Third (World) Cinema

1. Third (World) Cinema Focus on Filipino/American Film

2. Text and Context Three Worlds Three Cinemas 1st World: USA- Capitalism 2nd World: Russia- Communism 3rd World: Everyone else Typically countries who live with the effects between 1 and 2 1st Cinema: Hollywood 2nd Cinema: Independent Films/documentaries 3rd Cinema: Non-Eurocentric films from 3rd World Nations Revolutionary, Oppositional

3. Intro to 3rd Cinema • Started in the late 60s in Latin America • Film was not “art for art’s sake” and strived for more relevance and political purpose • Democratic, socialist, national, popular • Films are flexible, experimental, and change with societal conditions • Active viewing is required • Often low-no budget projects

4. Why is 3rd Cinema important? • Film as a social mirror • Develops cultural/national consciousness • What is nationalism? • Form and content is different then Hollywood films • We might think it is weird or different because it is in a different “film language” than what we are used to • “The Third Cinema is that cinema of the Third World which stands opposed to imperialism and class oppression in all their ramifications and manifestations”. (Gabriel 2)

5. Three Phases of 3rd World Films Phase 1: Unqualified Assimilation • Copies Hollywood narrative and aesthetic • Goal is to make money and entertain • Spectacle vs. subject matter

6. Phase 2: The Remembrance Phase • More indigenous production • Celebrates own culture and history • Can be uncritical and romanticize the past • Not a tool of revolution– can exploit own people • Hollywood aesthetic, but plays more with spatial conventions

7. Phase 3: The Combative Phase • Filmmaking is owned and operated by the government • Lives and struggles of people are showcased with intent for change • Film is an ideological tool • Their own cinematic language is used • Nonlinear, more similar to an oral history

8. Space and Time in 3rd Cinema • More space in 3rd Cinema, not as structured • More organic, not representative of “high technology” • Less individualistic, more in relation to others • Time is slower; more “real” • Editing is not as choppy • Might be boring to a Western audience • Western= Time is money

9. Film Convention Comparisons Western 3rd Cinema Camera angles are governed by eye level perspective. Angles are primarily aesthetic. Deliberate usage of low/high angle shots for political or social comment.

10. Film Convention Comparisons Western 3rd Cinema Studio sets are used to enhance control over reality Location sets enhance documentary reality

11. Film Convention Comparisons Western 3rd Cinema Camera is mostly fixed. If it moves, it is often to stay with the individual and match their psychological state Fixed perspective. If the camera moves, it is to contain a sequence or for experiential involvement

12. Film Convention Comparisons Western 3rd Cinema Actors avoid looking at the camera or are positioned so that their emotional state is easily observed by the camera It is not uncommon for the actor to look into the camera, directly addressing the audience