Third Cinema Theories and the Nollywood Experience
Introduction
The term, ‘Third Cinema’ was coined in an interview with the Argentine Cine Liberacion group, published in the journal Cine Cubano (March 1969), and was then more fully developed in the manifesto “Towards a Third Cinema: Notes and Experiences for the Development of a cinema in the Third World,” written by Fernando Solanas and Octavio Getino, members of that group. Femi Shaka describes it as “a tool for creating a revolutionary consciousness for the mass mobilization for society for social change,” (2003, p.90). It is therefore a filmmaking process that would aid nationalist movements in creating a new socio-cultural solidarity in the struggle against western imperialism and for national self – determination.
The Third Cinema Movement witnessed a number of works in its launch both in theory and practice. Some of these works include Fernando Biri’s Tire Die (Throw me a Dime, 1958); Nelson Pereira dos Santos’s Vidas Secas (Barren lives, 1963); Glauber Rocha’s Antonio das Mortes (The Dragon of Evil against The Warrior Saint, 1968); and Solanas/Getino’s revolutionary film La Hora de los Hornos (The Hour of the Furnaces, 1968). Theoretical works included Fernando Biri’s “Cinema and Underdevelopment,” Glauber Rocha’s “The aesthetics of Hunger,” and “ The aesthetics of Violence,” Slanas and Getino’s essay, “ Towards a Third Cinema,” Espinosa’s “For an Imperfect Cinema,” Jorgr Sanjines’s “ Problems of Form and Content in Revolutionary Cinema,” etc (Shaka, p.90).
In their article Towards a Third Cinema, Solanas and Getino describe the movement thus:
The anti-imperialist struggle of the peoples of the Third World and of their equivalents inside the imperialist countries constitutes today the axis of the world revolution. Third cinema is, in our opinion, the cinema that recognises 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 term, ‘Third Cinema’ was coined in an interview with the Argentine Cine Liberacion group, published in the journal Cine Cubano (March 1969), and was then more fully developed in the manifesto “Towards a Third Cinema: Notes and Experiences for the Development of a cinema in the Third World,” written by Fernando Solanas and Octavio Getino, members of that group. Femi Shaka describes it as “a tool for creating a revolutionary consciousness for the mass mobilization for society for social change,” (2003, p.90). It is therefore a filmmaking process that would aid nationalist movements in creating a new socio-cultural solidarity in the struggle against western imperialism and for national self – determination.
The Third Cinema Movement witnessed a number of works in its launch both in theory and practice. Some of these works include Fernando Biri’s Tire Die (Throw me a Dime, 1958); Nelson Pereira dos Santos’s Vidas Secas (Barren lives, 1963); Glauber Rocha’s Antonio das Mortes (The Dragon of Evil against The Warrior Saint, 1968); and Solanas/Getino’s revolutionary film La Hora de los Hornos (The Hour of the Furnaces, 1968). Theoretical works included Fernando Biri’s “Cinema and Underdevelopment,” Glauber Rocha’s “The aesthetics of Hunger,” and “ The aesthetics of Violence,” Slanas and Getino’s essay, “ Towards a Third Cinema,” Espinosa’s “For an Imperfect Cinema,” Jorgr Sanjines’s “ Problems of Form and Content in Revolutionary Cinema,” etc (Shaka, p.90).
In their article Towards a Third Cinema, Solanas and Getino describe the movement thus:
The anti-imperialist struggle of the peoples of the Third World and of their equivalents inside the imperialist countries constitutes today the axis of the world revolution. Third cinema is, in our opinion, the cinema that recognises 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
Bibliography: Rank, J. (2008). Third Cinema: Origins and Permutations. Retrieved on 20th February 2008, from http:/www.jrank.org. Shaka, F. (2003). Methodological Problems in the Theory and Critcism of African Cinema. In Idiong, S.O., Ugiomoh, F.A.O. (Eds). Issues in Creative Arts and Art Education in Nigeria. Awansca Books:Lagos. ------------ (2004). Modernity and the African Cinema. Africa world Press: Trenton NJ. Solanas, F.,Getino,O.(2008).Towards a Third Cinema. Retrieved on 3rd March 2008, from http:/www.documentaryisneverneutral.com. Turner, G. (1988). Film as Social Practice. London: Routledge.