Third Cinema

Third Cinema
Name	Third Cinema
Years active	1960s–present
Regions	Latin America; Africa; Asia; Caribbean; Indigenous cinema
Notable figures	Fernando Solanas; Octavio Getino; Glauber Rocha; Ousmane Sembène; Sarah Maldoror
Notable works	La Hora de los Hornos; Terra em Transe; Black Girl; Xala; O Sangue

Third Cinema Third Cinema is a transnational film movement and theoretical framework that emerged in the 1960s advocating militant, anti-imperialist, and decolonial filmmaking practices. It rejects both commercial Hollywood industry norms and the elitist tendencies associated with some European art cinema practices, promoting collective production, political pedagogy, and activist exhibition strategies. The approach connected filmmakers across Argentina, Brazil, Senegal, Algeria, Cuba, Guinea-Bissau, Morocco, and other contexts confronting colonial legacies and neocolonial intervention.

Origins and Definition

The term was articulated by Argentine filmmakers Fernando Solanas and Octavio Getino in their manifesto written in Buenos Aires and first circulated among leftist circles and cine-clubs. Influences cited by Solanas and Getino include revolutionary struggles such as the Cuban Revolution, the Algerian War of Independence, and anti-colonial movements in Africa and Latin America. Early proponents contrasted their project with commercial studios exemplified by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and auteur-focused circuits associated with the Cahiers du Cinéma and the French New Wave, proposing instead cinema as a collective weapon in solidarity with organizations like the Organization of African Unity and the Non-Aligned Movement. Definitions emphasized praxis over pure theory, linking film production to guerrilla movements such as the Montoneros in Argentina and liberation fronts in Guinea-Bissau.

Historical Context and Political Motivations

Third Cinema arose amid Cold War geopolitical crises involving interventions by United States intelligence agencies, multinational corporations headquartered in New York City, and proxy conflicts tied to the Vietnam War. In Latin America, contexts included military juntas such as those in Chile and Argentina and revolutionary governments like Cuba under Fidel Castro. In Africa, filmmakers responded to postcolonial states emerging after the Algerian War and independence movements led by figures like Amílcar Cabral in Guinea-Bissau and Senegal under cultural leaders influenced by Léopold Sédar Senghor. Political motivations included opposition to neocolonial resource extraction by companies linked to the International Monetary Fund and resistance to cultural imperialism propagated through institutions like United States Information Agency programs. Third Cinema articulated solidarity with peasant movements, urban workers, and national liberation armies while engaging with trade union federations and student movements such as those inspired by the 1968 protests.

Key Figures and Films

Key practitioners combined filmmaking with activism. In Argentina, Fernando Solanas and Octavio Getino produced influential works including La Hora de los Hornos. In Brazil, Glauber Rocha directed Terra em Transe and was associated with the Cinema Novo movement alongside filmmakers like Nelson Pereira dos Santos and Ruy Guerra. In Senegal, Ousmane Sembène made Black Girl and Xala, while Djibril Diop Mambéty contributed Touki Bouki. In Algeria and France, Yacef Saadi-era narratives intersected with filmmakers such as Ahmed Rachedi. African diasporic and Caribbean practitioners include Sarah Maldoror (Sambizanga) and Cuban directors connected to the Instituto Cubano del Arte e Industria Cinematográficos like Tomás Gutiérrez Alea (Memories of Underdevelopment). Other notable names span Mexico (Fernando Solanas’ collaborators), Chile (documentary teams linked to Unidad Popular), Guinea-Bissau (films connected to liberation movements), and diasporic communities in Paris and London where exiled filmmakers screened work in solidarity with liberation committees.

Aesthetics and Formal Strategies

Third Cinema favored didactic montage, collective authorship, and community exhibition strategies over polished studio aesthetics associated with Paramount Pictures or auteur fetishism promoted by critics at Cahiers du Cinéma. Formal strategies included disruptive voiceover, intertitles referencing treaties like the Treaty of Rome only as historical context, juxtaposition of documentary footage with staged sequences, and incorporation of popular music and oral poetry from traditions linked to figures like Amílcar Cabral or poets such as Aimé Césaire. Many works used nonprofessional actors recruited from unions, peasant cooperatives, or liberation brigades; others incorporated footage from events like mass rallies involving the Sandinista National Liberation Front and anti-apartheid demonstrations tied to African National Congress campaigns. Distribution strategies often bypassed commercial circuits, employing mobile projection units, grassroots networks such as cultural centers affiliated with Solidarity movements, and screenings accompanied by political discussion and pamphleteering.

Influence and Legacy

Third Cinema influenced later movements and institutions including Cinema Novo, FEPACI (Pan-African Film and Television Festival ties), and contemporary decentralized networks of indigenous and activist filmmakers in regions like Bolivia, Ecuador, South Africa, Nigeria, and India. Festivals such as FESPACO and film programs at universities like Harvard University and University of California, Berkeley archived and studied Third Cinema texts, while cinephile journals and collectives in Paris, London, and New York City reprinted manifestos and organized retrospectives. The movement has impacted documentary practices addressing corporate extraction connected to firms headquartered in London and Zurich, inspired digital activism tied to movements like Zapatistas in Chiapas, and informed debates within film schools at institutions such as National Film and Television School.

Criticisms and Debates

Scholars and critics debated Third Cinema’s assumptions about representation, authorship, and political efficacy. Critics in academic circles associated with Columbia University and University of Oxford have questioned whether militant aesthetics reproduce vanguardist hierarchies or essentialize peasant subjectivity. Debates also invoked tensions with proponents of Feminist film theory and queer critics in forums linked to Women Make Movies and GLAAD about gender and sexuality representation. Others argued that Third Cinema’s antagonism to commercial circuits limited distribution, provoking parallel conversations in cultural policy venues like UNESCO and donor agencies such as the Ford Foundation over funding for politically engaged cinema. Nonetheless, proponents within movements tied to Movimiento Revolucionario Túpac Amaru and anti-colonial scholars continue to defend its strategies as foundational for emancipatory audiovisual practice.

Category:Film movements