Toward a Third Cinema

Taking as its point of departure the manifesto “Hacia un tercer cine” (“Towards a Third Cinema”) by Argentine filmmakers Fernando Solanas and Octavio Getino, published in the magazine Tricontinental in 1969, this group will watch, read about, and discuss a range of anti-capitalist and anti-colonial films often constellated under the name “Third Cinema.” Meetings will explore different iterations of Third Cinema across a variety of geographic and political contexts, mostly (but not exclusively) during the 1960s and 1970s, and will consider directly related film movements such as Cinema Nôvo in Brazil and Parallel Cinema in India. 


We will begin with the films and texts that constitute some of the key coordinates of Third Cinema, such as the manifesto by Solanas and Getino and their film La hora de los hornos (1968), as well as films from around the world that share translocal affinities and perhaps even solidarities, such as: Xala (Senegal, 1968), Sambizanga (Angola, 1972), Pather Panchali (India, 1955), Perfumed Nightmare (Philippines, 1977), The Hour of Liberation has Arrived (Lebanon, 1974), and La Tierra Prometida (Chile, 1973). In the second semester of the academic year, we hope to dive into related film movements that engage with the core concerns of Third Cinema, as well as recent critiques and revisions of its premises and doubts as to its usefulness as a historical category. We also plan to invite scholars from around the area to visit and share their expertise on particular films, movements, and filmmakers. Meetings will occur on a biweekly basis, and will consist of a film screening followed by a discussion of the film and any relevant readings, which will be distributed in advance.

Screenings will be held in Friend Center 006, 6 PM – 8 PM, and the schedule is:

September 21 – Fernando Solanas and Octavio Getino, La hora de los hornos (1968)

October 5 – Satyajit Ray, Pather Panchali (1955)

October 26 – Tomás Gutiérrez Alea, Memorias del subdessarollo (1968)

November 9 – Sarah Maldoror, Sambizanga (1972)

November 30 – Glauber Rocha, Deus e o diabo na terra do sol (1964)

December 14 – Ousmane Sembène, Xala (1975)

Please reach out to Jonathan Mandel ([email protected]) or Nicole-Ann Lobo ([email protected]) if you are interested in receiving relevant texts before each film.