About Cinema Politica
"Cinema Politica successfully delivers independent art to the eyes and ears of the public."
- Mark Achbar, director of The Corporation
"Virulent, anti-corporate propaganda."
- Vancouver Province Editorial, March 2007
CINEMA POLITICA is a Montreal-based media arts, non-profit network of community and campus locals that screen independent political film and video by Canadian and international artists throughout Canada and abroad. CP is volunteer-run and all screenings are by donation.
Through collected donations, university fee levies, and support from the Canada Council for the Arts, CP has built an expansive alternative distribution and exhibition network for independent political film and video artists throughout Canada and beyond. We program works that challenge conventional fiction and documentary narratives, as well as films that explore under-represented stories and characters.
Cinema Politica is committed to supporting alternative, independent, and radical political film and video and the artists who dare to devote time, passion and resources to telling stories from the margins. Stories that confront and challenge convention and that show solidarity with those who are oppressed, those who struggle, and those who are never seen or heard in the mainstream media.
In the Fall of 2008 Cinema Politica began receiving organizational financial support from the Canada Council for the Arts. With these funds we focus efforts on programming, promoting and supporting independent Canadian film and video within the network. We also utilize this support to assist locals in bringing independent Canadian artists to screening events across the country.
THE CINEMA POLITICA CREW
Executive Director: Svetla Turnin // svetla [at] cinemapolitica [dot] org
CP Board of Directors (2009-2010)
+ Michael Lithgow // Writer; Video Artist; PhD candidate in Media Studies (Carleton)
+ Inês Lopes // PhD, Education consultant; Founder of CP-UQAM
+ Liz Miller // Filmmaker (The Water Front); Assoc. Professor (Concordia)
+ Thomas Waugh // Professor in the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema (Concordia)
+ Ezra Winton // Director of Programming and Founder - Cinema Politica; Editor - Art Threat; PhD candidate in Media Studies (Carleton University)
CP Pre-Selection Programming Committee (2010-2011)
+ Donna Deville
+ Shannon Harris
+ Sergeo Kirby
+ Andrea Mohammed
+ Thomas Szacka-Marier
Administrative Assistant: yoana [at] cinemapolitica [dot] org
THE CINEMA POLITICA NETWORK
View Cinema Politica Network in a larger map
The Cinema Politica Network comprises a network of several local film exhibition sites, series, and festivals across Canada, Europe and the USA. The Canadian component of the network has nearly 30 active locals, most of which are located on high school, college and university campuses. In the video below, organizers Ezra Winton and Svetla Turnin explain how the grassroots screenings work.
JOIN THE CINEMA POLITICA NETWORK
Beginning in 2008 we introduced a small membership fee to join the CP Network, in exchange for the organizational and programming services we offer. This includes access to our 300+ catalogue of films. If you are interested in starting up a Cinema Politica local, please visit this page or contact Svetla Turnin: svetla AT cinemapolitica DOT org.
CINEMA POLITICA'S MANDATE
Cinema Politica’s main objective is to promote, disseminate, exhibit and promote the discussion of political cinema by independent artists, with an emphasis on Canadian works. All pieces that are screened are political works - they represent cinema texts that engage an audience on important socio-political, cultural, environmental and economic issues that are provocative in challenging dominant ideologies and accepted norms.
Exhibited works are innovative and seek to educate, entertain and especially inspire audiences to participate in open and inclusive spaces. Emphasis is placed on works that tell stories underrepresented by mainstream media, including narratives around political struggles within Canada, and stories that deal with oppression and/or identity politics.
The position of the artist in society is taken into account in the curatorial process, with a focus on artists who are marginalized and/or struggle against oppression in respective contexts.
Of all the cultural industries in Canada, cinema has the lowest percentage of Canadian content at the mainstream or commercial level. The Canadian Film and Television Production Association and Canadian Heritage reports that in 2006 Canadian film represented a mere 4.4% of screen space in Canadian theatres (and there is certainly no shortage of works, the Canadian submissions to Hot Docs 2007 totalled 222 documentary films and videos alone). Cinema Politica is a project rooted in the belief that diversity and plurality in culture, media and the arts builds stronger publics and leads to increased democratic practices by engendering social inclusion and participation while educating audiences.
Accessibility to media and utilization of both public institutions and public space remain incredibly important to the spirit of this project, therefore the majority of screenings are free to all. Sometimes, due to high screening and/or shipping costs, we ask for a small donation at the door.
MEDIA COVERAGE OF CINEMA POLITICA
+ Celluloid Politics: Cinema Politica celebrates five years of free, weekly and controversial screenings, at montrealmirror.com
+ From Grassroots to Global Networks: Cinema Politica & the Cultural Reprise of Political Documentary, at artthreat.net.
+ Sickly Sweet in The Hour
+ Filmmakers refuse to be intimidated by soft drink giant in the Montreal Gazette
+ Coca-Cola intimidates student group over film screening at ArtThreat.net
+ Sickly Sweet Censorship at MediaCoop.ca
+ Coca-Cola lawyers threaten Cinema Politica in The Link
+ Corruption Classic in The Link
+ The Cinema politica vs. Coca-Cola classic at community.hour.ca
+ Cola flick fizzes in the Mirror
+ A bottle of pop has profit margins to kill for in The Concordian
+ Cinema Politica and a Case of Coke at the Montreal Gazette online
+ Cinema Politica Screens, Streams NFB Content at MediaCaster Magazin
+ Film group says plans to screen Coca-Cola doc drawing company's ire at Yahoo News
