Third Cinema


Third Cinema is a Latin American film movement formed in the 1960s which critiques neocolonialism, the capitalist system, and the Hollywood model of cinema as mere entertainment to make money. The term was coined in the manifesto Hacia un tercer cine, written in the late 1960s by Argentine filmmakers Fernando Solanas and Octavio Getino, members of the Grupo Cine Liberación and published in 1969 in the journal Tricontinental by the OSPAAAL.

Definition

Solanas and Getino's manifesto considers 'First Cinema' to be the Hollywood production model that idealizes bourgeois values to a passive audience through escapist spectacle and individual characters. 'Second Cinema' is the European art film, which rejects Hollywood conventions but is centred on the individual expression of the auteur director. Third Cinema is meant to be non-commercialized, challenging Hollywood's model. Third Cinema rejects the view of cinema as a vehicle for personal expression, seeing the director instead as part of a collective; it appeals to the masses by presenting the truth and inspiring revolutionary activism. Solanas and Getino strongly argue that traditional exhibition models also should not be used: the films should be screened clandestinely, both in order to dodge censorship and commercial networks, but also so that the viewer must take a risk to see them.

Manifestos

There are four manifestos accredited to beginning the genre of Third Cinema: Glauber Rocha's "Aesthetic of Hunger", Julio García Espinosa's "For an Imperfect Cinema", "Problems of Form and Content in Revolutionary Cinema" by Jorge Sanjinés, and finally "Toward a Third Cinema" by Fernando Solanas and Octavio Getino. Although all four define the broad and far reaching genre, Solanas and Getino's “Toward a Third Cinema” is well known for its political stance and outline of the genre.

"Toward a Third Cinema"

Explaining the neo-colonialist dilemma and the need for "a cinema of subversion" or "a revolutionary cinema", "Toward a Third Cinema" begins by explaining the dilemma that the anti-imperialist film-maker is left with a paradoxical need to survive within as well as subvert "the System".
"Third cinema is, in our opinion, the cinema that recognizes in that struggle the most gigantic cultural, scientific, and artistic manifestation of our time, the great possibility of constructing a liberated personality with each people as the starting point – in a word, the decolonization of culture."
Solanas and Getino define the problem with 'the System' as being one that reduces film to a commodity that exists to fill the needs of the film industry that creates them—mainly in the United States. This "spectator cinema" continues a lack of awareness within the masses of a difference between class interests or "that of the rulers and that of the nation". To the authors, films of 'the System' do not function to change or move the culture forward; they function to maintain it.

Availability of technology

With the advancement of technology in film in the late 1960s, Solanas and Getino argue that an alternative cinema is finally possible. The authors cite the Imperfect Cinema movement in Cuba, Cinegiornali liberi in Italy, Zengakuren documentaries in Japan as proof that it is already happening.
Urging the need to further politicize and experiment with the format of film—mainly the documentary—Solanas and Getino illustrate the somewhat obscure and non-universal steps that must be taken to make "revolutionary cinema":
"Real alternatives differing from those offered by the System are only possible if one of two requirements is fulfilled: making films that the System cannot assimilate and which are foreign to its needs, or making films that directly and explicitly set out to fight the System."

The "guerilla-film-unit"

Paradoxically, Solanas and Getino continue to state that it is not enough to simply rebel against 'the System'. The manifesto uses Jean-Luc Godard and the French New Wave throughout as a formidable example of a group which failed to properly subvert 'the System'. Referring to it as “second cinema” or "author's cinema", the problem begins with the genre's attempt to exist parallel, be distributed by, and funded by 'the System'. Solanas and Getino quote Godard's self-description as being 'trapped inside the fortress' and refer to the metaphor throughout the manifesto.
Because of this paradox of subversion but need for distinctions between commodified rebellion and "the cinema of revolution", Solanas and Getino recognize that film-makers must function like a guerilla unit, one that "cannot grow strong without military structures and command concepts." The authors also recognize that the difficulties encountered by those attempting to make revolutionary cinema will stem mainly from its need to work as a synchronized unit. Claiming that the only solution to these difficulties is common awareness of the basics of interpersonal relationships, Solanas and Getino go further to state that "The myth of the irreplaceable technicians must be exploded."
The guerilla-film unit requires that all members have general knowledge of the equipment being used and caution that any failure in a production will be ten-fold that of a first cinema production. This condition—based on the fact that monetary support will be slim and come mainly from the group itself—also requires that members of the guerilla-film unit be wary and maintain an amount of silence not custom to conventional film-making.
"The success of the work depends …permanent wariness, a condition that is difficult to achieve in a situation in which apparently nothing is happening and the film-maker has been accustomed to telling all…because the bourgeoisie has trained him precisely on such a basis of prestige and promotion."

Distribution and showing

The manifesto concludes with an explanation for how to best distribute third cinema films. Using their own experience with La Hora de los Hornos , Solanas and Getino share that the most intellectually profitable showings were followed by group discussions. The following elements that "reinforce the themes of the films, the climate of the showing, the 'disinhibiting' of the participants, and the dialogue":
When distributed correctly, third cinema films will result in the audience members becoming what Solanas and Getino refer to as "man-actor-accomplices" as they become crucial to the film achieving its goal to transform society. It is only when the "man-actor-accomplice" responds to the film that third cinema becomes effective.
"Freeing a forbidden truth means setting free the possibility of indignation and subversion. Our truth, that of the new man who builds himself by getting rid of all the defects that still weigh him down, is a bomb of inexhaustible power and, at the same time, the only real possibility of life."

History

Third Cinema manifestos and theories evolved in the 1960s and 1970s as a response to the social, political, and economic realities in Latin American countries which were experiencing oppression from Neo-colonial policies. In their manifesto, Solana and Getino describe Third Cinema as a cinematic movement and a dramatic alternative to First Cinema, which was produced in Hollywood, for the purpose of entertaining its audiences; and from Second Cinema that increased the author's liberty of expression. Fundamentally different, Third Cinema films sought to inspire revolution against class, racial and gender inequalities. Spectators were called upon to reflect on social injustices and the process by which their realities occurred, and to take action to transform their conditions. Even though Third Cinema films arose during revolutionary eras in Latin America and other countries, this filmmaking is still influential today. This style of filmmaking includes a radical form of production, distribution and exhibition that seeks to expose the living conditions of people at the grassroots level.
Purpose and goals of Third Cinema
Third Cinema seeks to expose the process by which oppression occurs; and to criticize those responsible for social inequality in a country or community.
Some of the goals of Third Cinema are:
  • Raise political consciousness in the viewer/spectator
  • Expose historical, social, political and/or economic policies that have led to exploitive conditions for the nation
  • Engage spectators in reflection which will inspire them to take revolutionary action and improve their conditions
  • Create films that express the experiences of the masses of a particular region
  • Produce and distribute films that are uncensored by oppressive entities

    Production

Due to their political nature, Third Cinema films were often censored and therefore, the production and distribution of these films were innovative. Films used documentary clips, news reels, photographs, video clips, interviews and/or statistics and in some cases, non-professional actors. These production elements are combined in an inventive manner to create a message that is specific to its local audience. The staff in production share all aspects of the production process by working collectively. In Third Cinema, for example, a Director can be the Cameraman, the Photographer or the Writer at different phases of the production. Since Third Cinema films were highly politicized, they often lacked the funding and support needed for production or distribution and instead sought funding outside government agencies or traditional financing opportunities available to commercial films. Other unique aspects of Third Cinema film production is the use of their local natural landscape for film shootings often in parts of the country not previously seen. This unique feature was augmented by highlighting the local history and culture of its nation.