Discussion: Third Cinema and Internationalism

Cecilia Lacruz, Miguel Errazu and Mariano Mestman in conversation with Peter B. Schumann

CECILIA LACRUZ

Film researcher, Grupo de Estudios Audiovisuales, GEstA-UdelaR, Montevideo

Una imagen para el Tercer cine (An Image for Third Cinema)

MIGUEL ERRAZU

Postdoctoral researcher, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana - Lerma (México), Madrid/Mexico City

Internacionalismo y localismo en el Tercer cine mexicano (Internationalism and Localism in Mexican Third Cinema)

MARIANO MESTMAN

Researcher in cultural history, CONICET-UBA, Buenos Aires

Latinoamericanismo/Tercermundismo (1968-1974): Del Congreso Cultural de La Habana a los Estados Generales del Tercer Cine

(Latin Americanism/Third Worldism (1968-1974): From the Havana Cultural Congress to the General Estates of Third Cinema)

In conversation with Peter B. Schumann

The programme is divided in two parts: the first are the lectures with examples on Third Cinema and internationalism on our YouTube channel, while the second part will be a parcours on New Latin American Cinema guided by Peter B. Schumann, who will enter in a conversation with the speakers.

The discussion on Zoom will be held in Spanish language / El encuentro en Zoom se llevará a cabo en idioma español.

Important Note:

The video lectures will be available on YouTube the month of March, under this link: https://tinyurl.com/ybe74bop

On 25 March 2021, 18:00 h (GMT +1), the audience will have the chance to discuss the topics of the lectures and enter in a conversation with the participants of the discussion via Zoom.

Discussion Third Cinema and Internationalism

The term 'Third Cinema' was coined by Fernando Solanas and Octavio Getino, key figures of the Argentine political filmmaking movement Grupo Cine Liberación (The Liberation Film Group). In 1969 they published the essay "Hacia un Tercer cine" (Towards a Third Cinema) in the magazine Triconental (a periodical founded by the Organisation of Solidarity with the People of Asia, Africa and Latin America), which went on to become one of the best known manifestos of the movement. 

Understood as a type of cinema which aimed for political and cultural decolonisation, it clearly differentiated itself from First Cinema (Hollywood) and Second Cinema (European cinema d'auteur) during the 1960s and 1970s. It did so, for instance, by eliminating the separation between art and life, by adopting a rough aesthetic style, or by addressing social injustice and class relations with a clear anti-imperialist message. 

Influenced by Marxist, Third Worldist theories and the work by authors such as Frantz Fanon, the movement questioned power structures, both in filmmaking and society. Additionally, it challenged neo-colonialism and colonialism and the consequent loss of cultural independence, giving a voice to oppressed communities and their social struggles. 

Third Cinema became popular in the 1960s and 1970s among socially and politically engaged filmmakers in Latin America, Asia and Africa. The movement developed concurrently with the emergence of ‘New Latin American Cinema‘ and the establishment of the Pan African Federation of Filmmakers (FEPACI). It is worth mentioning that Third Cinema filmmakers were in close dialogue with like-minded filmmakers, critics and institutions in First World countries.

The discussion Third Cinema and Internationalism presents different internationalist strategies in Third Cinema, such as networks of collaboration and exchange, the distribution of archives and films, meetings, festivals and screenings.