I’d like to share two texts critical to Latin American cinema which I thought of immediately upon hearing this essay. (Forgive me, I haven’t read it, only listened. I’m on the fly right now. I type this from my phone.)
Espinosa was a Cuban film writer and director, and this manifesto from c. 1969, criticizes the “prestige” of “artistic culture,” and imagines how an “Imperfect Cinema,” a movement of folk art, created by, about, and for the masses can, like you said, load the revolutionary gun.
I shiver when reading the closing sentence: “Art will not disappear into nothingness; it will disappear into everything.”
Solanas and Getino were Argentine filmmakers, and they wrote this manifesto in the late 1960s, too. It breaks down their hypotheses, their educated guesses, about how guerilla filmmaking (by, for, and about the revolutionary struggle) can be done.
A good quote: “Our time is one of hypothesis rather than of thesis, a time of works-in-progress- unfinished, unordered, violent works made with a camera in one hand and a rock in the other.”
This is artwork without opulence. This is artwork without clear-cut lines, forms, or themes.
It has honestly been a couple of years since I’ve read these in full, so I’m gonna sit down and do that again.
Heart feeling full. Spirit called & electrified. Deepest thank you. Gratitude for wielding your pen, words, love, into ripples of action. “Making revolution irresistible”. Making the rawity of human spirit, resilience, ACTION, human collectiveness, COMMUNITY, irresistible. Deep light & warmth to your heart & spirit. Feeling nurturement & intentional ripples of SOUL MOVEMENT in the air….
Thank you for offering your thoughts on the role of the artist. They remind me of your previous piece on revolution as faith-based practice, something I’ve connected to Fanon’s prayer to the body and Audre Lorde’s conceptualization of the erotic. I connect these to concepts/acts to the role you’ve eloquently teased out for the artist (see below).
Revolution is faith-based practice and the revolutionary artist calls us back to our bodies with prayer (art that questions/speaks and eventually inspires action) to what exists within and between us in nature: a deep and untapped source of knowledge capable of making new worlds.
I just want to thank you for this. I downloaded substack specifically after seeing your post on Instagram to read this, I’m from Wales, working class background and am a political artist struggling with issues I find in creating my own art and the pressures of trying to create art that will “make more money” - change certain lyrics and how I voice issues I have with my government online, essentially what I’d call “selling out” - so thank you. It’s really important what you’re doing, to artists and beyond.
Ismatu , your words & actions you make out of the care you have for your community remind me of the hope and promise of revolution in ways I can never forget. As an artist, indigenous and disabled, thank you <3
As a striving artist without academia backing my efforts, I needed all of this. The truths, the realities, the glaring and obvious betrayals! I am so grateful that I listened. Your words came at exactly the right time. I thank God for your poetry in prose.
does kendrick falls into a category of opulence? it seems to me—and i’m white non-american, so i can be one hundred percent out of context—that he comes from a place of this internal conflict and reflection and empathy and caring for community, however he is ‘king among men’ (‘king kunta’, ‘out of big three it’s just a big me’ etc) and he did feat with beyonce and he does accumulates wealth and ego though
(sorry if i’m being ignorant or disrespectful, i really am in a very different context—as a white queer neurodivergent person—and i do really want to understand, ‘cause kendrick gave, in many senses, a lot even to me)
I can sense my seeds aren’t quite ready to germinate yet, but that day is nearing. Thanks for all that you do. The messages aren’t falling on deaf ears. Hugs from my space to yours…
I’d like to share two texts critical to Latin American cinema which I thought of immediately upon hearing this essay. (Forgive me, I haven’t read it, only listened. I’m on the fly right now. I type this from my phone.)
The first is “For an Imperfect Cinema” by Julio García Espinosa. (Here’s the link: http://www.ejumpcut.org/archive/onlinessays/JC20folder/ImperfectCinema.html )
Espinosa was a Cuban film writer and director, and this manifesto from c. 1969, criticizes the “prestige” of “artistic culture,” and imagines how an “Imperfect Cinema,” a movement of folk art, created by, about, and for the masses can, like you said, load the revolutionary gun.
I shiver when reading the closing sentence: “Art will not disappear into nothingness; it will disappear into everything.”
The second text is “Towards a Third Cinema,” by Fernando Solanas and Octavio Getino. (Here’s the link: https://span2910.commons.gc.cuny.edu/wp-content/blogs.dir/8374/files/2019/08/Towards-a-Third-Cinema-by-Fernando-Solanas-and-Octavio-Getino.pdf )
Solanas and Getino were Argentine filmmakers, and they wrote this manifesto in the late 1960s, too. It breaks down their hypotheses, their educated guesses, about how guerilla filmmaking (by, for, and about the revolutionary struggle) can be done.
A good quote: “Our time is one of hypothesis rather than of thesis, a time of works-in-progress- unfinished, unordered, violent works made with a camera in one hand and a rock in the other.”
This is artwork without opulence. This is artwork without clear-cut lines, forms, or themes.
It has honestly been a couple of years since I’ve read these in full, so I’m gonna sit down and do that again.
Tezeta in the background for this piece >> such magic
Brilliant podcast!
Heart feeling full. Spirit called & electrified. Deepest thank you. Gratitude for wielding your pen, words, love, into ripples of action. “Making revolution irresistible”. Making the rawity of human spirit, resilience, ACTION, human collectiveness, COMMUNITY, irresistible. Deep light & warmth to your heart & spirit. Feeling nurturement & intentional ripples of SOUL MOVEMENT in the air….
TELEPATHIC HUG 2 ISMATU BEING SENT!
Yes yes yes ❤️🔥
Thank you for offering your thoughts on the role of the artist. They remind me of your previous piece on revolution as faith-based practice, something I’ve connected to Fanon’s prayer to the body and Audre Lorde’s conceptualization of the erotic. I connect these to concepts/acts to the role you’ve eloquently teased out for the artist (see below).
Revolution is faith-based practice and the revolutionary artist calls us back to our bodies with prayer (art that questions/speaks and eventually inspires action) to what exists within and between us in nature: a deep and untapped source of knowledge capable of making new worlds.
Yes! I agree. This Audre quote from “Uses of the Erotic” comes to mind for me: “What do you mean, a poetic revolutionary, a meditating gunrunner?”
It reminds me that the work to be done to decolonize the imagination and spirit is essential for rev.
Yes.
I just want to thank you for this. I downloaded substack specifically after seeing your post on Instagram to read this, I’m from Wales, working class background and am a political artist struggling with issues I find in creating my own art and the pressures of trying to create art that will “make more money” - change certain lyrics and how I voice issues I have with my government online, essentially what I’d call “selling out” - so thank you. It’s really important what you’re doing, to artists and beyond.
loved this, listening to you is like falling in love with the world again, thank you
Ismatu , your words & actions you make out of the care you have for your community remind me of the hope and promise of revolution in ways I can never forget. As an artist, indigenous and disabled, thank you <3
your work moves me...I haven't been this inspired in many, many years. Humble thank you to you and your ancestors.
As a striving artist without academia backing my efforts, I needed all of this. The truths, the realities, the glaring and obvious betrayals! I am so grateful that I listened. Your words came at exactly the right time. I thank God for your poetry in prose.
Thank you God!
does kendrick falls into a category of opulence? it seems to me—and i’m white non-american, so i can be one hundred percent out of context—that he comes from a place of this internal conflict and reflection and empathy and caring for community, however he is ‘king among men’ (‘king kunta’, ‘out of big three it’s just a big me’ etc) and he did feat with beyonce and he does accumulates wealth and ego though
(sorry if i’m being ignorant or disrespectful, i really am in a very different context—as a white queer neurodivergent person—and i do really want to understand, ‘cause kendrick gave, in many senses, a lot even to me)
Universal Basic Income!!! A better world is on the way.
I can sense my seeds aren’t quite ready to germinate yet, but that day is nearing. Thanks for all that you do. The messages aren’t falling on deaf ears. Hugs from my space to yours…
Oops, wrong essay. But what I said still stands :))