreign blockbusters is telling. The only option for the Latin production is to find reception in the mentioned festivals, and similar.
Regarding the political and social events that happened in Brazil in the last months (February/ March of 2016) it’s impossible not to find an even more essential meaning behind the creation of integrated Latin American cinemas. As we saw throughout the course, a Latin American identity is created by a past of similar history. Many of these countries share a common historical trajectory of colonization, slavery, military dictatorships and suffering oppression from North American imperialism in the 60’s and 70’s to a current global neo-liberalism that keeps obliterating local cultures and the possibility of liberation.
Brazil is facing a reality that exposes in many ways the fragility of these recent Latin American democracies. The wound of military dictatorships in countries like Argentina, Chile and Brazil is not cured –socially and historically- and because of that some of its agents are still around, and vice-versa. What we see now in Brazil is the coming back of groups that never actually left power, but were hidden just waiting for the right moment to arise. These groups, the right wing, conservative elite, aligned, protected and supported by an oligarchical media, represent the interests of commerce. This means that they represent the oppressors; they work aligned with the global neo-liberalism interests and will eliminate any other social initiatives that don’t bring monetary profit. The political context in Brazil is messy and sometimes hard to be understood, but it resonates with other Latin American countries. Similar structures are taking over European countries, and Unites States as well, making it even more urgent to connect cinemas of resistance.
The elite that took power, or better said, came back to power, threaten minorities, basic woman’s rights and other achievements that were so hard to be accomplished. One of the first actions of the interim government, after naming an all-male (white, rich, conservative, religious) cabinet was to merge the Ministry of Culture with the Ministry of Education. In other words, the Ministry of Culture, that ensured funds for national cultural initiatives, will become weaker and more fragile. This points out to a reality where, more than ever, culture will have to be fought for; alternative initiatives will have to emerge as a way of keeping national culture alive and dynamic and in light of that, the idea of the integration and exchange between Latin American productions seems more than necessary. The urgency of the return of Third Cinema principles is evident: self-determination, independency, the fortification of a Latin American identity, and collaboration are watchwords in the current context.
As I read the news about all these backward actions I become more and more compelled to make a reflection about what Third Cinema means for us, today, and how can we absorb its lessons from past experiences, transform it and apply it now. I guess that one of Brazil’s hardest difficulties is the relationship with History and the past. The country lacks a social memory about hard times, about the dictatorships, and about events that definitely transformed us as a nation. The social denial about this past represents, inevitably, a struggle to move on and progress as a nation. Reflecting about the past is definitely not part of our practice as a country, meaning that terrible mistakes that happened in the past are susceptible to happen over and over again. The same happens with the legacy of Third Cinema movements like Cinema Novo (New Cinema) and Cinema da Boca do Lixo (Aesthetics of Garbage). What have we learned from these movements? I still ask myself this question as I think about making films in Brazil, today, and about my own future as a filmmaker.
On one hand we see the still strong monopoly of North American and European productions and festivals devoted to these products worldwide and also in Latin America. On the other hand, and this conclusion comes from my research, there is a growing movement focused on enabling dialogue and exchange between Latin American countries. The festivals mentioned in this research, as long as other similar festivals and initiatives, are fighting oppression and helping create a network between those peoples. I see some continuity between the movements of the 60’s and 70’s and today’s, in the sense that a space for autonomy and exchange continues to be forged. Perhaps some struggles of that time didn’t change that much and that’s the reason why Latin American cinema still fights for legitimacy and freedom. But at the same time this means that the spirit of Third Cinema is alive and will keep influencing generations of filmmakers and audiences, hopefully, in inverse relationship to the strong conservative arise, with an even stronger combative spirit.
List of Film Festivals
Festival Internacional de Cine Latinoamericano – LATIUM (Distrito Federal, Mexico)
Gather independent Latin American films and strengthen and reinforce a cultural Latin American identity. The Festival also has an eco/social aspect and intents to raise awareness to global social causes. They are committed to spreading and sharing Latin American production beyond the physical border and audience of the Festival itself, holding a itinerant program.
Festival Internacional del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano (Havana, Cuba)
Funded in 1979, it aims to strengthen the Latin American and Caribbean identity, offering a space for documentary, fiction, and animation from Latin American countries.
Festival Latino Americano de Cine Independente (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
Supports independent cinema and offers an exchange space for Latin American filmmakers and their audience.
Festival Internacional de Cine Latino Americano (Distrito Federal, Mexico)
The festival aims to strengthen and reinforce a cultural Latin American identity and has an eco aspect, partnering with NGOs like Greenpeace and the International Amnesty.
Festival Pachamama – Cinema de Fronteira (Pará, Brazil)
Strengthen the relationship and exchange between the border regions of Peru, Brazil and Bolivia. The festival has low financial resources, and happens in a poor region of Brazil, with low access to films.
Festival Internacional de Cine de Tunja (Boyacá, Colombia)
Encourage new creators; create new spaces of discussion and exhibition, focusing on Colombian production and filmmakers.
Festival de Cine Latinoamericano de La Plata (La Plata, Argentina)
Contribute to the artistic and industrial development of Latin American cinema; search for new perspectives for Latin American filmmakers, focus on reinforcing a Latin American identity.
MIRA – The Latin American Independent Film Festival (Bonn, Germany)
Is an independent and young festival (4 years running) that focus on non-established Latin American independent filmmakers, and emerging directors.
Sydney Latin American Film Festival (Sydney, Australia)
Running since 2006, it’s one of the most “main stream” Latin American Film Festivals from a non-Latin country, and outside of the US. Funds raised from tickets sales are injected into social justice, environmental and community development organizations in Latin America and Australia.
Cachouera Doc (Bahia, Brazil)
It’s a documentary film festival that happens in a small city in the State of Bahia, Brazil. The festival aims to contribute to the diffusion of documentaries and it’s focused on Latin and national productions. They have special interest in films with social/political themes and are becoming more popular each year.
[1] Curator and specialist in Latin American production, she holds an M.A. in performance studies and a Ph.D. in cinema studies from NYU. Her research focuses on indigenous filmmaking and activism. She’s a professor at NYU and assistant director of NYU’s Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies.